On Dec. 7, 2022, Strava released the figures of its annual “Year in Sports.” With over 100 million users in 195 countries, data from the Strava platform provides excellent insight into the outdoor industry, sports and fitness trends, and areas of growth that can be pursued.
The Strava Sports Year 2022 Report analyzes the public activity uploads on Strava between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022. With hundreds of millions of activities from around the world, it paints a big picture of where and how individuals have been exploring.
Here are some of the main takeaways.
Cycling, e-bikes and trail sports continue to grow in popularity
- Trail sports are having a moment. Hiking’s popularity has tripled on Strava over the last 3 years, and 52 percent of users uploaded trail activities to Strava in 2022, whether that be gravel biking, trail running or even ultra running.
- The popularity of e-bikes seems cemented, especially in Europe. The share of cyclists on Strava with an e-bike ride increased 26 percent this year. There are differences in the uses between e-bikes and regular bikes, with e-bike rides 30 percent more likely to be commuters than non-ebikes.
- In some cities, including Paris, commuting has increased significantly compared to 2019. In fact, two out of three bike rides in Paris and London are commutes. That Paris partnered with Strava Metro to build better cycling infrastructure shows the importance of cooperation between the industry and governmental bodies to provide better access to activities.
- Strava users seem to be running and cycling longer distances more often. The percentage of runners on Strava who ran a marathon nearly doubled compared to 2021.
Sports participants are increasingly looking for community
In a live stream from Tate Modern, London, that coincided with the release of the figures, a series of panel discussions provided more food for thought for the industry.
The first panel – featuring Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, co-founder of Black Trail Runners, Sam Prynn, co-founder of StrongHER, and Paul Sinton-Hewitt, founder and executive director of Parkrun – stressed the importance of community and company when encouraging physical activity of any kind. Individuals are more likely to get out and take part in activities when they have a community to do this with. In January, for example, cyclists and runners with grouped activities recorded 87 percent and 78 percent more active time, respectively, than their solo counterparts.
Why is this important? If brands can provide communities along with their products, they may see an uptake in users and market opportunities. (Good examples would be Lululemon and Gymshark).
Representation in the outdoor and sporting industry matters
The other key discussion point, which also continued into the second panel with Lucy Charles Barkley, professional triathlete, Rose Harvey, marathon runner, Haroon Mota, founder of Active Inclusion Network, and Werdah Hussain of 10Ironwomen, was the overwhelming importance of broadening representation in sports and in the outdoors.
All participants of the panels emphasized the message, “You can’t be it if you can’t see it.”
To increase activity uptake in women and across all ethnic groups, brands can do their part to increase the visibility and representation of more marginalized groups; whether that be advertising choices, sponsorships, or allyship in the community.
