Inline Skating Participation Statistics

General Participation

Inline skating participation statistics generally come from two organizations: the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) and the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA).  The most recent published statistics as of this writing are the SGMA's statistics for 2004.

The SGMA counts all Americans of age six and older who skated at least once in the year.  Their estimate of total inline skating participation in 2004 is 17.3 million skaters.  The highpoint of the skating industry using these statistics was 1998 when the SGMA estimated 32.0 million people tried inline skating.

Frequent Participation

Many in the inline industry like to quote the highest number possible (17.3 million skaters).  However, this leaves other people wondering "where are all those skaters?".  A more accurate figure might be the SGMA's "frequent skater" statistic, which counts only those people who skate 25 or more times per year (about once every two weeks).  This statistic is 3.9 million skaters in 2004.

Is this low? No.  This number reveals a major participatory sports industry.  For example, only 903,000 people were frequent participants in ice skating in 2003.  Running, which appears to be much bigger than skating to many people, had 10.5 million frequent participants.  Recreational bicycling, which seems almost ubiquitous, had only 13.4 million frequent participants.  Inline skating with almost four million US participants is a major player in the recreational sporting world.