ISM 2024

The Irish Sports Monitor (ISM) is a long-established survey providing an ongoing measurement of sports participation in Ireland. The following key findings are revealed in the 2024 ISM:

• Sports Participation: 49% of the adult population regularly participated in sport. This indicates a 2-percentage point increase in sports participation since 2023, increasing the number of people regularly participating in sport from 1.98 million in 2023 to 2.09 million in 2024.
• Physical Activity: ISM 2024 categorised 40% (1.7 million) of the adult population as ‘highly active’, who met the National Physical Activity Guidelines through sport and recreational walking.
• Gender Gap Reducing: The difference in sports participation rates between men and women has remained at just under 3%. Sport participation among men (50%) and women (47%) are both at their highest levels to date, having both increased by 1 percentage point since 2023.
• Socio-economic: The socio-economic gap in sport participation has remained at 19% again in 2024.
• Disability: The proportion of those participating in sport with a disability has remained the same since 2023 at 32%. The disability gap widens in 2024 by 2 percentage points.