There has a been a positive change in the number of people playing table tennis, according to the latest Sport England Active Lives Adult Survey.

The report covers the period from November 2021 to November 2022, and is the first report since the April 2020 release that presents a full year of data uninterrupted by the pandemic. 

373,300 people aged 16+ in England took part in table tennis at least twice a month during the report period. While this is still down from pre-pandemic levels, these findings are a welcome increase from 222,800 in the previous 12 months.

The wider report shows that about 29.1 million adults (63.1%) in England did an average of 150+ minutes of activity a week, which puts activity levels back in line with levels seen before pre-pandemic, but the proportion of inactive adults remains slightly up, with fewer adults being ‘fairly active’. 

The update from Sport England also highlights the work still needed to tackle known inequalities. Despite recovery to activity levels, women’s activity levels are recovering at a slower rate than men’s. And, the activity gap between most and least affluent continues to grow, together with the decline in participation in sport and physical activity among some minority groups.

Our Table Tennis United strategy sets out how we will go about contributing to tackling inequalities, and creating more and improved opportunities to increase activity levels through table tennis.

Click here for a summary of the latest Sport England Active Lives Children and Young People Survey.