Respondents aged 16 and over were asked how often in a typical week, they did sports, fitness, or recreational physical activity for ‘at least 10 minutes continuously’, Those in work were asked to describe their work activity level as ‘mostly sitting’, ‘mostly standing’, ‘mostly walking ‘or ‘tasks of moderate physical effort’, ‘mostly heavy labour ‘ or ‘physically demanding work’. Respondents were also asked how often, in a typical week, they ate fruit (excluding fruit juices) and vegetables or salad (excluding potatoes, soups, and vegetable juices), with response options of ‘once a day or more’, ‘4 to 6 times a week’, ‘1 to 3 times a week’, and ‘never or less than once a week’.
The results show how physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption vary by personal circumstances, including poverty and deprivation status and equivalised income quintile, with physical activity also analysed by self-perceived general health, sex, and type of work.
About one third (32.1%) of people engaged in physical activity once a day or more in 2025, up from 28.7% in 2022. However, the proportion active less than once a week or never also rose, to over a quarter (25.2%) of people.
The CSO's Irish Health Survey (IHS) and the Department of Health's Healthy Ireland Survey (HIS) also collect data on physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption and are the main sources for headline national rates on these activities. Data from SILC and these surveys are not directly comparable due to differences in indicator definitions, age coverage, survey design and mode survey design and mode, in addition to question wording and answer options. See Background Notes for more details.
In 2025, about one third (32.1%) of those aged 16 years and over engaged in physical activities 'once a day or more’, an increase from 28.7% in 2022. At the same time, over a quarter (25.2%) were active ‘never or less than once a week’, up from 24.8% in 2022. See figure 4.1 and table 4.1.
Consumption of both fruit and vegetables decreased in 2025, compared with 2022. In 2025, almost two thirds of people aged 16 years and over, ate fruit at least ‘once a day or more’ (64.9%), while 71.9% consumed vegetables or salad at least ‘once a day or more’, a slight decrease from 2022. The proportion of people consuming fruit and vegetables ‘never or less than once a week’ increased between 2022 and 2025. The corresponding figures for vegetables were 3.3% in 2025 and 2.2% in 2022. See figure 4.2 and table 4.1.
Since 2022, physical activity has fallen among those in poverty or deprivation while rising or holding steady for the rest of the population.
Nearly two in five (39.7%) of those at risk of poverty in 2025 engaged in physical activity ‘never or less than once a week’, an increase of nearly 5 percentage points from 2022 (35.0%). The corresponding figure for those not at risk of poverty in 2025 was 23.3%. Daily activity moved in the opposite direction, falling from 34.1% to 28.7% among those at risk of poverty and rising from 28.0% to 32.6% for those not at risk of poverty.
The pattern was similar for enforced deprivation. Of those experiencing enforced deprivation, 43.2% engaged in physical activity 'never or less than once a week’, an increase of over 10 percentage points from 2022 (31.9%), compared with 22.3% of those not experiencing enforced deprivation down from 23.4% in 2022. Daily activity among those experiencing enforced deprivation fell from 27.9% to 26.2%, while among those not in enforced deprivation it rose from 28.9% to 33.1%.
Among those in consistent poverty, 43.2% were active 'never or less than once a week’, up 7 percentage points from 2022 (36.2%). This was nearly unchanged for those not in consistent poverty (24.5%, compared with 24.3% in 2022). Daily physical activity among those in consistent poverty fell by over 10 percentage points, from 35.1% to 24.6%, while among those not in consistent poverty, it rose from 28.4% to 32.4%. See figure 4.3 and table 4.1.
Of those at risk of poverty, 62.0% ate fruit 'once a day or more’ compared with 65.3% of those not at risk of poverty. For vegetables or salad, the figures were 65.7% for those at risk of poverty and 72.7% for those not at risk.
Among those living in enforced deprivation, 48.3% ate fruit daily, and 53.0% ate vegetables or salads daily. This compares with 67.6% and 74.9% of those not living in enforced deprivation.
Half (50.0%) of those in consistent poverty ate vegetables or salad 'once a day or more’, compared with 72.8% of those not in consistent poverty. For fruit, the figures were 47.2% and 65.7% respectively. See figure 4.4 and table 4.1.
Physical activity rose with income. In quintile 1 (the lowest 20% of the income distribution) 29.7% were active 'once a day or more’ (29.7%) and the most likely to be active ‘less than once a week or never’ at 39.6%. In quintile 5 (the highest 20%), 34.8% were active daily and 11.5% were active ‘never or less than once a week’. See figure 4.5 and table 4.2.
There is also a correlation between fruit and vegetable consumption and income quintile. In 2025, the proportion of people who reported eating fruit 'once a day or more’ increased with income, from 60.8% in the first income quintile (lowest income) to 71.0% in the fifth income quintile (highest income). Daily consumption of vegetables or salad followed a similar pattern, rising from 66.4% among those in the first income quintile to 77.9% among those in the fifth income quintile. See figure 4.6 and table 4.2.
In 2025, daily physical activity was most common among those with ‘very good’ self-perceived health (39.6%), falling to 29.6% for ‘good’ health, 26.0% for ‘fair’ health, 15.1% for ‘bad’ health and 11.2% for ‘very bad’ health. Infrequent activity followed the reverse pattern, with 74.6% of those with ‘very bad’ health active less than once a week or never, compared with 14.4% of those with ‘very good’ health.
The gap has widened since 2022 as daily activity among those with ‘very good’ health rose from 31.7% to 39.6%, while the proportion of those with ‘very bad’ health active less than once a week or never rose from 68.3% to 74.6%. See figure 4.7 and table 4.3.
In 2025, 33.1% of females engaged in physical activity 'once a day or more’, compared with 30.6% of males, both up from 2022 (from 29.5% and 28.3% respectively). The proportion active ‘never or less than once a week’ was broadly similar for both sexes (24.7% of females and 26.6% of males). For females, this rose slightly from 23.5% in 2022, while for males it was unchanged at 26.6%. See figure 4.8 and table 4.4.
A greater proportion of females reported undertaking daily exercise across all age groups compared with men. For those aged 18 to 34 years a similar proportion of females and males exercised daily, 33.4% and 32.5% respectively. The daily exercise gap between females and males widened for those aged 35 to 49 years and 50 to 64 years, with 34.4% of females aged 50 to 64 years reporting exercising daily compared with 29.8% of males of the same age. The gap closed for those aged 65 years and over where the daily exercise rate was 37.3% for females and 37.1% for males. See table 4.4.
Leisure-time physical activity varied considerably by the type of work people do. In 2025, those whose work involved 'mostly walking or tasks of moderate physical effort’ were the most likely to be active daily (33.2%), with 24.6% active ‘never or less than once a week’. Those in ‘mostly heavy labour or physically demanding work’ were the least likely to be active daily (26.2%) and the most likely to be active ‘never or less than once a week (40.2%).
For those whose work was ‘mostly sitting’, 30.0% were active daily and 14.6% ‘never or less than once a week’. The corresponding figures for those whose work was ‘mostly standing’ were 28.6% and 23.1%. See figure 4.9 and table 4.5.
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