Physical inactivity remains widespread across adults, adolescents and older populations. The latest global estimates show rising adult insufficient activity since 2000, while regional, sex, age and measurement differences shape how the figures should be interpreted.
Key Physical Inactivity Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- 31.3% of adults worldwide had insufficient physical activity in 2022, according to a global estimate.
- About 1.8 billion adults worldwide were below activity recommendations in 2022, an estimate reported by WHO.
- Global adult insufficient activity rose from 23.4% in 2000 to 31.3% in 2022, based on pooled estimates.
- Female adults had 33.8% insufficient activity globally in 2022, compared with 28.7% of male adults.
- Global adult insufficient activity is projected at 34.7% in 2030 if the 2010–2022 trend continues.
- South Asia had 52.6% adult insufficient activity in 2022, one of the highest regional estimates.
- High-income Asia Pacific had 51.9% adult insufficient activity in 2022.
- Oceania had 18.4% adult insufficient activity in 2022, among the lowest regional estimates listed.
- 81% of adolescents aged 11–17 worldwide were insufficiently active in the latest estimate cited in 2024.
- 84.7% of girls aged 11–17 worldwide were insufficiently active in the latest estimate cited in 2021.
- 23.2% of U.S. youth met the aerobic guideline in 2019 in the YRBS series.
- 14.4% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older met both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines in 2022 during leisure time.
- 25.3% of U.S. adults reported no physical activity outside work during 2017–2020, according to CDC estimates.
- U.S. adult inactivity outside work ranged from 17.7% in Colorado to 49.4% in Puerto Rico during 2017–2020.
- Physical inactivity accounted for about 9.0% of premature deaths worldwide in the latest estimate cited in 2021.
- Nearly 500 million people could develop inactivity-attributable noncommunicable diseases between 2020 and 2030 without improvement.
- The projected annual global health-system cost of inactivity-attributable cases is about US$27 billion for the 2020–2030 scenario.
- Insufficient physical activity increased in 103 of 197 countries and territories between 2000 and 2022, based on modeled survey data.
Contents
- Global physical inactivity scale and trends
- Regional, sex and income-group differences
- Adolescent and older-adult physical inactivity data
- U.S. physical inactivity participation and disparities
- Health outcomes and economic costs
- Physical activity policy and monitoring gaps
Global Physical Inactivity Scale and Trends
WHO’s adult benchmark classifies people as insufficiently active when they do not reach 150 minutes of moderate activity weekly or an equivalent vigorous amount. The global estimates below are modeled, age-standardized pooled-survey estimates, so they are not interchangeable with every national survey measure.
| Year | Global adult insufficient activity |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 23.4% |
| 2010 | 26.4% |
| 2022 | 31.3% |
| 2030 forecast | 34.7% |
Source: National, regional, and global trends in insufficient physical activity among adults from 2000 to 2022: pooled analysis. The 2030 figure is a trend-continuation scenario, not an observed result.
The 2022 global estimate corresponds to approximately 1.8 billion adults below recommendations. WHO also describes the increase from 2010 to 2022 as about 5 percentage points among global adults.
The sex gap was visible in 2022: insufficient activity was 33.8% among female adults globally and 28.7% among male adults. If the 2010–2022 trend continues, the global adult estimate reaches 34.7% in 2030.
Regional, Sex and Income-Group Physical Inactivity Data
Adult insufficient activity varied substantially across regions in 2022. The figures are estimates for the named geographies and should not be read as a single ranking of individually measured populations.
| Geography | Adult insufficient activity, 2022 |
|---|---|
| South Asia | 52.6% |
| High-income Asia Pacific | 51.9% |
| Central Asia and north Africa–Middle East | 44.2% |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 41.2% |
| High-income western countries | 31.2% |
| Central and eastern Europe | 22.7% |
| East and southeast Asia | 22.2% |
| Oceania | 18.4% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 19.1% |
Source: Global levels of physical inactivity in adults: off track for 2030.
Income-group estimates also differed. Low-income countries had 19.9% adult insufficient activity, compared with 44.0% in lower-middle-income countries and 35.8% in high-income countries in 2022.
These values demonstrate why a global average can conceal large differences. They also use WHO’s insufficient-activity measure, rather than the narrower U.S. measure of reporting no physical activity outside work.
Adolescent and Older-Adult Physical Inactivity Statistics
Adolescent activity levels were lower than the adult benchmark in the global estimates cited by WHO. 81% of adolescents aged 11–17 worldwide were insufficiently active in the latest estimate cited in 2024.
