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By GreaterSport | 20 April 2023 | TAGS: Active Lives

The number of people completing the recommended amount of physical activity in Greater Manchester has risen by 2.2% in the last 12 months according to the latest Sport England data, equivalent to over 63,500 more adults.

Sport England released their annual Active Lives survey today (Thursday 20 April) to show the number of adults (16+ years) playing sport and taking part in physical activity.

It is the first survey to cover a period without any covid-19 restrictions since November 2018-19 with national results showing physical activity levels have returned to their pre-pandemic levels.

In Greater Manchester, it shows the number of people who met the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week was 1.4m (60.8%).

The number of people classed as fairly active – averaging 30-149 minutes a week – is 254,300 (11.1%) a very slight 0.6% decrease on the previous year.

Nearly a third (28%) of the Greater Manchester population remains inactive, completing less than 30 minutes of activity a week, which equates to approximately 640,700 people, a significant decrease (-1.7%).

Sport England first ran the survey between November 2015 and November 2016 to establish a baseline with two GM boroughs registering statistically significant changes in the latest data.

Trafford have recorded a 7.7% rise in residents who are classed as active while Wigan have seen a 5.5% reduction in the number of people in the inactive category.

For a full breakdown of the Greater Manchester figures click here.

GreaterSport will provide more detail of the results at a Greater Manchester level when we've had chance to fully analyse the complete data set from Sport England.

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