How much do Europeans exercise?

Half of Europeans aged 18 or over did not exercise in 2014. While 49.8% of the population from European Union countries aged 18 or over did not exercise, almost a third (29.9%) spent at least two and a half hours each week doing physical activities. This included cycling as a form of transportation to and from work.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a minimum of two and a half hours of moderate-intensity physical activity per week for adults aged 18 or over.

The proportion of European men, aged 18 or over, exercising for at least 2.5 hours per week (34.5%) was higher than the proportion of European women exercising (25.6%) for the same duration each week.

The proportion of people exercising decreases with age, but increases with education level. Overall 40.5% of highly educated people spent at least 2.5 hours on physical activity each week compared to 19.2% of those with a low level of education.

Nordic countries have the highest share of active people. In the European Union, the highest proportions of people who exercised for at least 2.5 hours per week were in Finland (54.1%), Denmark (53.4%), Sweden (53.1%), Austria (49.8%), and Germany (47.3%).

At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest proportions of Europeans exercsing for at least 2.5 hours per week were in Romania (7.5%) and Bulgaria (9.0%).

Source: The Financial, 6 March 2017

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).