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Sports goods trade sees threefold growth over past 30 years

Blog post Published on 24/07/2024
By Tomasz Gonciarz, Thomas Verbeet and Roy Santana

Sports goods trade has seen a massive boost in recent years, with increased spending by a variety of consumers, ranging from fitness fanatics to aspiring Olympic athletes. Since 1996, trade in sports goods has tripled, with annual imports reaching nearly US$ 64 billion in 2022. Over this period, China has emerged as the leading exporter, while the European Union and the United States have become major importers. 
Sports goods trade sees threefold growth over past 30 years
Over the past three decades, the global market for sports goods has seen remarkable growth. Between 1996 and 2022, annual imports surged from US$ 15 billion to almost US$ 64 billion. This significant increase not only reflects the global trend of increased trade but also changes in consumer behaviour.

The global landscape of sports goods imports is dominated by the Americas and Europe (see Figure 1), which together account for nearly three-quarters of total imports. The Americas lead with US$ 26.2 billion in imports but face a relatively high average tariff rate of 19.9 per cent. Europe follows with US$ 19.8 billion in imports and a lower tariff rate of 9.9 per cent. Asia ranks third in imports, at US$ 15 billion, benefiting from the lowest tariff rate, at 7.2 per cent.

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