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Exercise Participation by Age Statistics

Age-based exercise findings from Europe, Singapore and the United States, spanning weekly participation, activity guidelines, daily time and adolescent context.

November 12, 2026 8 min read fitnessbodyequipment.com Editorial Team

Contents

Exercise participation by age statistics: weekly sport and fitness participation across age groups

Weekly participation offers one view of how often people take part in sport, keep fit or pursue recreational physical activity. In the 2019 European Health Interview Survey wave, 65% of the EU population aged 15–24 reported doing one of these activities at least once a week. The share was 53% among people aged 25–34, 47% at ages 35–44, and 44% at ages 45–54. It was 39% among those aged 55–64 and 31% among people aged 65 and older. These figures cover non-work activity and use the population aged 15 and older as the denominator. Source: Eurostat, Sport participation – practicing sport and physical activity, Table 2

Country figures show that the EU-wide pattern does not describe every member state equally. In Denmark, 82% of people aged 15–24 took part at least weekly, compared with 71% of those aged 65 and older. Bulgaria’s corresponding figure for ages 15–24 was 42%. The values are country-specific 2019 estimates using the same broad weekly sport, fitness or recreational-activity measure. The selected figures do not establish why participation differed between countries or age groups. Source: Eurostat, Sport participation – practicing sport and physical activity, Table 2

Population, 2019Age groupParticipated at least weekly
EU15–2465%
EU25–3453%
EU35–4447%
EU45–5444%
EU55–6439%
EU65 and older31%

The EU series describes a stepwise decline across these reported age bands. It measures whether people participated at least once a week, not how long they exercised, how intense the activity was, or whether they met a health guideline. Source: Eurostat, Sport participation – practicing sport and physical activity, Table 2

Exercise participation by age statistics: combined aerobic and strength activity by age

A narrower measure asks whether adults performed both health-enhancing aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activity in a typical week. In 2019, 26.9% of EU adults aged 18–24 met this combined measure. The share was 20.5% among those aged 25–34, 14.3% at ages 35–44, 12.6% at ages 45–54, 10.1% at ages 55–64, and 7.4% among adults aged 65 and older. These percentages refer to the combined activities, rather than participation in either one alone. Source: Eurostat, Health-enhancing physical activity statistics, Table 2 and page 3

EU adults, 2019Combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity in a typical week
Ages 18–2426.9%
Ages 25–3420.5%
Ages 35–4414.3%
Ages 45–5412.6%
Ages 55–6410.1%
Ages 65 and older7.4%

Country examples add context to the EU age profile. Germany recorded 45.8% among adults aged 18–24, while Denmark recorded 37.4% in that age group. Sweden recorded 25.2% among adults aged 65 and older. Each is a country-and-age estimate for the same combined typical-week measure. They should not be treated as directly interchangeable with the broader weekly participation figures above: the definitions differ, and the combined activity measure has a more specific threshold. Source: Eurostat, Health-enhancing physical activity statistics, Table 2 and page 3

Exercise participation by age statistics: daily sports and exercise time by age

Time-use data describe a different outcome: average time spent in sports, exercise and recreation per day. In the 2025 American Time Use Survey, U.S. people aged 15–19 averaged 0.75 hours per day in these activities. The daily average was 0.40 hours for ages 20–24, 0.33 for ages 25–34, 0.30 for ages 35–44, and 0.30 for ages 45–54. It was 0.25 hours for ages 55–64, 0.34 for ages 65–74, and 0.27 for those aged 75 and older. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey — 2025 Results, Table 11A

U.S. civilian population, 2025Average hours per day in sports, exercise and recreation
Ages 15–190.75
Ages 20–240.40
Ages 25–340.33
Ages 35–440.30
Ages 45–540.30
Ages 55–640.25
Ages 65–740.34
Ages 75 and older0.27

These are averages for the civilian population across all days of the week, not percentages of people who participated. The series falls from the youngest listed group through ages 55–64, then rises to 0.34 hours among ages 65–74 before reaching 0.27 among people 75 and older. An average can reflect both participation and time among participants; it does not show either component separately. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey — 2025 Results, Table 11A

