The table presents data on the percentage of men and women in the UK who participated in three different categories of sports between the periods 2005/06 and 2008/09.
Overall, it is clear that swimming was the most popular activity among women, while men showed a preference for cycling. Additionally, while participation rates for cycling and jogging generally saw slight increases or remained stable for men, women’s involvement in these sports was lower and experienced more fluctuations.
In terms of swimming and diving, women had the highest participation rates of any group, starting at 18.0% in 2005/06. Although this figure dipped to 16.5% by the end of the period, it remained higher than that of men. Male participation in swimming began at 13.3% and followed a similar falling trend before recovering slightly to 13.0% in 2008/09.
Regarding cycling and jogging, there was a notable gender gap. Male interest in cycling grew steadily from 12.7% to 14.4%, making it their most popular sport by 2008/09. Conversely, female participation in cycling was much lower, starting at 7.0% and decreasing slightly to 6.4%. As for jogging and cross-country, both genders saw a slight rise in numbers. However, men were consistently more active in this category, with rates increasing from 6.9% to 7.6%, compared to a rise from 3.5% to 4.8% for women.