Outdoor participation in US hits record levels
Outdoor recreation participation in the US grew 4% in 2023 to 176 million participants, with increasing numbers of women, people of colour and seniors, according to research by the Outdoor Foundation (OF) and Outdoor Industry Association (OIA).
This is 57% of the total US population, with numbers rising for the ninth consecutive year.
The number of outdoor recreation participants increased across demographics and activities as new, more casual participants began hiking, biking, camping, running, and fishing.
Other key findings of the 2024 Outdoor Participation Trends Report include:
• 22.2 million more Americans aged six and older participated in outdoor recreation than were participating in 2019.
• For the first time, more than half of American women participated in outdoor recreation.
• Members of the LGBTQ+ community continued to be the most active adult cohort.
• The participant base became more ethnically and racially diverse, but not by much. 69.7% of participants are White, 10.3% are Black, 13.4% are Hispanic, 5.3% are Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1.4% identify as people with other ethnic/racial origins.
• The average number of outings per participant in 2023 fell 11.4% – from 70.5 outings per participant in 2022 to 62.5 outings per participant in 2023.
• In 2023, 7.7 million Americans tried one or more outdoor recreation activities for the first time.
Kent Ebersole, president of OIA, said: “For any business that wants to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace, understanding the evolving consumer base and how they choose to spend their time outdoors is essential knowledge.”
