New study highlights benefits of sport

A new study commissioned by Sport Ireland and Sheffield Hallam University’s Sport Industry Research Centre has highlighted the huge benefits sport has on Irish society and economy.

The highlights of the study revealed that participation in sport and physical activity prevents nearly 100,000 cases of disease annually, generating savings to the Government of nearly €0.4bn.

Sport-related jobs accounted for 2.8 per cent of all Irish employment in 2018 and sport volunteering in Ireland is valued at €1.5bn.

Consumers in Ireland spent €3.3bn on sports-related goods and services in 2018 and over the past 10 years, the sports economy has grown faster than the economy as a whole according to the study.

The aim of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of the value of sport in Ireland and the returns that Government investment in sport provides across relevant policy areas such as physical and mental health, economic activity, tourism, sport club membership and volunteering. Some 97,000 cases of disease were prevented in Ireland due to physical activity participation in 2019 for a total cost saving over €405m.

Diseases prevented included stroke, certain cancers and Type 2 diabetes.

In 2018 the sports sector employed more than 64,000 people in Ireland and consumer expenditure on sport-related goods and services in Ireland in 2018 was €3,341.6m, or 3.1 per cent of total consumers' expenditure.

It was largely driven by the participation elements of sport such as subscription to sports clubs (€622.9m), clothing and footwear (€568.8m) and subscriptions to fitness and dance (€490.9m).

The research study was broken down in to two main parts, firstly the economic impact of sport in Ireland, including an economic valuation of sport volunteering and secondly the value of the health impact of participation in sport and physical activity.

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