Which Are the World’s Sportiest Countries?

Sports play an important role in the daily lives of people around the world, with the global sports market expected to be worth a whopping $599.9 billion by 2025. Whether you’re an active participant trying to keep fit, or a spectator watching for entertainment, there’s a sport out there for everyone.

But which are the sportiest nations around the world? To find out more, we investigated the sporting backgrounds of over 130 countries, comparing them across 10 different criteria, covering both professional performance and personal participation:

Click here to explore the full ranking of 134 countries.

The world’s sportiest country is… Germany!

Germany takes the title of the world’s sportiest country with a score of 70.42 out of 100. The European nation placed in the top 10 for five different categories, as well holding the top spot for elite sport ranking and Winter Olympic medals, with a total of 408 – 150 gold, 145 silver and 113 bronze medals.

The United States of America claims the number two position with a score of 67.96 out of 100, as well as the top spot for total Summer Olympic medals, with a whopping 2,522 – 1,022 gold, 795 silver and 705 bronze medals.

Sweden comes in third place, with a score of 66.16, followed by Norway with 64.47 and Finland with 61.45.

Which countries are the most active?

While Germany and the United States of America dominate the professional performance categories, we get a different picture when looking at personal participation.

Taiwan takes the top spot for sports participation, with an impressive 81% of the Taiwanese population taking part in some form of sport or physical activity on regular basis. Norway and New Zealand aren’t far behind, with both countries enjoying a 79% sports participation rate, followed by Australia with 77% and Iceland and Mongolia with 75%.