Contents
- Sport participation by gender statistics: Irish weekly participation rates over time
- Sport participation by gender statistics: activity choices in Ireland
- Sport participation by gender statistics: participation frequency and duration
- Sport participation by gender statistics: Canadian sport participation patterns
- Sport participation by gender statistics: Irish physical activity by sex
- Sources
Sport participation by gender statistics: Irish weekly participation rates over time
The Irish Sports Monitor’s weekly measure asks respondents aged 16 and older whether they took part in sport or physical activity during the prior week. Its definition includes activity undertaken for exercise, recreation or organised sport. The figures below therefore describe participation in that specific seven-day window; they do not count how many people played at some point during a full year, nor how often participants were active across the week. Source: Irish Sports Monitor 2024 – Spotlight on Participation in Sport
| Year | Men participating in the prior week | Women participating in the prior week | Reported gender gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 45% | 41% | — |
| 2019 | 48% | 45% | 3 percentage points |
| 2021 | 43% | 38% | 5 percentage points |
| 2022 | 45% | 40% | 5 percentage points |
| 2023 | 49% | 46% | 3 percentage points |
| 2024 | 50% | 47% | — |
Men’s reported weekly participation was higher in every listed year. The series does not rise continuously: both rates were lower in 2021 than in 2019, then increased in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The latest reported values in this series are 50% for men and 47% for women in 2024. That is a historical survey result, not a claim about participation in 2026.
The report gives the gender gap directly for 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. It reports gaps of 3 percentage points in 2019 and 2023, and 5 percentage points in 2021 and 2022. The table leaves the gap unreported for 2017 and 2024 rather than deriving a new value from the displayed rates. These year-to-year observations show the reported size of the difference at selected points; they do not by themselves explain why participation changed. Source: Irish Sports Monitor 2024 – Spotlight on Participation in Sport
Sport participation by gender statistics: activity choices in Ireland
The 2024 Irish Sports Monitor also reports which activities respondents aged 16 and older had participated in during the prior week. Several of the listed activities had higher reported participation among women, while cycling and soccer had higher reported participation among men. These are activity-specific rates, not shares of all sport participants, and they should be read within the report’s prior-week measure. Source: Irish Sports Monitor 2024 – Spotlight on Participation in Sport
| Activity, Ireland 2024 | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Personal exercise | 19% | 18% |
| Swimming | 9% | 7% |
| Running | 8% | 6% |
| Cycling | 3% | 7% |
| Dancing | 6% | 1% |
| Soccer | 1% | 6% |
Personal exercise was reported by 19% of women and 18% of men. Swimming was 9% among women and 7% among men; running was 8% among women and 6% among men. For cycling, the reported values were 7% among men and 3% among women. Dancing showed a wider difference in the other direction: 6% among women and 1% among men. Soccer was 6% among men and 1% among women. The comparisons describe these specific activity categories and do not establish an overall preference or the reasons people chose each activity. Source: Irish Sports Monitor 2024 – Spotlight on Participation in Sport
Intensity is another measure in the report. Among Irish sport participants aged 16 and older, vigorous-intensity sport participation in 2024 was reported for 39% of men and 36% of women. This denominator matters: these figures refer to sport participants, whereas the activity table reports rates for the broader respondent population. The two sets of percentages answer different questions and should not be compared as if they shared a denominator. Source: Irish Sports Monitor 2024 – Spotlight on Participation in Sport
Sport participation by gender statistics: participation frequency and duration
Weekly participation tells whether someone took part during the previous week, but not how long they played. The Irish Sports Monitor reports average weekly sport time among people who play sport: male participants aged 16 and older averaged 5 hours per week in 2024, while female participants averaged 3.2 hours. These are participant averages, not averages for every man and woman in Ireland. Source: Irish Sports Monitor 2024 – Spotlight on Participation in Sport
The report also describes change in average weekly duration between 2022 and 2024. Male sport participants added 38 minutes to their average weekly sport time over that period, while female participants added 6 minutes. These are reported changes over the specified interval. They do not indicate that every individual participant increased their time, and they do not identify what accounts for the difference. Source: Irish Sports Monitor 2024 – Spotlight on Participation in Sport
Canadian results use a different definition and survey frame. CFLRI defines sport as physical activity involving competition, rules and skill development. Among Canadian adults who participated in sport, almost 2 in 10 reported taking part very frequently, defined as 4 or more times a week, during months in which they participated. This frequency category is distinct from a measure of how many months of the year someone was involved. Source: CFLRI, Sport Participation by gender
Across Canadian adult sport participants, 19% participated in every month of the year, 42% participated between 6 and 11 months, and 39% participated for fewer than 6 months. The month-based measure shows that participation can be seasonal or intermittent even among people counted as sport participants during the survey period. For monthly participation, the report gives gender-specific values: 21% of men and 16% of women participated in every month of the year. Fewer than 6 months of participation was reported by 37% of men and 43% of women. Source: CFLRI, Sport Participation by gender
Sport participation by gender statistics: Canadian sport participation patterns
