How Much Physical Activity Do Adults and Children Need? [Updated March 2025]

Research highlights:

Physical activity guidelines

How much physical activity is enough for different age groups?

First, let’s analyze the weekly and daily activity norms for adults.

How much physical activity do adults need each week?

• Adults need 150–300 minutes of moderate or 75–150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week to maintain good health.

How much physical activity do adults need a day?

• Adults need about 20 to 40 minutes of moderate or 10 to 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity per day to stay healthy.

At the same time, children need almost three times more physical activity.

How much physical activity do children need per week?

• Children need at least 420 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week to support healthy growth.

How much physical activity do children need a day?

• Children should be physically active for at least one hour a day at moderate to vigorous intensity for healthy development.

However, let’s also discuss the topic of pregnancy and physical activity.

How much physical activity do women need during pregnancy?

• Pregnant women need 150 minutes of low to moderate physical activity per week to support their health and well-being.

There is a common myth that physical activity is safe during pregnancy but should be avoided postpartum. In reality, it is beneficial in both situations. Postpartum activity can help recovery, improve mood, and reduce the risk of depression.

How much physical activity do women need after pregnancy?

• Postpartum women need 150 minutes of low to moderate physical activity per week to aid recovery and support mental and physical health.

Finally, let us discuss the activity guidelines for older adults

How much physical activity do older adults need?

• Older adults need 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity per week to maintain health, mobility, and independence.

Now, we see that different age groups have different minimum norms for physical activity. The chart below displays these differences:

Physical inactivity statistics

How many adult people lack exercise?

The WHO report provides annual global estimates of adult physical inactivity from 2010 to 2022, along with projections to 2030, and includes sex-disaggregated data for 2022. Based on this foundation, we extrapolated intermediate values and extended the trends to estimate future patterns in the absence of complete year-by-year data.

For those of us who practice Olympic weightlifting, the statistics above serve as a reminder that our training goes far beyond sport—it’s a lifelong investment in health. Lifting is not just about the platform or numbers. It’s one of the most efficient forms of full-body physical activity, improving strength, mobility, coordination, and metabolic health. At a time when 1 in 3 adults don’t get enough movement, every session under the barbell counts toward reversing this trend.

We can see the clear trends in the regions and make a conclusion that levels of physical inactivity often correlate with high incomes.

Here is the list of the least active countries in the world:

What countries are least active in the world?

• Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq rank among the least active countries, with fewer than half of adults meeting recommended activity levels.

Let us look at the chart with the prevalence of physical inactivity among adults:

Growth projection of physical inactivity among adults

It is clear that the percentage of people who lack physical activity in the world keeps growing. Based on the growth projection, we can evaluate an overall trend and estimate the current state of physical inactivity.

How many adults are not active enough?

• In 2025, the number of adults not getting enough physical activity is estimated at 1.93 billion.

• In 2025, 32.6% of adults are physically inactive — roughly 1 in 3 people don’t get enough exercise
• In 2025, an estimated 35.4% of women are physically inactive, showing a significant gap compared to men.
• In 2025, an estimated 30.2% of men are not getting enough physical activity to meet health guidelines.

How many adolescents lack physical activity?

Using global adolescent physical activity estimates reported by WHO and peer-reviewed studies—including 2001, 2008, 2010, and 2016 data from over 140 countries—we constructed a consistent timeline of inactivity trends (e.g., 80.1% of boys and 85.1% of girls in 2001; 77.6% and 84.7% in 2016). These reference points enabled us to interpolate annual figures and extrapolate potential trajectories in adolescent inactivity prevalence.

Active sport can play a powerful role in reversing this crisis. It teaches discipline, boosts self-confidence, and builds strong movement patterns early. When properly coached, it’s a safe and transformative form of training for teenagers — especially girls, who are consistently shown to be less active. If you’re a parent, coach, or young athlete reading this, introducing cardio or strength training can be a gateway to a lifetime of physical activity and personal growth.

Let’s take a look at the chart with physical inactivity prevalence among adolescents:

Growth projection of physical inactivity among adolescents

Based on this data, we can say that the trend is difficult to identify. However, it is obvious that on average, inactivity prevalence among girls is 4-5% higher than among boys and the difference tends to grow.

