PARTICIPATION IN SPORT AND RECREATION
- There were 10.5 million persons aged 15 years and over (65.9% of the adult population) who participated in physical activities for recreation, exercise or sport at some time during the 12 months prior to interview in 2005-06. Of these persons, 4.4 million (42.1%) participated in organised sports and physical recreation.
- The most popular physical recreation activity for both males and females was walking for exercise, however, the participation rate was much higher for females (32.8%) than it was for males (16.5%).
- There were 1.7 million children aged 5-14 years (63.5%) who participated in organised sport outside of school hours during the 12 months ending April 2006.
- The most popular organised sport for boys was soccer (outdoor) which had 268,500 participants (19.6%), whereas for girls it was swimming with 236,800 participants (18.2%).