A 2021-cited estimate shows a sex difference among adolescents aged 11–17: 77.6% of boys and 84.7% of girls were insufficiently active globally. These figures concern adolescents, not adults, and should not be merged with the adult prevalence series.
The U.S. Youth Risk Behavior Survey series provides a different, survey-based view of guideline achievement:
| U.S. youth measure | Year | Met aerobic guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Youth | 2019 | 23.2% |
| Youth | 2021 | 23.9% |
| Youth | 2023 | 24.6% |
Source: Data and Progress | Active People, Healthy Nation. CDC says the change through 2023 was not statistically significant; the survey measure is source-specific.
Older adults are measured differently again. In 2022, 14.4% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older met both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines during leisure time, according to the Increase the proportion of adults who do enough aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity infographic.
U.S. Physical Inactivity Participation and Demographic Disparities
CDC estimated that 25.3% of U.S. adults reported no physical activity outside work during 2017–2020. This is a self-reported measure and is narrower than WHO’s estimate of insufficient activity, which uses a weekly activity threshold.
State and territory estimates ranged from 17.7% in Colorado to 49.4% in Puerto Rico during the same period. Regional estimates also varied:
| U.S. geography | No physical activity outside work, 2017–2020 |
|---|---|
| South | 27.5% |
| Midwest | 25.2% |
| Northeast | 24.7% |
| West | 21.0% |
Source: Adult Physical Inactivity Outside of Work.
Reported inactivity also differed across the listed racial and ethnic groups. It was 20.1% among non-Hispanic Asian adults, 30.0% among non-Hispanic Black adults and 32.1% among Hispanic or Latino adults during 2017–2020.
These U.S. estimates describe inactivity outside work, not total daily sedentary behavior or all activity below WHO recommendations. The distinction matters when comparing CDC survey results with global modeled estimates.
Physical Inactivity Health Outcomes and Economic Costs
The latest estimate cited in 2021 attributes about 6% of the worldwide coronary heart disease burden to physical inactivity. The corresponding estimates are about 7% of type 2 diabetes burden, 10% of breast cancer burden and 10% of colon cancer burden worldwide.
Physical inactivity is also estimated to account for 9.0% of premature deaths worldwide in that source’s latest estimate cited in 2021. These are attributable-burden estimates, not a count of every death among people who are inactive.
| Outcome or projection | Estimate and period |
|---|---|
| Coronary heart disease burden attributable to inactivity | About 6% worldwide; latest estimate cited in 2021 |
| Type 2 diabetes burden attributable to inactivity | About 7% worldwide; latest estimate cited in 2021 |
| Breast cancer burden attributable to inactivity | About 10% worldwide; latest estimate cited in 2021 |
| Colon cancer burden attributable to inactivity | About 10% worldwide; latest estimate cited in 2021 |
| Premature deaths attributable to inactivity | 9.0% worldwide; latest estimate cited in 2021 |
Source: Physical activity.
WHO’s 2020–2030 scenario estimates that nearly 500 million people could develop inactivity-attributable noncommunicable diseases without improvement. The projected annual health-system cost of those cases is about US$27 billion, while the projected 2020–2030 health-system cost is nearly US$300 billion.
Source: WHO highlights high cost of physical inactivity in first-ever global report. These are scenario projections assuming the source trend or policy conditions continue, not observed outcomes.
Physical Activity Policy and Monitoring Gaps
The 2022 assessment covered 194 countries and described reported policy capacity rather than causal policy effects. Less than 50% of countries reported a national physical activity policy, and fewer than 40% of countries with a policy reported that it was operational.
The same assessment found that only 30% of countries reported national physical activity guidelines covering all age groups. Monitoring was more common for adolescents than for young children: about 75% reported monitoring adolescent activity, while fewer than 30% reported monitoring children under age 5.
Only just over 40% of countries reported road-design standards intended to make walking and cycling safer. These policy indicators are self-reported or country-reported measures, so they describe reported coverage and implementation status rather than measured changes in activity.
A global trend analysis found that insufficient physical activity increased in 103 of 197 countries and territories between 2000 and 2022. That classification used pooled, age-standardized prevalence estimates and modeled survey data, while the policy figures came from the 2022 assessment.
Source: WHO highlights high cost of physical inactivity in first-ever global report and National, regional, and global trends in insufficient physical activity among adults from 2000 to 2022: pooled analysis.