Abstract
In this paper we aim to investigate the importance of the sports sector of the economy for macrolevel performance in the European Union Member States. The problem that we address is worthy of research focus as sport is a dynamically expanding and important sector of the economy. The increasing importance of sport in national economies cannot be fully analysed due to the lack of sufficient statistical data. In this paper, we provide a comparison of the Eurostat sports collections results and Sport Satellite Account-based examination of the contribution of sport to the GDP and value added. The analysis of statistical data is preceded by a description of the sports sector measurement. We establish that the contribution of sport is more remarkable for developed economies, however it has also been increasing over time in other EU Member States. This can be observed for employment, changes in enterprises’ statistics, and international trade. Household spending on sports goods and services also increases even if the Great Recession led to a downturn in sport consumption in some countries. The frequency and coherence of sports data collections related to its economic significance is not satisfactory. The issue needs to be given a higher priority by public authorities.
Highlights
Sport is an immanent part of modern lifestyle in contemporary societies
24 SportsEconAustria (SpEA), Study on the Economic Impact of Sport through Sport Satellite Accounts, 2018, [accessed 15 June 2019]: 15. In this examination we sought to compare the macroeconomic importance of the sports sector in European Union Member States
This issue is worth examination for several reasons: (i) it is difficult, as various ways of defining sport exist; (ii) as a consequence, official statistics do not cover the entire sports sector; (iii) sport contributes to the national economy in various ways and has gained more importance over time – its estimation is more important than few decades ago; (iv) this topic has not been examined thoroughly
Summary
Sport is an immanent part of modern lifestyle in contemporary societies. The sports sector of the economy is becoming increasingly important in middle- and high-income countries. European Union (EU) level Sport Satellite Accounts (SSAs) provides reliable data on the economic impact of sport on economic growth in the EU Member States (MSs). Eurostat provides more frequent (and more superficial) examinations of the sports sector’s contribution to economic growth. In this examination we aim to investigate the macroeconomic importance of sport and sport-related activities in the European Union Member States. We aim to juxtapose the national results of MSs. We expect to find rising importance of the sports sector over time, as well as a greater contribution from sports in developed economies. The fourth section compares the results of statistical examination: SSAs-based and the Eurostat data in a cross-country context.
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