According to an Adeps report, the sports economy in Belgium covers some 9.4 billion euros per year and employs no less than 122,000 people.

The sports economy in Belgium by 9.430 billion euros and employs 122,240 people, according to a report published on Tuesday by the General Administration of Sport (Adeps), in association with Sport Vlaanderen.

Almost one in 39 euros would be generated by sport in Belgium.

In line with the desire of the European Commission to adopt a method specific to sport for all of its Member States, the sports administrations of the two largest communities in Belgium have ordered a satellite account (CSS) in order to ” assess its economic contribution. The interest of a CSS is to quantify subjects or sectors of the economy which are not observable in the system of national accounts.

According to this account, carried out on the basis of the year 2015 by the University of Sheffield Hallam and SportsEconAustria, the gross added value of sport in 2015 amounted to 6,641 billion euros. “If we add the direct and indirect effects and the effects induced by sport through the consumption of people working in the sector, a total effect of 9.430 billion euros is generated, i.e. 2.53% of the ‘whole of the Belgian economy’, we can read in the report.

The “multiplier effect of sport” is also highlighted. “With an estimated turnover of 17.46 billion euros, 54% of sports-related expenditure is transformed into national gross added value.” The account estimates that one in 39 euros is generated by sport in Belgium.

In terms of jobs, the sector employs 122,240 people, or 2.72% of all Belgian employees. In addition, the direct wages related to sport amount to 2.832 billion, before taxes and social contributions. If we add the indirect and induced effects, these revenues reach 3,863 billion.

Logistics (€ 1,909 billion), education (€ 1.843 billion) and Wholesale Services (€ 668 million) are the three sectors that benefit the most from the gross value of sport. The three sectors where it organizes the most direct jobs are education (34,919 people), direct sports activities such as clubs and events (13,620 people) and logistics (7,448 people).

“Physical and sports activity is often associated with the benefits it produces in terms of health, well-being and social inclusion”, underlines Valérie Glatigny, Minister of Sports in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. “This satellite account for sport in Belgium also shows that beyond these essential aspects, sport is also an economic player in its own right which plays a positive role for our country, for example in terms of jobs.”

The sport satellite account in Belgium is a first step in in-depth work which will also make it possible to analyze and quantify the social return on investment in sport in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.