Contents
- Exercise participation by gender statistics: Daily and infrequent activity in Ireland
- Exercise participation by gender statistics: Daily activity by age and sex
- Exercise participation by gender statistics: Time spent in sports and exercise
- exercise participation by gender: Gender patterns in sport, gym-based activity, and participation in Ireland
- exercise participation by gender: Reasons for exercise participation and nonparticipation by gender
- Sources
Exercise participation by gender statistics: Daily and infrequent activity in Ireland
Ireland’s 2025 Health and Lifestyle SILC asked respondents aged 16 and over how often they engaged in sports, fitness, or recreational physical activity for at least 10 continuous minutes. In this measure, 33.1% of females reported activity once a day or more, compared with 30.6% of males. At the less frequent end, 24.7% of females and 26.6% of males said they were active never or less than once a week. These are reported frequency categories, not measures of exercise duration or intensity. Source: Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025 — Physical Activity and Diet
| Frequency among Irish respondents aged 16 and over | Females, 2025 | Males, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Once a day or more | 33.1% | 30.6% |
| Never or less than once a week | 24.7% | 26.6% |
Source for table: Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025 — Physical Activity and Diet
The 2022-to-2025 comparison shows different movement in the lowest-frequency category. For females aged 16 and over, the share reporting activity never or less than once a week was 23.5% in 2022 and 24.7% in 2025. For males, it was 26.6% in both years. The same source reports daily activity rising from 29.5% in 2022 to 33.1% in 2025 for females, and from 28.3% to 30.6% for males. Each comparison concerns reported frequency in Ireland and these two survey years; it does not establish why the values changed. Source: Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025 — Physical Activity and Diet
Exercise participation by gender statistics: Daily activity by age and sex
In 2025, daily activity rates varied across the Irish age groups reported. Among respondents aged 18–34, 33.4% of females and 32.5% of males reported daily exercise. For those aged 50–64, the figures were 34.4% for females and 29.8% for males. Among respondents aged 65 and over, daily exercise was reported by 37.3% of females and 37.1% of males. The age-specific comparisons show that the female and male rates were close among 18–34-year-olds and those aged 65 and over, while a larger separation appears in the 50–64 group. Source: Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025 — Physical Activity and Diet
| Age group in Ireland | Females reporting daily exercise, 2025 | Males reporting daily exercise, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 18–34 | 33.4% | 32.5% |
| 50–64 | 34.4% | 29.8% |
| 65 and over | 37.3% | 37.1% |
Source for table: Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025 — Physical Activity and Diet
These figures describe the proportion within each age and sex group who reported daily exercise. They do not show how long each person exercised, the type of activity, or whether it met a particular fitness guideline. The overall figures for Irish respondents aged 16 and over and the age-group figures both concern daily activity, but age composition differs across those populations, so they should be read in their stated scopes. Source: Health and Lifestyle SILC 2025 — Physical Activity and Diet
Exercise participation by gender statistics: Time spent in sports and exercise
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2025 American Time Use Survey measures sports, exercise, and recreation as a primary activity. Among the civilian population aged 15 and over, 25.7% of men and 21.1% of women engaged in that category on an average day. This participation measure is about whether the activity was the person’s primary activity during the day; it does not count exercise done simultaneously with another primary activity. Source: American Time Use Survey — 2025 Results
Among people who did engage in sports, exercise, and recreation as their primary activity on an average day, men averaged 1.66 hours and women averaged 1.25 hours. Across the full civilian population aged 15 and over, the average primary-activity time was 0.43 hours per day for men and 0.26 hours for women. The participant-only averages and the population-wide averages have different denominators, so they answer different questions: typical time among people who engaged in the activity versus average recorded time across the population. Source: American Time Use Survey — 2025 Results
| U.S. sports, exercise, and recreation as primary activity, 2025 annual average | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Engaged on an average day | 25.7% | 21.1% |
| Average hours per day among people who engaged | 1.66 hours | 1.25 hours |
| Average hours per day across civilian population aged 15 and over | 0.43 hours | 0.26 hours |
Source for table: American Time Use Survey — 2025 Results
The BLS category includes recreational activity as well as sports and exercise, so it is broader than gym attendance. It also records primary activities only. These figures therefore provide a time-use comparison, not a direct measure of all movement or exercise during a day. Source: American Time Use Survey — 2025 Results
exercise participation by gender: Gender patterns in sport, gym-based activity, and participation in Ireland
The Irish Labour Force Survey for Q3 2025 found that 72.9% of women and 72.1% of men aged 15–74 participated in at least one sport or physical exercise. In estimated participant counts, this represented 1,503,300 women and 1,462,700 men. The rates describe participation within each sex group, while the counts are totals; they are not interchangeable measures. Source: Labour Force Survey — Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025
For the full population aged 15–74, gym-based activities had a participation rate of 22.4% in Q3 2025. The rate was 28.1% among people aged 15–24, where gym-based activities were the most common activity reported. Among those aged 45–74, 15.5% participated in gym-based activity; walking or hiking was reported by 52.0% and swimming by 9.9% in that age group. These are age-specific activity measures, not sex-disaggregated gym rates. Source: Labour Force Survey — Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025
The overall participation rate of 72.5% in the same Irish release refers to people aged 15–74 who participated in at least one sport or physical exercise. Walking or hiking was reported by 42.3% of that population, followed by gym-based activities at 22.4% and swimming at 9.8%. The activity percentages describe different forms of participation and should not be added together as if they were mutually exclusive categories. Source: Labour Force Survey — Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025
exercise participation by gender: Reasons for exercise participation and nonparticipation by gender
Among Irish participants in sport or physical exercise in Q3 2025, improving physical health and fitness was cited by 87.9% of women and 86.4% of men. Improving mental well-being was reported by 51.1% of female participants and 47.9% of male participants. These responses concern people who participated, and each percentage is the share of participants of that sex who cited the reason. Source: Labour Force Survey — Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025
Other reported reasons show different patterns. The social element was cited by 29.9% of male participants and 24.6% of female participants. Improving performance was cited by 16.9% of men and 10.6% of women, while participating in competitions was cited by 12.8% of men and 6.0% of women. The figures describe reported motivations; they do not indicate that any one reason caused participation or that the reasons were exclusive. Source: Labour Force Survey — Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025
For people who did not participate in sport or physical exercise in Ireland in Q3 2025, 41.0% of men cited work as a reason. Among female nonparticipants, 27.3% cited family commitments and 26.7% cited work. These are reasons among nonparticipants, separate from the motivations reported by participants. The available values here do not provide a complete ranked list of nonparticipation reasons for both sexes, so the figures should be read as specific reported reasons rather than a full comparison of all barriers. Source: Labour Force Survey — Sports and Physical Exercise Q3 2025