How many adolescents are not active enough?

• About 1.07 billion adolescents worldwide are estimated to be physically inactive in 2025.

In other words, 4 out of 5 adolescents are not active enough:

• In 2025, an estimated 80.3% of adolescents are not getting enough physical activity.

If we break down this data by sex, we will get the following figures:

• An estimated 85% of adolescent girls are not sufficiently active in 2025.
• In 2025, an estimated 76.5% of adolescent boys are not meeting physical activity guidelines.

Health benefits of physical activity

While we see a clear decline in physical activity levels among all groups, it’s worth taking a look at the list of health benefits of physical activity.

• Physical activity is linked to a 50% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease in adults over 65.
• Regular physical activity lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke by 19%, and diabetes by 17%.
• Physical activity reduces the risk of many cancers by 8–28%, and lowers the risk of depression and dementia by up to 32%.

Strength training, especially Olympic lifting, is often overlooked in mainstream activity guidelines. But it checks every box: cardiovascular benefits, fat loss, hormone regulation, mental resilience. The barbell teaches you to fight gravity—and in the process, resist the slow decline of inactivity. If 4–5 million deaths can be prevented annually by moving more, then one of the most empowering forms of movement deserves a central place in the conversation.

What’s more important is that physical activity can save millions of lives every year.

• An estimated 4–5 million deaths per year could be prevented through increased physical activity.

Health risks of lack of exercise

On the other hand, there are numerous diseases caused by lack of exercise:

• Physical inactivity contributes to 6% of coronary heart disease cases worldwide.
• Lack of exercise is responsible for 7% of type 2 diabetes cases globally.
• Around 10% of breast and colon cancer cases are linked to physical inactivity.
• People who don’t stay active have a 42% higher risk of developing dementia.
• Regular physical activity lowers the risk of depression by up to 30%.

Physical activity and mortality

As we see how much harm is caused by physical inactivity and how beneficial exercise is, it becomes obvious that there is a direct connection between the physical activity and mortality.

• Physical inactivity is responsible for about 9% of premature deaths globally.
• An estimated 4-5 million deaths per year could be prevented through increased physical activity.

How many people exercise regularly?

Let’s finish our research on a positive note and analyze how many people are active enough.

• 3.97 billion adults are physically active in 2025.

Just imagine, almost 4 billion people exercise regularly on Earth in 2025.

What percentage of the population exercises regularly?

• In 2025, 67.4% of adults are physically active.
• Roughly 2 out of 3 adults on Earth exercise regularly to support their health and well-being.

Most physically active countries

Let’s take a look at the world map that shows physical activity by country. 

Based on this, we can build the list of the most physically fit countries:

What countries are most physically active in the world?

• Mozambique, Uganda, and Lesotho lead globally in physical activity, with over 93% of adults staying active.

Sport is a culture of movement, resilience, and identity. We don’t want you to focus on one type of sports: running, swimming, playing table tennis, or barbell training – all these are beneficial and build healthy nations. The data in this report highlights a global challenge—but we, as athletes and everyday movers alike, are part of the solution, one training session at a time.

Sources

1. World Health Organization. (n.d.). Physical activity. Retrieved April 16, 2025, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity
2. European Society of Cardiology. (n.d.). Moderate physical activity linked with 50% reduction in cardiovascular death. Retrieved April 16, 2025, from https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/moderate-physical-activity-linked-with-50-reduction-in-cardiovascular-death-in
3. World Health Organization. (2024). WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Retrieved from https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/378026/9789240096905-eng.pdf
4. The Lancet. (2019). Physical activity trends in children and adolescents. Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(19)30323-2/fulltext
5. IHRSA. (2019). The 2019 IHRSA global report: Physical activity statistics. Retrieved from https://hub.healthandfitness.org/hubfs/Advocacy/PHIT/files/2019-IHRSA-Compiled-Physical-Activity-Stats.pdf
6. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2019). Physical activity and public health. PubMed. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6468884/
7. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2021). Physical inactivity and noncommunicable disease burden. PubMed. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8478970/