The lack of physical activity among European citizens is costing EU countries €8 billion a year. Portugal is the worst of the 27 in this regard.
More of one in three adults in the European Union (EU) does not meet the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) on physical activity, according to a report by the WHO and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In 2016, 35.4% of adults of the 27 EU countries were not active enough according to WHO criteria, which recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week.
Finland in first place, Portugal in last
Out of the 27 member states of the EU, the Finland was the best placed country, with less than 20% of adults failing the WHO recommendation. An interesting fact when this Nordic country faces long and cold winteryou.
A Swedenwith similar meteorological conditions, comes in second place.
Already the sunny Portugal appears at the opposite extreme, as the worst classified, with More than 45% of adults fall short of what is recommended by the WHO. Germany, Cyprus and Italy appear next in the list of the worst.
The report also cites data from the last Eurobarometer, according to which only four out of 10 adults (38%) in the EU did exercise or sport at least once a week in 2022 – and only 6% did it five times a week.
Furthermore, almost half (45%) of adults admitted that never exercisedor sport, despite the fact that physical activity is one of the most important things you can do to improve your physical and mental health and well-being.
Teenagers with low levels of activity
Low levels of physical activity are also common among adolescents, particularly among girls, as less than one in five boys and less than one in 10 girls say they respect the WHO recommendation of at least one hour of physical activity moderate to vigorous per day.
While Europeans’ participation in physical activity or sport improved little between 2017 and 2022 – the EU average improved from 44% to 53% -, some countries even saw the level of physical activity decrease, namely Portugal.
According to the report, the covid-19 pandemic has made the situation worse for most, although some adults have taken advantage of the confinements to exercise more.
More than half of Europeans have reduced their physical activity and only 7% intend to exercise more when the pandemic ends.
More activity could prevent millions of illnesses
The authors estimate in the report that if all people adhered to the WHO guidelines for physical activity, it would be possible prevent over 10,000 premature deaths of people between 30 and 70 years old per annum.
If everyone followed the WHO guidelines for physical activity, “11.5 million new cases of non-communicable diseases would be prevented by 2050”, including “3.8 million cases of cardiovascular diseasesnearly 1 million cases of type 2 diabetes and over 400,000 cases of various types of cancer“, as stated in the report, according to the Political.
“Given the benefits of exercise for mental health, it would also prevent 3.5 million cases of depression by 2050”, points out the same publication.
In addition life expectancy would increase by 7.5 months for those who are now insufficiently active.
Sedentarism costs 8 billion a year
On the other hand, EU member states could save 0.6% of your health budget annually. This is because the lack of physical activity among Europeans is costing “8 billion euros a year” EU countries, as noted by Politico.
“Each euro invested in physical activity generates an almost double return of 1.7 euros in economic benefits”, explains the WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, to the information website.
