The global number of tennis players has risen above 100 million for the first time, according to the ITF Global Tennis Report for 2024, published on Nov. 28. Nearly 106 million people are playing tennis at some level in 199 countries, a 25.6 percent increase from the number of players recorded in 2019, for the report’s first edition.
The Global Tennis Report is a comprehensive portrait of today’s tennis landscape, from casual players who play at least once a year to top professionals. The 2024 report, described by the ITF as “the biggest-ever survey of tennis participation levels,” draws on data from tennis associations in more than 199 countries. These data are backed by information from independent sources, notably government and commercial agencies.
Asia has emerged as the top continent in absolute numbers of players, with 35.3 million, or 33.4 percent of the world’s overall tennis-playing population. The country with the highest number of tennis players is the US, with 23.8 million. However, in terms of population percentage, Great Britain ranks at 13.4 percent, followed by Canada at 12.8 percent. The US, by comparison, stands at about 7 percent.
In terms of infrastructure, there are 698,034 tennis courts worldwide, of which 91.2 percent are outdoors.
Quite surprisingly, the percentage of female players is down from 47 percent in 2019 to 40.3 percent now, even though the absolute number of women and girls playing tennis has grown by 8.3 percent. However, the ITF urges caution in interpreting these numbers, arguing that the level of female participation was possibly overestimated in 2019, while the figures for the 2024 report draw from additional data sources and are probably more reliable. Meanwhile, according to the latest report, the ITF has identified a need for more female coaches, since only 24.3 percent of coaches are women.
The ITF Global Tennis Report 2024 was coordinated and produced by the ITF’s Tennis Development Department, headed by Executive Director Luca Santilli. The organization has now committed to publishing the Global Tennis Report every four years, in the same years as the Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The next report is therefore scheduled for release in 2028.
