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 regional divide in activity levels continues to widen, with most long-term growth coming from areas that already have higher activity levels. 32.8% of those who live in the most deprived areas in England are inactive (IMD 1-3). This compares with 24.0% in mid-deprivation areas (IMD 4-7), and 19.3% in the least deprived areas (IMD 8-10). Activity levels also vary greatly between local authorities across the country.

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.

Further analysis

Mental wellbeing

Despite an upward trend in activity levels, disabled people’s personal wellbeing remains unchanged compared to 12 months ago and is still worse than the survey’s baseline nine years ago.

Disabled people’s wellbeing is consistently lower than non-disabled people. Findings show disabled people are more likely to report lower average scores of life satisfaction (5.74 vs 7.34), happiness (5.88 vs 7.42) and feelings of worthwhileness (6.19 vs 7.47). The more impairments a disabled person has, the more likely they are to report decreased average scores, experiencing lower personal wellbeing. Disabled people also report higher average scores for anxiety (4.63 vs 3.25) compared to non-disabled people.  

The Active Lives report shows the positive associations between activity levels and mental wellbeing, some activity is good, more is better.

Attitudes 

Disabled people are less likely to have positive attitudes and experiences of sport and activity relating to their capability, opportunities and enjoyment as well as inclusivity, representation and safety in sport and activity spaces.

Disabled people are over half as likely than non-disabled people to feel they ‘have the ability to be physically active’, with 17.5% of disabled people strongly agreeing compared to 45.5% of non-disabled people. The more impairments a disabled person has the less likely they are to agree to having the ability to be physically active, with 9.8% of those with 3+ impairments agreeing compared to 28.3% of those with one impairment, meaning those with 3+ impairments are 3 times less likely to agree than those with one impairment.

Disabled people are half as likely to feel they ‘have the opportunity to be physically active,’ with 17.4% of disabled people strongly agreeing compared to 39.5% of non-disabled people. The more impairments a disabled person has the less likely they are to agree, 11.1% of those with 3+ impairments compared to 25.5% of those with one impairment.

Disabled people are less likely to ‘find sport and activity enjoyable and satisfying’, with 22.0% of disabled people strongly agreeing compared to 39.3% of non-disabled people. Again, the more impairments a disabled person has the less likely they are to agree, 16.8% of those with 3+ impairments compared to 28.9% of those with one impairment.

Disabled people are less likely to find the places and environments where they exercise to be inclusive and welcoming, with 17.1% of disabled people strongly agreeing compared to 26.6% of non-disabled people. Disabled people are less likely to ’see people who are similar’ to them at places and environment where they exercise, as 15.0% of disabled people strongly agree compared to 23.5% of non-disabled people.

Disabled people are less likely to find the public places and settings where they exercise to be safe, with 16.1% of disabled people strongly agreeing compared to 24.4% of non-disabled people.

However, recent changes to the questionnaire have impacted the attitudes data. Sport England advises that the latest findings should not be used to inform policy decisions.

Types of activity 

Overall walking (61.5%), sporting activities (36.2%), and active travel (33.8%) remain the highest broad activity categories for adults. This year has seen an increase in gym and fitness activity, and fitness classes remain the most common form of fitness activity done. Activity patterns are shifting away from organised sport towards more flexible, accessible and individual ways of being active, with running up by 0.5% from last year, and fitness activities up by 1.4% from last year.

Disabled people are less likely to have taken part in at least two muscle strengthening sessions in the last week (32.0% vs 49.3%). Like other data, participation decreases as the number of impairments increases.

The types of activities participants can report include some disability-specific sports; boccia, goalball, paragliding, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair rugby. Consistent with previous years there is still no responses to disability-specific activities. Therefore, data is not available about disability or impairment specific sports and physical activity. Currently, the data only breaks down types of activities by gender. However, using the Sport England Active Lives tool, when updated with this year’s data, will enable types of activity data to be examined by disability. Read our guidance on how best to use the tool.  

Volunteering

A person counts as having volunteered if they’ve taken part in a volunteering role to support sport/physical activity in the past 12 months. While overall levels of volunteering are slowly increasing, this growth is not reflected among disabled people.

Disabled people remain less likely than non-disabled people to have volunteered in sport and activity within the last year (17.3% vs 24.6%). For disabled people this has decreased significantly (by 3.2%) since the Active Lives survey began nine years ago.

The more impairments a disabled person has, the less likely they are to have volunteered in sport and activity. Only 13.9% of those with 3+ impairments have volunteered compared to 21.9% of those with one impairment.

The frequency of volunteering in sport and activity has remained the same, with disabled people being less likely to volunteer as frequently as non-disabled people. For disabled people the most common volunteering frequency is once a week (5.3% vs 7.4% of non-disabled people) and every few months (4.1% vs 6.5% of non-disabled people).

The most common volunteering roles for disabled people are; organising fundraising (8.3% vs 10.3% of non-disabled people), providing transport (5.2% vs 7.4%), other help (4.5% vs 5.9%) and coaching (4.2% vs 6.9%).

Volunteering roles are further reduced among people with two or more characteristics of inequality. Only 16% of those with two or more characteristics of inequality have volunteered, compared with 22% of those with one characteristic, and 27% of those with none.

Sport England’s Active Lives report highlights the association between volunteering in sport and activity, and positive mental wellbeing. Regular volunteers generally have higher wellbeing scores than those who volunteer as a one-off, reinforcing the importance of inclusive volunteering opportunities.

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