Exercise participation by age statistics: regular sport participation among Singapore residents

Singapore’s “Regular” category means taking part in sports or exercise at least once a week. In 2019, the reported rate was 77% among residents aged 13–19, 64% among those aged 20–39, 64% at ages 40–59, and 68% among residents aged 60 and older. In 2020, the respective age-group figures were 75%, 69%, 66% and 69%. The broad age bands and weekly definition make these figures useful as a separate national series, while still distinct from the EU measures. Source: Singapore data.gov.sg, Sport & Exercise Participation Level – By Age Group

Singapore residents2019 participating at least weekly2020 participating at least weekly
Ages 13–1977%75%
Ages 20–3964%69%
Ages 40–5964%66%
Ages 60 and older68%69%

Across these two years, the youngest group’s reported rate was 77% in 2019 and 75% in 2020. The 20–39 group was 64% then 69%; the 40–59 group, 64% then 66%; and the 60-and-older group, 68% then 69%. These are descriptive readings of the published values and do not identify reasons for year-to-year changes. Source: Singapore data.gov.sg, Sport & Exercise Participation Level – By Age Group

Exercise participation by age statistics: leisure-time exercise among U.S. women by age

CDC estimates for U.S. women aged 18–44 combine National Health Interview Survey results from 2022 and 2024. The “Meet both” measure represents self-reported leisure-time activity meeting both aerobic and muscle-strengthening recommendations. It was 27.8% among women aged 18–24, 26.2% at ages 25–29, 23.2% at ages 30–34, 24.2% at ages 35–39, and 22.7% at ages 40–44. Source: CDC, Leisure-Time Physical Activity Among Women of Reproductive Age — United States, 2022 and 2024, Table 1

U.S. women, 2022 and 2024 combinedMeeting both activity recommendations
Ages 18–2427.8%
Ages 25–2926.2%
Ages 30–3423.2%
Ages 35–3924.2%
Ages 40–4422.7%

The same report’s separate measure of no leisure-time muscle-strengthening activity gives a different view of the age groups. It was 50.5% among women aged 18–24, 53.4% at ages 25–29, 56.9% at ages 30–34, 57.8% at ages 35–39, and 59.6% at ages 40–44. These figures describe the “None” category for muscle-strengthening activity; they are not the complement of the “Meet both” percentages, which require meeting two recommendations. Source: CDC, Leisure-Time Physical Activity Among Women of Reproductive Age — United States, 2022 and 2024, Table 2

Exercise participation by age statistics: adolescent activity and screen-time context

For U.S. children and adolescents aged 12–17, 61.1% reported getting 60 minutes of physical activity most days or every day during July 2021–December 2023. The measure refers to a typical school-year week and is self-reported by children and adolescents in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population. It is an adolescent estimate for this period, not a comparison across narrower age bands. Source: CDC, QuickStats: Percentage of Children and Adolescents Aged 12–17 Years Who Participated in 60 Minutes of Physical Activity Most Days or Every Day, by Daily Hours of Screen Time Use — United States, July 2021–December 2023

The QuickStats also presents the activity measure by weekday screen-time group. Among adolescents reporting no more than 2 hours of daily screen time, 70.4% reported 60 minutes of activity most days or every day. Among those reporting at least 4 hours of daily screen time, the corresponding figure was 54.4%. Screen time here is contextual subgroup information: these values do not compare age bands, and the reported association does not establish that screen time caused a difference in activity. Source: CDC, QuickStats: Percentage of Children and Adolescents Aged 12–17 Years Who Participated in 60 Minutes of Physical Activity Most Days or Every Day, by Daily Hours of Screen Time Use — United States, July 2021–December 2023

Taken together, the measures cover distinct aspects of exercise: weekly participation, combined guideline activity, average daily time, and self-reported activity thresholds. Their populations, age bands and periods differ, so each statistic is best read within its own definition and source.

Sources

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