Germany’s sports clubs have more than 28 million members for the first time. This emerges from the latest survey by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). In total, 28,764,951 memberships were recorded in around 86,000 sports clubs in 2024.
Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of 890,000 memberships and the highest figure since the first inventory survey in 1954. The numbers were still declining during the corona pandemic.
DOSB President Thomas Weikert spoke of a “great message” for sport in Germany. “The numbers confirm what we all work hard for: sport and its clubs are an essential part of our society and an indispensable part of it,” said Weikert. No other area of social life reaches and unites as many people as sport.
According to the survey, the Rhineland-Palatinate State Sports Association recorded the largest increase in membership (plus 125,717). The federal state with the largest number of members is and remains North Rhine-Westphalia with 5,321,912 memberships.
Every second child is a member of a sports club
Young and old people are particularly likely to join sports clubs. In the age group up to 14 years, the number of memberships among boys and girls increased by 455,178, more than twice as much as the overall average for all age groups. This means that every second child in Germany is a member of a sports club.
More than 230,000 new memberships were added in the over-60s category. Against the background of an aging population in Germany, it is important to bind this target group even more strongly in the future, said the DOSB.
“We need more support”
Despite the high number of members, the DOSB points out that many sports clubs lack volunteers, trainers and trainers. In addition, many sports facilities are in poor condition and have been waiting for modernization “for decades”.
Michaela Röhrbein, head of sports development at the DOSB, said that in many places sports clubs were “going beyond their limits”. “We need more support from politicians to strengthen volunteer work, reduce bureaucracy and improve crumbling sports infrastructure,” said Röhrbein.
Germany’s sports clubs have more than 28 million members for the first time. This emerges from the latest survey by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). In total, 28,764,951 memberships were recorded in around 86,000 sports clubs in 2024.
Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of 890,000 memberships and the highest figure since the first inventory survey in 1954. The numbers were still declining during the corona pandemic.
DOSB President Thomas Weikert spoke of a “great message” for sport in Germany. “The numbers confirm what we all work hard for: sport and its clubs are an essential part of our society and an indispensable part of it,” said Weikert. No other area of social life reaches and unites as many people as sport.
