The number of registered sports participants in Italy dropped by 1,760,000 units in the 2019/20 period. The number of sports associations declined as well, with 5,166 of them shutting down during the two-year period. These are the key elements that emerge from I Numeri dello Sport 2019-2020 (Tr.: The Figures of Sport 2019-2020). This latest report on the Italian sport system was presented on July 14 at headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in Rome by CONI president Giovanni Malagò along with the head of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), Gian Carlo Blangiardo, and CONI secretary general Carlo Mornati.
The decline was mainly attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and its related restrictions – the shutdown of facilities for amateur sports in particular. The negative impact of pandemic-related measures was mitigated, however, by a series of countermeasures meant to attract and retain members, as well as by physical activities that people could take part in outdoors or in front of a computer and by the consolidation of new sporting disciplines, said CONI.
Football and Northern Italy take the lead
By number of participants, football has maintained its traditional leadership, still exceeding one million registered participants (1,024,726 in 2020). Next come tennis (325,954), volleyball (308,169), basketball (293,090) and athletics (211,771). Football leads by number of sports associations as well, with 11,915 associations, and is followed by volleyball (4,331), basketball (3,299), tennis (3,168) and cycling (2,980).
More than half of registered athletes (56 percent) and nearly half of all sports associations (48 percent) are in the north of the country. Only 22 percent of athletes and 22 percent of associations are in Central Italy. The south hosts 22 percent of athletes and 30 percent of all sports associations. The region of Lombardy, in the north, has the highest number of registered athletes (806,736) and sports associations (9,165). The three regions that will host the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games – Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino Alto-Adige – account for a combined 32.63 percent of all registered sports participants in the country.
Only 12% of Italian families spent money on sports
On a positive note, the fight against the sedentary lifestyle seems to be making progress. According to data from ISTAT, the share of Italians who do not participate in sports or physical activity is down to 33.7 percent (in 2021), from 35.2 percent in 2020 and 41.2 percent in 2013. Unfortunately, the sedentary lifestyle seems to be gaining ground among the youngest, especially in the 6-14 age group, probably because of a change in habits during the pandemic. This is also why the trend among adolescents is expected to return to a positive normal from 2022 onward.
Finally, data from ISTAT have revealed that in 2021 only 12.7 percent of the families residing in Italy spent money on sports, a dramatic drop from the 22.9 percent of 2019, as the pandemic dealt a blow both to the economy and to household budgets.
The full 38-page I Numeri dello Sport 2019-2020 report is availabe for download on the CONI website.
