The bar chart compares the proportions of people in the UK who were interested in six different sports – football, swimming, rugby, snooker, tennis and golf – in 1995, 2000 and 2005.
Overall, football was consistently the most popular sport throughout the period. While interest in football and rugby generally increased, most of the other sports experienced a decline over the ten years.
In 1995, football attracted around 40% of respondents, and this figure rose steadily to approximately 45% by 2005. Swimming was the second most popular sport at the start, at about 25%, and peaked at just under 30% in 2000 before declining to around 20% by the end of the period. Rugby, by contrast, showed an overall upward trend, falling slightly in 2000 but recovering to reach approximately 20% in 2005.
Turning to the less popular sports, snooker and tennis both began at relatively high levels, at around 30% and just under 30% respectively in 1995. However, interest in both sports declined markedly, dropping to about 20% by 2005. Golf followed a similar but less dramatic pattern, decreasing gradually from roughly 27% in 1995 to approximately 25% at the end of the period