The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) issued through its official website www.stats.gov.sa today, Sunday 25/12/1443 AH corresponding to 07/24/2022 AD, the Publication of the Household Sports Practice Survey for the year 2021 AD. 

According to the publication results, the percentage of adults who practice physical activity (15 years and over) increased for at least 150 minutes per week during the year 2021 at the level of all regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to reach 29.7% compared to only 20% during the year 2019. This increase indicates the high awareness of society towards the practice of sports and physical activity, and indicates the provision of the basic capabilities required to help increase the time of exercise to raise the quality of life for the Kingdom’s population, which represents one of the axes of the Saudi Vision 2030. The indicator of practicing physical activity for at least 30 minutes per week is one of the indicators of the Quality of Life Program of the Vision Program, and it aims to promote the practice of sports activities in the community.

The publication results showed that 48.2% of the Kingdom’s population practice physical activity for at least 30 minutes per week, an increase of 3.2 points compared to 2019, where the percentage was 45%. The results also showed a significant difference between the percentages of males and females who practiced physical activity for at least 30 minutes per week, as the percentage of males was 54.8%, and the percentage of females was only 38.3%.

On the other hand, the World Health Organization recommends practicing physical activity, and confirms that individuals should practice moderate-intensity physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week, high-intensity physical activity for at least 75 minutes per week, or a combination of both.

According to the publication results, the percentage of the population who practice physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reached 29.7%, an increase of 9.7 percentage points compared to 2019. The percentage of males who practice physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week was 36.1%, while the percentage of females was 20.3%.

It is noteworthy that the publication results revealed a disparity between the regions of the Kingdom in terms of the percentages of adults who practice physical activity for at least 30 minutes per week, as the lowest percentage was 41.6% in Hail Region, while the highest percentage was 51.2% in the Eastern Region. The lowest percentage of adults who practice physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week was 24.3% in Al-Jouf Region, while the highest percentage was 32.9% in the Eastern Region.

The publication results also showed that there is a gap between males and females who practice physical activity in different regions, where the lowest difference between males and females who practice physical activity for at least 30 minutes per week was in Hail Region which reached 12.6%, while the highest difference between males and females was in Tabuk Region which reached 20.1%. The results showed that the lowest difference between males and females who practice physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week was in Qassim Region with a percentage of 13.1%, and the highest difference was in the Northern Border Region, where it reached 18.9%.