Employment in sport

Data extracted in May 2024

Planned article update: July 2025

Highlights

Employment in sport in the European Union grew by 2.2% between 2022 and 2023.

In 2023, 37% of people employed in sport in the EU were aged 15-29 years, which is more than double the percentage of overall employment for the same age group.

Employment in sport, 2023

This article analyses employment in the sports industry over the past few years, assesses its contribution to total employment numbers and presents some of its characteristics – both at European Union (EU) and at country level.

In recent years, sport has acquired a significant profile in a number of European strategies and programmes. Sound, comparable statistics on the economic and social significance of sport in the EU are therefore needed to support evidence-based policies in sport.

To do this, Eurostat, together with the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, has decided to carry out the regular collection and dissemination of statistics related to sport. These statistics reflect the multidisciplinary nature of sport and try to take into account its importance in various areas: employment, international trade, social cohesion and personal well-being.

Full article

Employment in sport - developments between 2021 and 2023

Employment in sport represents 1.5 million people in the EU, 0.8 % of total employment

In 2023, 1.5 million people were employed in sport in the EU. Men (55.2%) outnumbered women, resulting in a slightly narrower gender employment gap for people employed in this sector than observed in the total employment figures (see Table 1). Looking at employment by age, most people employed in sport belonged to the age group 30-64 years old. It is notable that the share of young people aged 15-29 employed in sport was more than twice the share of total employment. This contrasts with 30-64 year olds, whose share was 20.6 percentage points (pp) less than the numbers for total employment.

On the level of educational attainment, 45.9% of people employed in sport had a medium educational attainment level (International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) levels 3-4), followed by 39.6% with a high level (ISCED 5-8) and 14.4% with a low level (at most ISCED level 2). These percentages are close to those observed for overall employment: around 2 pps less for low, and 2 pps more for high levels of educational attainment.

Table showing employment in sport based on sociodemographic characteristics in number of persons and percentage in the EU for the year 2023.

Table 1: Employment in sport, EU, 2023
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_sex), (sprt_emp_age), (sprt_emp_edu), (lfsa_egan) and (lfsa_egised)

After a marked increase in 2022 compared with 2021, employment in sport continues to grow in 2023.

In 2023, the number of people employed in sport in the EU increased by around 33 000 compared to 2022 (up by 2.2%), with the share of people employed in sport stable at 0.8% of the total employed population.

Table 2: Employment in sport, 2021 to 2023
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_sex)

Employment in sport continued to grow in 2023 following the marked increase in 2022 that was attributed to the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The previous years, from 2020 to 2021, had been characterised by falls in several countries in the number of people employed in sport due to the decrease in the number of people taking part in organised sport due to COVID-19 restrictions. In 2022, employment in sport rose in 23 EU Member States compared to 2021. Malta (+137.5%), Greece (+47.6%) and Estonia (+42.9%) recorded the highest increases, while 4 countries still had a negative balance compared to 2021, namely: Bulgaria (-16.4%, note a break in the time series in 2022), Latvia (-13.3%), Cyprus (-13.2%), and Finland (-3.0%). In most of these countries, the number of people employed in sport is low, meaning that even a small variation could lead to a sizeable increase or decrease in the percentage (see Figure 1).

In 13 Member States employment in sport continued to grow between 2022 and 2023, following an increase from 2021 to 2022, while Bulgaria was the only Member State to grow in 2023 after a decrease in 2022. The biggest increases were in Romania (+31.7%), Bulgaria (+19.6%) and Italy (+19.5%). By contrast, 13 EU Member States saw a decrease in employment in sport in 2023, most notably Greece (-22.1%), Slovenia (-17.6%) and Lithuania (-13.2%).

Figure 1: Employment in sport - annual rates of change, 2021-2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_sex)

The gender employment gap in the sport sector has widened since 2011 (see Figure 2):

Men’s employment in sport grew steadily from 583 000 people in 2011 to 747 000 in 2019. There was a small drop of 5 500 in 2020, before increasing again in 2021 (+7 400), 2022 (+77 700, corresponding to a 10.4% increase) and in 2023 (+27 900, +3.4%).
The number of women employed in sport dropped in 2013 (-30 000 compared to 2012). Then, a few years of continuous increase in women’s employment in sport brought the number up to 624 000 in 2019, before dropping in 2020 (-49 900, -8%). Since 2021, the number of women employed in sport started increasing again, reaching in 2023 the highest level at 693 000 (+4 600, +0.7% compared to 2022).

