Walking as recreation
According to Britan’s most comprehensive survey of sport and recreation participation, 9.1million adults in England, or 22% of the population, walk recreationally for at least 30 minutes in four weeks. This is almost twice the number that swim (5.6million, 13.4%), more than twice the number that go to the gym (4.5million, 10.7%) and nearly three times the number that cycle (3.5million, 8.5%).
In Scotland, 30% of adults walk recreationally at least 3km/2 miles in four weeks. 16% swim and 10% cycle.
Almost a third of adults in Wales (31.6%) walk recreationally for at least 3km/2 miles in four weeks. 12.3% swim and 5.4% cycle.
Walking is the joint most popular activity (along with eating out) for people taking days out in England, and the most important reason for 18% of the 3.6billion trips per year. It is the main activity on 36% of countryside and 33% of seaside visits and the most popular activity for UK visitors to Scotland and Wales.
A third of adults in Britain say walking for more than 10 minutes is their only form of exercise in a typical month.
Walking as transport
Nearly all journeys involve walking, often to connect with other transport modes. 23% of all journeys in Great Britain are made entirely on foot and 75% of journeys under 1 mile/1.6km are on foot. The average person travels 315km/197 miles a year on foot, or 3% of total distance travelled.
The most popular reason for walking is to go shopping (21%), followed by education (including escort education) (20%), and leisure or social purposes (20%). 17% of walk trips are ‘just to walk’ including dog walking.
In addition to journeys entirely on foot, the average British adult makes 78 journeys per year combining walking with public transport. 25% of British households do not have access to a car.
Who walks?
Almost everyone is capable of walking. Only 4% of people either need help when walking outside the home or are unable to walk on their own at all.
Leisure walking is enjoyed almost equally by both men and women. Fractionally more men walk than women: in England, 22.7% of men walk for at least 30 minutes in four weeks but only 21.2% of women. These figures should be compared with overall participation rates in sport in England: around 20% for men but under 13% for women.
When all walking is taken into account, British women make 15% more walking trips than men, and on average walk 14.5km/9 miles more per year: 321.5km compared with 307km.
More people aged between 25-55 walk recreationally than those in other age groups. Walking is more likely to be maintained later in life than sport – sports participation drops from 16% in the 35-54 age group to 7.6% in over 55s.
White people are more likely to walk: 23% of white people walk for at least 30 minutes in four weeks but only 13.5% of non-white people. Participation in sports is roughly equal for white and non-white people at around 16.5%.
People in professional jobs are more likely to walk for recreation than those in lower paid work. Around 28% of professionals walk for at least 30 minutes in four weeks compared to only 14% of those in routine manual jobs. Those who have never worked and the long-term unemployed are slightly more likely to walk at 14.5%. Overall, however, people living in low income households are more likely to make walking trips than those in higher income households.
Walking trends
The popularity of leisure walking appears to be rising. The number of English adults walking recreationally for at least 30 minutes every month increased by 954,700 (around 10%) between 2006 and 2008.
Walking overall has declined but may be stabilising. Between 1986 and 2005, the average proportion of journeys on foot fell from 34% to 23%, a decrease of 32%. Total distance walked per person per year fell from 390km/244 miles in 1986 to around 320km/200 miles in 1995 and seems to have stabilised, with the average trip length going up slightly.
The proportion of trips between 1.6km/1 mile and 3.2km/2 miles has increased from 25% to 31% in the past ten years, suggesting people walk less often but take slightly longer journeys on foot.
Currently only 11% of commuting trips are on foot, down from 13% in 1991. Twice as many women (15%) walk to work as men (7.3%).
Walking to school
Only 49% of primary school children and 44% of secondary school children regularly walk to school, though two thirds of children are now walking to school at least once a week.
Among the 51% of primary school children living within 1.6km/1 mile of school, 80% walk to school. 29% of secondary school children live within 1.6km/1 mile of school and 92% of them walk there.
In 1976 only 15% of children were driven to school, rising to 38% in 1997. The increase has since levelled off, rising to 41% in 2006. At its peak around 08:45 on schooldays, the school run accounts for nearly two in ten (18%) car trips by residents of urban areas.
Attitudes to walking
95% of adults agree that walking is a good way to stay healthy and 82% agree it is a good way to lose weight. 73% of adults agree that pedestrians should be given more priority. 97% believe we should be encouraged to walk more to improve health, 94% to improve the environment and 92% to ease congestion.
Children tend to have more positive views than their parents on the social, health and environmental benefits of walking as transport.
Barriers to walking
According to research and experience, the most frequently reported reasons for not walking are:
- Lack of time
- The weather
- Unattractive walking environments
- Fears for safety and personal security
- Lack of knowledge of the walking environment and/or of the benefits and ease of walking
- Lack of motivation
People tend to overestimate walking time and distance, often misled by inaccurate perceptions of local walking geography and inadequate information.
Potential for change
Other European countries have higher walking levels than the UK and less inactivity-related health problems such as obesity.
Key motivators to walking include:
- socialising with friends and family]
- relaxing and getting time to think
- exploring the environment
- enjoying the outdoors.
Many people enjoy physical activity and are motivated to do more of it, but may be distrustful of health messages perceived as too “preachy”. Few people will choose to walk purely out of concern for reducing the environmental impact of transport.
People with initially negative attitudes to walking quickly become more positive if they can be persuaded to participate in walking, including those from deprived communities.
An effective community based approach is essential when encouraging inactive people to walk, working with existing community organisations and carefully targeting messages and activities.
Between 25% and 40% of car trips in urban ares are less than 3km/2 miles (about 45 minutes walk). For about half of these, there are practical or physical reasons that favour the car, but the rest could in principle be walked (or cycled) instead, and are only taken by car as a result of habits and attitudes.
For a comprehensive summary of participation in walking, complete with full references, download our Walking Participation factsheet.
Walking Facts and Figures 2: Participation in walking (PDF)
