The table illustrates the number of individuals who joined five sports in Australia between 2001 and 2009. Overall, it is clear that three types of sports show an upward trend; meanwhile, the opposite was true for cycling and swimming.
Running accounted for 1.4 in 2001 and went up to 1.7 in 2005 before reaching 2.2 in 2009, which occupied the largest percentage change among the five others, 156%. Besides, the number of people who participated in tennis rose marginally, beginning at 1% in 2001 and averaging about 1.1% over the three periods, with a 15% growth. Similarly, aerobics began at 1.5 in 2001 and grew by 0.1 each year, which means it finally reached a high of 1.7 in 2009.
Conversely, the number of people who cycled and swam decreased. Between 2001 and 2009, cycling and swimming were the most popular among Australian people, declining from 4.5 to 3.6 and from 3.7 to 3.3 million people, respectively, representing a -20% and a -10% change.