Figure 2: Evolution of employment in sport by sex in the EU, 2011-2023
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_sex)

Characteristics of employment in sport in 2023

Employment in sport as a share of total employment

In 2023, employment in sport represented 0.8% of total employment in the EU, ranging from 0.3% in Romania to 1.3% in Sweden (see Figure 3). In Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia employment in sport accounted for at least 1% of total employment. At country level, the contribution of employment in sport to total employment increased in 19 of the 27 EU Member States during 2021-2023.

Figure 3: Employment in sport as a share of total employment, 2021 to 2023
(% of total employment)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_sex)

Men outnumber women in employment in sport

In 2023, men accounted for 55.2% of people employed in sport in the EU (see Figure 4), reflecting the structure of the total employed population. In most EU Member States, fewer women than men were employed in sport, with the biggest gaps in employment between men and women (at least two thirds of people employed in sport were men) in Slovenia (71.4% were men), Croatia (70.2%) and Romania (67.9 %). However, more women than men were employed in sport in Finland (53.3% were women), Sweden (52.3%) and Denmark (50.4%), while in Lithuania women accounted for half of the people employed in sport.

Figure 4: Employment in sport, by sex, 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_sex)

37% of people employed in sport are aged 15-29

Compared with the age structure of the total employed population (see Figure 5), young people accounted for a relatively large share of people employed in sport: in 2023, 37.4% of people employed in sport in the EU were aged 15 29. This is twice as much as in total employment (17.4%). In all countries for which data are available, the proportion of young people employed in sport outnumbered the proportion recorded in total employment. The difference was particularly significant in Spain and Greece, where the proportion of young people employed in sport was respectively 3.0 and 2.8 times higher than in total employment. This was also the case for Sweden and Belgium (2.5 times higher). In 6 Member States at least 40% of people employed in sport were young people: Denmark (51.5%), Sweden (48.9%), the Netherlands (47.8%), Finland (46.5%), Belgium (45.4%) and Spain (43.6%). At the other end of the spectrum, those aged 15-29 accounted for less than 30% of people employed in sport in only 8 countries, with the lowest percentage in Czechia (20.9%).

Figure 5: Share of people aged 15-29 years employed in sport and in total employment, 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_age) and (lfsa_egan)

39.6% of people employed in sport have completed tertiary education

In terms of the educational background of people employed in sport in the EU in 2023, 39.6% had completed tertiary education (see Figure 6). This figure was slightly higher than the proportion of tertiary education graduates in total employment (37.8 %). In 3 Member States, at least 60% of people working in sport were tertiary education graduates: Cyprus (77.4%), Latvia (61.2%) and Lithuania (60.6%). In another 3 Member States, this proportion was over 50%. Of the 24 Member States with reliable data, 10 had a lower proportion of tertiary education graduates employed in sport than the EU average of 39.6%, with the lowest percentages in Finland (24.6%) and Denmark (23.3%). In 2023, Romania had the highest proportion of tertiary education graduates employed in sport compared to total employment figures (with a ratio of 2.6), followed by Cyprus, Latvia, Greece, Croatia and Portugal (all with a ratio of 1.5). In 10 Member States, the proportion of tertiary education graduates in employment in sport was lower than in total employment.

Figure 6: Share of tertiary education graduates, in employment in sport and in total employment, 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_edu) and (lfsa_egised)

Focus on young and tertiary educated people

The share of young people employed in sport continued to rise in 2023, while the proportion of tertiary education graduates stabilised in 2023, following a steady increase

Different trends can be seen between 2011 and 2023 in the two socio-demographic characteristics analysed in the previous sections, the 15-29 age group and tertiary education (see Figure 7):

The share of those employed in sport who are young people fell by 1.8 pps between 2011 and 2013, before increasing to almost 35% in 2017. It then dropped significantly from 2019 to 2021, by 2.7 pps. In 2022, it started to increase again, reaching 37.4% of all people employed in sport in 2023.
Conversely, the share of people employed in sport who were tertiary education graduates increased every year from 2011 to 2021 (except 2020), rising from 28.5% in 2011 to 39.5% in 2021, before stabilising in 2022 (39.4%) and 2023 (39.6%).