CFLRI reported that 27% of Canadian adults had participated in sport during the year preceding its 2024 survey. This is a prior-year participation rate for adults under the report’s sport definition. It is not directly comparable with Ireland’s Irish Sports Monitor weekly rate: the time window, country, survey and definition differ. Source: CFLRI, Sport Participation by gender
The report distinguishes the environments in which adult participants took part. Among Canadian adults who participated in sport, 47% primarily participated in a structured environment, 30% primarily participated in an unstructured environment, and 22% participated in both. It also reports that 32% used a coach. These are descriptions of participants’ environments and support use; the figures do not establish whether a particular setting or coaching arrangement leads to greater participation. Source: CFLRI, Sport Participation by gender
Competition and training also differed by gender among Canadian sport participants. Competition was reported by 57% of men and 39% of women. Training was reported by 54% of men and 44% of women; the source says this relationship was significant only among adults aged 25–64. The age qualification is important when interpreting the overall gender comparison, since the report does not describe it as applying equally across all adult ages. Source: CFLRI, Sport Participation by gender
Age-specific figures provide further context for training and coaching among Canadian women who participated in sport. Training was reported by 62% of female participants aged 18–24 and 28% of those aged 65 and older. Coach use was reported by 51% of female participants aged 18–24 and 23% of those aged 65 and older. These figures concern women sport participants in the stated age groups, not all women in those age groups. Source: CFLRI, Sport Participation by gender
Taken together, the Canadian indicators cover several dimensions: participation during the preceding year, months of involvement, weekly frequency during participating months, environment, coaching, competition and training. They should not be collapsed into one participation score. In particular, the survey’s sport definition excludes activity that lacks the combination of competition, rules and skill development, so it represents a narrower concept than general physical activity. Source: CFLRI, Sport Participation by gender
Sport participation by gender statistics: Irish physical activity by sex
Other Irish releases measure physical activity more broadly than sport. The Central Statistics Office’s Q3 2025 Labour Force Survey covers people aged 15–74 and reports participation in sport or physical activity. In that quarter, the rates were 72.9% for women and 72.1% for men. Because the measure includes physical activity, it should not be treated as another estimate of weekly sport participation alone. Source: CSO, Labour Force Survey – Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025
Among Q3 2025 participants in sport or physical exercise, the reasons reported also varied by sex. Physical health and fitness was cited by 87.9% of women and 86.4% of men; mental well-being was cited by 51.1% of women and 47.9% of men. The social element was cited by 29.9% of men and 24.6% of women. Improving performance was cited by 16.9% of men and 10.6% of women, while competition was cited by 12.8% of men and 6.0% of women. These are reason-response percentages among participants, rather than participation rates for the whole population. Source: CSO, Labour Force Survey – Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025
The CSO’s 2025 SILC release uses yet another measure: respondents aged 16 and older were asked about sports, fitness or recreational physical activity for at least 10 continuous minutes in a typical week. Among respondents, daily-or-more activity was reported by 33.1% of females and 30.6% of males. Never or less than once-a-week activity was reported by 24.7% of females and 26.6% of males. These frequency categories describe physical activity, not sport participation under the narrower CFLRI definition. Source: CSO, Physical Activity and Diet – Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025
The SILC release also provides 2022 comparisons for the same age scope and frequency categories. Daily-or-more activity was 29.5% among females and 28.3% among males. Never or less than once-a-week activity was 23.5% among females and 26.6% among males. In the release’s account, female infrequent activity rose from 23.5%, while the male figure was unchanged at 26.6%. These statements concern the reported survey categories and do not explain the reasons for the changes. Source: CSO, Physical Activity and Diet – Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025
Age-specific 2025 daily activity results show variation within the SILC population. Among respondents aged 18–34, daily activity was reported by 33.4% of females and 32.5% of males. Among those aged 50–64, the rates were 34.4% for females and 29.8% for males. For respondents aged 65 and older, daily activity was 37.3% for females and 37.1% for males. These age-group observations help describe the survey’s physical activity measure, but they are not sport-only rates. Source: CSO, Physical Activity and Diet – Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025
The measures across these releases answer different questions. The Irish Sports Monitor records prior-week sport and activity participation among respondents aged 16 and older; the LFS reports sport or physical exercise participation among people aged 15–74 in Q3 2025 and participants’ reported reasons; SILC measures the frequency of qualifying activity in a typical week among people aged 16 and older. CFLRI’s Canadian survey tracks sport as activity involving competition, rules and skill development. Keeping those definitions, populations and periods attached to each percentage makes the gender comparisons interpretable without treating unlike measures as one continuous series. The CSO says SILC estimates are not directly comparable with Irish Health Survey or Healthy Ireland Survey measures. Sources: Irish Sports Monitor 2024 – Spotlight on Participation in Sport; CSO, Labour Force Survey – Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025; CSO, Physical Activity and Diet – Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025; CFLRI, Sport Participation by gender