Sport England
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Record number of women get active
Figures show surge in the number of women playing sport and getting active.
More than 7.2 million women now play sport and do regular physical activity – 250,000 more than when we launched our This Girl Can campaign. It means the gender gap, which once stood at over two million, has narrowed to 1.55 million.
The latest figures from our Active People Survey shows more people than ever are getting active. The number now stands at 15.97 million people over the age of 16 playing sport weekly. That's up 229,400 from 12 months ago.
This is also higher than the figure recorded in October 2012 and is 1.88 million more than when London won the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Jennie Price, Sport England chief executive, said: “These figures are really encouraging, especially the substantial increase in the number of women playing sport and being active every week. Our This Girl Can campaign set out to tackle the gender gap, so to reduce it significantly in just two years shows we are making a difference.”
Keep fit sessions and going to the gym remain hugely popular, with the number of people taking part every week reaching 7.10 million, up 286,400 in the last 12 months.
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