The table lists the proportions of Europeans playing tennis, football, golf, volleyball, basketball, and swimming and doing yoga during the years 1999, 2004, and 2009. Overall, while football was the most popular sport in all three years, participation in sports in general increased over time.
Even though there was a slight decrease in the percentage of its players, football remained the most active among all the sports represented. Starting with 1999, it is clear that more than half, 57%, of Europeans took part in this game this year, slightly less in 2004, and 48% in 2009. In contrast, interest in the second most popular activity, swimming, slightly grew, from 32% in 1999 to 34% in both 2004 and 2009. Court sports like tennis and basketball were favored by approximately a quarter of the population in 1999; however, whereas the former grew by 8 percentage points, the latter lost 2 by the end of the given time frame.
In terms of the other sports, volleyball and yoga both rose marginally over the three periods; in 1999, 17% of the people were choosing volleyball, but this figure went up to 20% before falling again to 18% by 2009. Yoga, on the other hand, garnered attention and gained 3% more enthusiasts over the same time period. Perhaps the greatest change was observed in golf, with the percent of golfers more than doubling, from 8% to 17%, during the given decade.