Nearly Half of Americans Didn’t Go Outside For Recreation In 2018

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Colorado Sun: Outdoor businesses need people to get outside, but almost half of Americans don’t venture outdoors to play. The steady decline in participation threatens not just the bottom line but the outdoor industry’s mission to collectively steer policy on critical issues like climate change, environmental protection and public lands. While the Outdoor Foundation’s 2019 Outdoor Participation Report (PDF) showed that while a bit more than half of Americans went outside to play at least once in 2018, nearly half did not go outside for recreation at all. Americans went on 1 billion fewer outdoor outings in 2018 than they did in 2008. The number of adolescents ages 6 to 12 who recreate outdoors has fallen four years in a row, dropping more than 3% since 2007. The number of outings for kids has fallen 15% since 2012. The number of moderate outdoor recreation participants declined, and only 18% of Americans played outside at least once a week. […] While the decline in participation is disconcerting for the industry, there were some highlights. Female participation rates are up 3.2% over last year. Hispanics are getting outside twice as often as they were a decade ago, with the strongest growth of any ethnicity. And some sports, like BMX cycling and sailing, are seeing surges in numbers. Most people’s outdoor activities are close to home, with more than 63% of Americans recreating within 10 miles of their houses. Less than 19% traveled 25 miles or more to play outside. So the Outdoor Foundation is in a mission to bolster participation in outdoor play near homes, in urban areas where residents might not have as many opportunities to get outside.