BRUSSELS, 5th April, 2025 (WAM) – The inflation of sporting goods and services in the EU has decelerated in 2024. The annual rate of change of recreational and sporting services prices in the EU was 5.2%, measured by the harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP), down 0.9 percentage points (pp) from 2023, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, ahead of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
Also the prices for equipment for sport, camping and open-air recreation grew much slower than in the previous year, with the annual rate of change in 2024 standing at 1.0%, -2.4 pp than the year before.
In the last decade, prices of equipment for sports, camping and open-air recreation varied significantly as annual rates of change fell to negative values in 2014 (-0.2%) and 2015 ( 0.7%), then went up temporarily to +0.7% in 2016. Following this, they dropped for 3 consecutive years, between 2017 and 2019. In 2020, they started to increase, reaching their highest value in 2022 (+3.8%).
In the same period, prices of recreational and sporting services increased moderately, presenting positive annual average rates of change that started at +1.9% in 2014, decreased slightly to +1.8% in 2016 and then increased again to +2.4% before stabilizing at +2.2% between 2020 and 2021. By 2022, they had risen to 4.7%, accelerating further to 6.1% in 2023.
Sunday 6 April marks the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, an occasion to acknowledge the importance of sports and physical activity in people’s well-being and communities.