Manchester Met has partnered with Sport England and two other organisations, in a major new report into the social value generated by sport and activity which is calculated at £107.2 billion per year.
The value is made up of £96.7 billion in annual wellbeing value for adults, children and young people taking part and volunteering in sport and physical activity – and a further £10.5 billion in wider savings to the health and social care system a year.
This relieves pressure on the NHS through the prevention of illness, reduced mental health service usage, fewer GP visits and a reduced need for informal (unpaid) care, says the report.
Through in-depth analysis of Sport England’s Active Lives data, plus reviewing wider evidence for the health benefits of being active, (including the costs associated with the treatment and care of illness and poor health), the research reveals the profound social and economic benefits of sport and physical activity for communities across England.
Larissa Davies, Professor of Applied Sports Economics at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, who was research lead for the project, and co-authored the health element of the research with Sheffield Hallam, is a renowned expert in measuring the social and economic value of sport and physical activity.
She said: “This research builds on previous social value studies we have carried out for Sport England, by measuring a greater number of health outcomes, and valuing sport and physical activity for different groups in society.
“It highlights the considerable value of sport and physical activity, but also the cost of unequal levels of participation across the population in England, and the untapped potential value of sport and physical activity if this can be
Being active relieves some of the NHS burden, preventing 1.3 million cases of depression, 600,000 of diabetes and 57,000 of dementia (the UK’s leading cause of death) – saving billions a year
Being active saves £540 million on reduced GP visits & £780 million on reduced mental health service use
Being physically active generates a wellbeing value of £2,500 per adult a year – while being ‘fairly active’ also brings significant benefits of £1,200 per adult
Active children and young people (aged 11 to 16) generate a wellbeing value of £4,100 annually; for fairly active children, it’s £3,100
Wellbeing values are higher than average for many groups that are most likely to experience inequalities in participation – such as older people, people with disabilities or a long-term health condition, as well as people from Asian backgrounds
For adults who are disabled and/or live with a long-term health condition, being active generates a wellbeing value of £5,100 a year – more than double than for the average active adult
For adults with two or more intersecting characteristics of inequality – such as an older person who is disabled – wellbeing values from an active lifestyle are £3,800 per ‘active’ adult annually – around 50% higher per person than the population average
However, the social cost of inequalities in adult activity levels is calculated at £15.6 billion a year
Sport England Chief Executive, Tim Hollingsworth said:
“Our research is unequivocal in making the case for sport and physical activity to be a central part of the solutions to the issues facing our country. We build wealth through health: people playing sport and leading active lives turbo-charges wellbeing, prevents illness, relieves NHS pressure and can boost our health and economic growth.”
Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England said:
“Being physically active is one of the best things we can do to stay healthy and independent throughout our lives, and sport is one of the most enjoyable ways to achieve this. The greatest health gains are from helping people who do little activity to do a bit more. This report shows that we need make it easier for particular groups to engage in physical activity including sport.”
