Our Movement Hub pilot showcases the best of our tools and resources to help everyone in the sport and physical activity unite the movement.
Sport and physical activity generates over £100 billion in social value
22 October 2024
Our updated research shows that improved health from participation in sport and physical activity relieves pressure on the NHS through £10.5 billion a year in health and social care savings.
Environmental sustainability
Using the Every Move strategy and action plan, we want to lead, inspire and support the sector to become environmentally sustainable, enabling greater opportunity for all people to participate in sport and physical activity, now and in the future.
What we do
We award funding
We fund projects and organisations small and large that help people to get active.
We provide insight
Our insight will help you understand how different people can be supported to be active.
We gather data
We have a number of different tools you can use to explore activity levels across England.
We have expertise
Our expertise is not just for us, we share that knowledge to help you and people across the sector.
Sport England and the National Lottery
By playing the National Lottery, you're helping people across England play sport and get physically active. That's because two-thirds of our funding comes from the lottery. Thank you to everyone who has ever bought a ticket for supporting us in building a healthier, happier nation.
Engage your audience
Browse more topics
We have a wide selection of sport and physical activity images that are free for you to use, whether it’s for a brochure, banner, leaflet or report.
See our advice on designing high-quality facilities, as well as guidance on planning applications that impact sporting provision, and our playing fields policy.
Our Active Lives surveys measure the physical activity levels of adults and children and young people across England, providing a wealth of data.
Social value broken down
The video consists of a series of animated infographics. This description explains the text on screen and the animated sequences linking them.
A football rolls onto screen – a blue background – while a basketball falls through a hoop and a bicycle rolls.
£107.2 billion – Total annual social value of sport and physical activity in England for 2022-23.
The animations fade away and the text disappears.
£96.7 billion – Primary value of sport and physical activity: individual wellbeing
An icon of a head appears on the screen with a heart in the centre of the head.
£10.5 billion – Secondary value of sport and physical activity: wider value to society
An icon of a group of people appears on screen, with a circle sweeping around their feet to indicate togetherness.
£96.7 billion in Primary value
A graphic appears on screen with the Primary value figure at the top, with three arrows underneath it showing the three values that contribute to the total figure.
£8.2 billion – adult volunteering to support sport and physical activity.
An icon with two hands shaking, in the shape of a heart, appears on the screen.
This figure consists of an average value per adult of £2,100 from weekly volunteering and £1,000 per adult from monthly volunteering.
£79.9 billion – adult participation
An icon of two adults in a green circle appears on the screen.
The figure consists of an average value per ‘active’ adult of £2,500 and an average value per ‘fairly active’ adult of £1,200.
£8.6 billion – children and young people (ages 11-16) participation.
An icon of two children in a green circle appears on the screen.
The figure consists of an average value per ‘active’ young person of £4,100 and an average value per ‘fairly active’ young person of £3,100.
The existing graphics transition off the screen and a new orange background appears with a blue pulsing heart, a head with a brain inside and a stethoscope appears.
£10.5 billion – secondary value of sport and physical activity: wider value to society.
A graphic appears on screen with the Secondary value figure at the top, with three arrows underneath it showing the three values that contribute to the total figure.
£1.3 billion – reduced GP visits and mental health service usage
An icon appears with a prescription chart, a person and a downward arrow.
£9.3 billion – prevention of disease and chronic health conditions (across 14 health outcomes – e.g. depression and type 2 diabetes).
An orange icon of a heart, with a cross in the middle of it, appears on screen.
-£0.13 billion – cost of sports injuries
Average secondary health value per ‘active’ adult is £315.
Average secondary health value per ‘fairly active’ adult is £230.
All current graphics fade out of vision and the £107.2 billion figure reappears, with a line underneath showing the relevant contributions to the figure from the Primary (£96.7 billion) and Secondary (£10.5 billion) values.
All current graphics fade out of vision and a set of scales appear on a purple background, along with an ‘not equal to’ symbol.
£15.6 billion – annual cost of inequality in adult physical activity levels (calculated from both primary and secondary values).
All current graphic dissolve from the screen and a white background appears with the Sport England logo on it.
To find our more please see our report: sportengland.org/socialvalue
Special thanks to our partners:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Sheffield Hallam University
State of Life