Sport contributes £20.3 billion to English economy

London successfully hosted the 2012 Olympics and sport is now a major contributor to England’s economy

A study commissioned by ‘Sport England‘ has revealed that the contribution of sport to the English economy was in the range of £20.3 billion a year, out of which nearly half came from grassroots sports.

The startling revelation from the report was that sport as such has outgrown the English economy as a whole and has shown much resilience in the face of the recession that has crippled much of the country’s economy.

The report, details of which were carried by fcbusiness, a UK-based business magazine, states that sport has been ranked amongst the top 15 industries in England with an impact larger than that of some other sectors such as telecom services, car sales and repairs, insurance and accounting.

£11.78 billion out of that total contribution is said to come from people playing sport and other related expenditure such as purchase of sports equipment and coaching. Another £8.5 billion is reported to have come from people’s consumption of sport which includes watching sport live on TV, sports-related TV subscriptions and sports gambling.

More than 440,000 people are said to be having sport-related jobs; that’s 2.3% of all employment.

Sport in England, led by football, cricket and other disciplines has outgrown the whole English economy

Sport England’s Chair, Nick Bitel, said: “This report show that as well as improving the lives of millions of people, grassroots sport is also having a huge impact on our economy. Put alongside the enormous value of the health benefits that sport delivers, it’s hard to overstate the sector’s contribution to our country.”

The wider economic implications of sport in terms of improving education and health were also assessed. Health benefits to the tune of £11.2 billion were generated by grassroots sport with about £1.7 billion healthcare costs estimated to have been saved. The economic value of sport-related volunteering was put at £2.7 billion.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller said: “Sport already makes a significant contribution to the economy but I want it to play an even bigger role in generating growth. The success of London 2012 transformed Britain’s standing in the world of sport and with a host of major events coming to the UK in the next few years we are in a great position to capitalise further.”