Our response to Sport England’s Active Lives 2024-25 Report

While overall activity levels are at a record high, and continue to rise, significant inequalities remain. Disabled people are still one of the least active groups and are far more likely to be inactive than non-disabled people (39.3% vs 19.7%). The proportion of disabled people who are inactive has remained broadly unchanged from last year, and the fairness gap has widened slightly to 19.6% (compared to 19.3% last year).

Despite these challenges, there has been long-term progress. Since the end of the pandemic, activity levels of disabled people have shown an upward trend. Across the decade, the proportion of active disabled adults has increased by 5.4%, a greater increase than that seen among non-disabled adults (3.0%).

Overall, the findings highlight that while England is becoming more active, not everyone is benefiting equally. Disabled people are still twice as likely to be inactive compared to non-disabled people. We support Sport England’s continued focus to tackle inequalities and their commitment to making sports and activities more inclusive and accessible for everyone.

Responding to the findings Adam Blaze, CEO of Activity Alliance said:

"We welcome today’s Sport England’s Active Lives figures. We are seeing sustained growth in activity levels amongst disabled adults over the long-term and this growth is greater than that amongst non-disabled adults (5.4% vs 3%). Nearly half of all disabled adults (49.1%) are now active for more than 150+ minutes a week, this is the highest recorded figure since the Active Lives Survey began.

"This shows what is possible when opportunities are inclusive and shaped by disabled people’s lived experiences. Programmes such as Get Out Get Active and Include to Improve show the impact of co‑production, local delivery and approaches that focus on enjoyment, confidence and social connection.

"However, the figures also make clear that inequalities persist. Disabled adults are still one of the least active populations and are far more likely to be inactive than non-disabled people (39.3% vs 19.7%). This gap has increased slightly to 19.6%, compared to 19.3% last year.  

"This emphasises the importance of focusing resource on supporting those that are inactive, our research shows that disabled people are not provided with a wide enough variety of meaningful opportunities. When you consider overlapping identities where disability intersects with poverty, age, ethnicity or gender, the inactivity gap widens further.

"The good news is that our Social Value Report shows there is significant value in getting inactive disabled people more active, this will benefit society as a whole. We estimate that the activity gap between disabled and non-disabled people costs society £10.9 billion. To help reduce this cost and support disabled people to receive the benefits of being active we call on decision makers to invest in accessible facilities and inclusive workforces, and activity leaders to remove barriers, and embed disabled people’s voices at every stage of design and delivery.

"This is a moment to recognise steady progress, but also to raise the nation’s ambition. At Activity Alliance we are growing a movement for change, strengthened by the more than 300 organisations that have already committed to our new supporter scheme. As the leading voice for disabled people in sports and activities, we will continue working with partners to ensure disabled people can take part, volunteer and lead."

Inactivity levels for disabled people

Inactivity levels (doing less than 30 minutes of activity a week) for disabled people remain unchanged from last year. The data shows disabled people remain one of the least active groups.

• This year, 39.3% (estimated 6.56 million[1]) disabled people were inactive, compared to 19.7% of non-disabled people. This means that almost two-fifths of disabled people are not experiencing the well-known benefits of being active. Supporting disabled people to move from being inactive to fairly active, an average of 30-149 minutes of activity a week, is a crucial first step in narrowing inequalities.
• Disabled people’s activity levels have shown an upward trend across the decade. The proportion of disabled adults who are active has increased by 5.4% since 2014, compared to a 3.0% increase seen among non-disabled adults.
• The proportion of disabled adults who are inactive has decreased by 4.0% since 2014, compared to a 1.3% decrease seen among non-disabled adults.
• The fairness gap, measuring the difference between the proportion of inactive disabled people and the proportion of inactive non-disabled people, has widened marginally to 19.6%.
• Consistent with findings since 2014, the more impairments a disabled person has, the more likely they are to be inactive.

Multiple impairments

Over seven in ten disabled people have more than one impairment. Disabled people with multiple impairments are consistently more likely to be inactive, and findings show inactivity increases as the number of impairments increases. Nearly half (46.7%) of those with 3+ impairments are inactive, compared to 30.2% of those with one impairment. Conversely disabled people with one impairment are more likely to be active (59.9%), compared to those with 3+ impairments (41.2%).

Disabled people with multiple impairments are also less likely to have taken part in sport and activity twice within the last 28 days, as 57.1% of those with 3+ impairments have done so compared to 72.8% of those with one impairment.

Other inequalities 

The data highlights that demographic and social factors continue to have a significant impact on how active people are. While overall activity levels are rising, the benefits are not equally shared.

Activity levels are lowest among adults with two or more characteristics of inequality. Only 44% of those with two or more characteristics meet the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines[2], compared with 63% of those with one characteristic and 75% of those with none. This demonstrates how inequalities can compound and significantly reduce the likelihood of activity.

Lower activity levels remain for adults from lower socio-economic backgrounds (those in semi-routine and routine occupations; long-term unemployment or have never worked), older adults, some ethnic groups, and women. We know disability often intersects with these inequalities: disabled people are more likely to experience poverty[3], woman are more likely to be disabled than men, and disability becomes more prevalent with age.

The findings show the importance of continuing to consider an individual’s social and demographic factors alongside someone’s impairment or health condition. Sport England's Inequality Metric, launched in 2024, reflects this intersectional approach and helps further identify who is least likely to be active.

About the survey

This report presents data from the Active Lives Adult survey for 2024-25. Data is presented from 176,326 adults aged 16 and over in England. Data was collected between November 2024 and November 2025 via online and paper questionnaires. The survey is delivered by Ipsos Mori and weighted to Office for National Statistics demographic and geographic profiles.

Useful resources

Working with partners, we are building a collective voice to support organisations and people who deliver activities to support disabled people to be active. 

Here are some useful resources: 

• Our Learning Hub provides access to CIMSPA accredited learning opportunities and courses to empower everyone with practical tools and creative ideas to make sports and activities more inclusive for everyone. 
• Sport England's Inequality Metric was launched in 2024 and helps organisations make better decisions to reduce inequalities in sport and physical activity.
• Our Access for All guide offers practical and cost-effective solutions to create welcoming and safe environments for everyone.
• We Are Undefeatable’s The 'Bridging the Gap' Report focuses on understanding how to better support people living with a long-term condition to become more active. 
• Our Annual Survey Secondary Analysis Report offers further data from 2019 to 2024 to help organisations better understand intersectionality in sports and activities.
• Join our alliance of supporters who share our vision and are committed to making sports and activities inclusive for every disabled person.

More research and insight

Visit our research page to learn more about our work gathering insight on disabled people’s experiences and perceptions of sport and activity.

To discuss this response or our wider research, please contact the Activity Alliance research team: research@activityalliance.org.uk

[1] Department for Work & Pensions, UK Disability Statistics 

[2] UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines 2019

[3] Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK Poverty Report 2025