Figure 7: Evolution of share of people aged 15-29 years and of tertiary education graduates in employment in sport in the EU, 2011-2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (sprt_emp_age) and (sprt_emp_edu)

Source data for tables and graphs

Employment in sport: tables and figures

Data sources

As there is no Eurostat data collection specifically for sport, sport statistics are derived from existing EU data collections. Employment statistics related to sport are extracted from the results of the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) — the main source of information on the EU labour market and employment trends.

The purpose of these statistics is to highlight the contribution that sport makes to overall employment, and the main characteristics of employment in sport (using variables such as age, sex or educational attainment).

Methodology/Metadata

Employment in sport is measured using the central statistical definition from the Vilnius definition of sport, covering the core sporting activities under NACE Rev.2 group 93.1 — Sports activities.

The variable occupation has also been introduced as part of the scope of employment in sport: all jobs in a NACE economic sector and jobs in a sports occupation (ISCO, 'International Standard Classification of Occupations') outside the NACE sport sector are considered simultaneously. In practice, this means that all workers recorded in NACE Rev.2 group 93.1 (Sports activities) and/or ISCO-08 code 342 (Sports and fitness workers) fall within the scope of this definition of sport. In other words, employment in sport includes the working population employed:

in a sports-related occupation in the sports sector (ISCO-08 code 342*NACE Rev.2 group 93.1), e.g. professional athletes, professional coaches in fitness centres, etc.;
in a non-sports occupation in the sports sector (NACE Rev.2 group 93.1), e.g. receptionists in fitness centres;
in a sports-related job (ISCO-08 code 342) outside the sports sector, e.g. school sport instructors.

NACE Rev.2 group 93.1 includes:

the activities of sports teams or clubs whose primary activity is participating in live sports events before a paying audience;
independent athletes who take part in live sporting or racing events before a paying audience;
owners of vehicles or animals that take part in races (such as cars, dogs or horses) who are primarily engaged in entering them in racing or other spectator sports events;
sports trainers providing specialised services to support participants in sporting events or competitions;
operators of arenas and stadiums;
other activities of organising, promoting or managing sports events, not elsewhere classified.

ISCO-08 code 342 includes sports and fitness workers (athletes, players, coaches, instructors and officials, fitness and recreation instructors and programme leaders).

The employment figures presented here are person counts, not full-time equivalents. In other words, they include all paid workers in sport-related jobs, regardless of their work pattern (full-time or part-time). The EU-LFS collects detailed information on the economic activity and occupation only for the respondent’s main job and therefore omits information pertaining to secondary jobs. As such, these secondary jobs are excluded from the aggregates covering employment in sport. In view of these aspects and the approach adopted, the data are likely to underestimate the true extent of employment in this field.

Time series

Regulation (EU) 2019/1700, which came into force on 1 January 2021, resulted in a break in the EU-LFS time series for several Member States. To monitor the evolution of employment and unemployment despite the break in the time series, Member States assessed the impact of the break in their country and computed impact factors or break-corrected data for a set of indicators. Break-corrected data are published for the EU-LFS main indicators.

More information on the EU-LFS can be found via the online publication EU-LFS, which includes eight articles on the technical and methodological aspects of the survey. The EU-LFS methodology in force from the 2021 data collection onwards is described in methodology from 2021 onwards. Detailed information on coding lists, explanatory notes and classifications used over time can be found under documentation.

Context

The multiannual work programme EU work plan for Sport for 2021-2024) agreed by the EU Council, sets the priorities and principles for cooperation on sport between the European Commission and the Member States.

Several expert groups have been set up to achieve concrete results. Among them, the Expert Group on the Economic Dimension of Sport (XG ECO) and the Expert Group on Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (XG HEPA) play a key role in implementing evidence-based policies in the sports sector. XG ECO, for example, has developed an economic definition of sport ('Vilnius definition'), and made progress towards developing Sport Satellite Accounts in some EU Member States. XG HEPA is working on implementing the Council recommendations on physical activity adopted in 2013. These include a monitoring framework with indicators for both the level of physical activity, and policies to promote physical activity, in Member States. Eurostat comparable data on international trade, employment in sport, participation in sports activities, etc. make a valuable contribution to monitoring and developing the EU’s policies in this area.