SCUBA diving is a form of underwater diving practiced both professionally and recreationally where the diver uses a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) to breathe compressed air underwater.
There is a diverse list of reasons as to why people choose to participate in recreational diving. It allows you to explore a range of otherwise inaccessible ecosystems; experience feelings of weightlessness; improve both physical and mental wellbeing; develop non-verbal communication skills and expose yourself to exhilarating and exciting situations.
Despite these benefits, diving is a sport that does entail some significant risks which include, but are not limited to: decompression sickness, a range of barotrauma and lung overexpansion injuries, hyperventilation and blackout, gas narcosis and oxygen toxicity. To ensure safe diving practice the Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC) was founded in 1999 and is dedicated to creating minimum recreational diving training standards for the various scuba diving certification agencies across the world.
General participation trends
This statistic presents the number of regular SCUBA diving or snorkeling participants in England from 2016 to 2020. The total number of regular participants in England in 2020 is approximately 43 thousand.
Gender distribution
Globally, like many 'adventure sports' recreational SCUBA diving has traditionally been a male dominated sport. As a result of many empowering movements, both within and without the diving industry, there have been some significant changes to the demographics of recreational SCUBA diving. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) report that 38 percent of all certifications are issues to female divers. Although this remains less than half, the female share of certifications issued on a global scale is now significantly greater than in previous years.
This statistic also presents the gender distribution of regular SCUBA diving or snorkeling participants in England from 2016 to 2019. The female share of regular participants shows a slight decline between the November 2015-16 period and the May 2017-18 period however this share increased to 38 percent of the total regular participants by the May 2018-19 period. This is in line with the global gender distribution of PADI certifications issued in 2019.
Gender distribution of regular SCUBA diving or snorkeling participants in England from 2016 to 2020
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Sport England. (October 22, 2020). Gender distribution of regular SCUBA diving or snorkeling participants in England from 2016 to 2020 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved August 25, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086759/gender-distribution-of-sub-aqua-sports-participants-in-england/
Sport England. "Gender distribution of regular SCUBA diving or snorkeling participants in England from 2016 to 2020." Chart. October 22, 2020. Statista. Accessed August 25, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086759/gender-distribution-of-sub-aqua-sports-participants-in-england/
Sport England. (2020). Gender distribution of regular SCUBA diving or snorkeling participants in England from 2016 to 2020. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: August 25, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086759/gender-distribution-of-sub-aqua-sports-participants-in-england/
Sport England. "Gender Distribution of Regular Scuba Diving or Snorkeling Participants in England from 2016 to 2020." Statista, Statista Inc., 22 Oct 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086759/gender-distribution-of-sub-aqua-sports-participants-in-england/
Sport England, Gender distribution of regular SCUBA diving or snorkeling participants in England from 2016 to 2020 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086759/gender-distribution-of-sub-aqua-sports-participants-in-england/ (last visited August 25, 2024)
Gender distribution of regular SCUBA diving or snorkeling participants in England from 2016 to 2020 [Graph], Sport England, October 22, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086759/gender-distribution-of-sub-aqua-sports-participants-in-england/