Over-75s drive levels of physical activity in England to record high but inequalities remain

Levels of physical activity in England have broken new records, with more than 30 million adults now meeting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, the latest Active Lives survey has revealed.

The 10th edition of the gold standard report finds a striking rise in activity among older people with 11% growth among the over-75s in the past decade. There is also a consistent improvement among people with disabilities. But other inequalities have proven stubborn, with no change among black and asian communities in 10 years and a decline in activity among the least affluent over that period.

*“*It’s great to see continued growth in the number of people taking part in physical activity, with more adults than ever enjoying the benefit of playing sport and moving”, said the chief executive of Sport England, Simon Hayes. “It is testament to the incredible work of so many people across the sector, including the millions of volunteers without whom the system could not operate.

*“*But today’s report also shows this progress is still not being felt equally. Where you live, your socioeconomic circumstances, your gender, and your ethnicity, all still have a significant impact on how likely you are to be active.”

The data shows disparities in activity between ethnic groups, between different levels of affluence and among geographic regions have continued to grow over the past decade. While activity levels for white British people have risen 3% to 66%, levels among black adults and Asian adults (excluding Chinese) have stayed at 57% and 56% respectively. For the least affluent in society, while levels of activity have risen since the pandemic, only 53.8% of the poorest adults hit the 150 minute target, compared to 54.8% a decade ago. In terms of place, the West Midlands remains the least active part of the country, and has recorded only 1.7% growth in activity over a decade compared to 3.5% in the south-west, the most active region.

Overall, however, there are now 3.3 million more people who are regularly active in England than when the Active Lives survey began. In the past 12 months, another 859,000 adults have joined that cohort, the biggest rise since 2021-22 when the UK was emerging from the Covid pandemic. In demographic terms, the rise has been driven by older people, with a 7% increase over a decade in the number of active 55- to 74-year-olds and the striking 10.9% growth among those aged 75 or above.

Improvements have also been facilitated by changing habits. A pandemic spike in the number of people regularly walking for leisure may have dropped off in intervening years but Active Lives records that there are still 1.3 million more people walking than there were before 2020.

Equally, those engaging in “fitness activities”, such as attending the gym or exercise classes, have grown sharply in every year since the pandemic and stand at a 10-year high of 15.3m.