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.

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.

The 1990s witnessed the beginning of a burgeoning interest in health and fitness. This led to a period of accelerated growth in global imports of sports products from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s.

Figure 2 shows that sports goods imports grew steadily from 1996 to 2022, with two exceptions. A significant contraction occurred in 2009, possibly as a result of the 2008 global financial crisis, while 2021 saw explosive growth as part of the initial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Government-imposed restrictions during the pandemic may have led to this unprecedented demand for sports equipment as consumers world-wide became more health conscious at a time when sports centres were reopened.

The highest increases occurred in water sports (+73 per cent), golf (+54 per cent), articles and equipment (+46 per cent), and racquet sports (+36 per cent). The growth in the articles and equipment category is particularly impressive, as it increased between 2019 and 2020, a period when most other categories saw a decline in imports.

Impact of tariff cuts on sports goods trade

Significant reductions in tariffs over the last three decades have played a role in making sports products more accessible and affordable. The most-favoured-nation (MFN) tariff applied to imports of sports products decreased from 18 per cent in 1996 to approximately 12 per cent in 2022.

The largest decreases were for footwear, swimwear and tracksuits, where the tariffs dropped from approximately 22 per cent to 14 per cent. However, for these three categories, the tariffs applied have been consistently higher than for the other five categories shown in Figure 3.

Trade patterns in global sports goods

China has long been the most significant exporter of sports goods worldwide (see Figure 4). In 1996, it was responsible for 32 per cent of the world's sports goods exports, increasing its share to a peak of 59 per cent in 2010. In 2022, it still accounted for a remarkable 43 per cent of global exports. In 2022, China's exports of racquet sports products were particularly notable, representing 63 per cent of world exports.

Viet Nam has also shown remarkable growth. In 1996, it accounted for only 2 per cent of the world's sports goods exports. That share grew modestly to 6 per cent by 2010. However, since then, Viet Nam's exports have seen continuous growth, reaching a 20 per cent share in 2022.

Several other economies are also significant exporters of certain categories of sports goods. For example, Pakistan’s exports of balls accounted for 16 per cent of global exports in 2022, while Vietnam's and Indonesia's exports account for 30 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

The United States has been the largest importer of sports goods since 2010, accounting for 31 per cent of the world's imports in 2022 (see Figure 5). The European Union, Japan and the United Kingdom are the next largest, with 22 per cent and equal shares of 6 per cent, respectively.

In terms of imports of sports goods per capita (see Figure 6), Switzerland shows particularly high spending of US$ 105. Canada and Australia exceed US$ 60 per capita, followed by the United States, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, each with per capita spending of more than US$ 50. In the European Union, per capita spending amounts to US$ 31, closely followed by Japan with US$ 29. China’s low per capita spending may be partly due to its role as a major exporter of sports goods.

Strong growth in imports of sports goods

Global imports of sports goods over the past three decades have experienced substantial growth, with an average annual rate of 5 per cent. This trend saw a particularly significant surge of 25 per cent in 2021.

Between 1996 and 2022 “water sports” category saw the highest rise, increasing approximately 4.7 times. “Footwear” and “articles and equipment” imports also surged, growing 4.4 and 4.3 times respectively. At the lower end of the spectrum, the “tracksuits”, “balls” and “racquets” categories experienced the least growth, increasing two-fold (see Figure 7).

Varying patterns for imports of sports goods

The remarkable growth in water sports products in 2021 was primarily driven by increased imports from the European Union and the United States, which saw rises of 81 per cent and 76 per cent, respectively. Collectively, these two economies accounted for approximately 65 per cent of the world's imports of water sports products. Meanwhile, Canada, the third-largest importer, more than doubled its imports, showing a 141 per cent increase.

However, the trade pattern changes for golf products. The European Union drops to sixth position for these imports. While the United States is still the leading importer in this category, Asian economies such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Hong Kong, China are close behind. Between 1999 and 2008, imports of golf products more than doubled in these Asian economies. Similar patterns are visible for racquet sports products, which doubled in value during this period.

The Republic of Korea has become the fourth-largest importer of golf products between 2017 and 2022. During this period, its annual imports of golf products more than doubled. Of the top seven importers, it was the only economy that did not see a decline in imports between 2019 and 2020, recording an increase of 1 per cent. In addition, the Republic of Korea has maintained consistent annual growth in golf product imports for the last seven years, suggesting a strong and growing interest in golf in this country.

The sports footwear industry has also witnessed significant growth. From 1996 to 2009, global annual imports of sports footwear increased by an average of 2 per cent. This growth accelerated to an impressive 13 per cent annually between 2010 and 2018, partly reflecting changes in fashion and lifestyle habits as sports shoes saw a shift in the late 2000s and early 2010s toward non-sport uses.