An Official
Statistics publication
Published by:
Professional Services Unit
Among other policy areas, the Department for Communities (DfC) is the lead department for arts and creativity, museums, libraries, public records, sports, heritage and volunteering. This bulletin provides headline analysis on these areas.
Engagement in culture, art, heritage and sport includes:
Note: Following a move in 2020/21 from face-to-face interviewing to telephone interviewing to collect data, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 surveys used a mix of telephone and face-to-face modes. There has also been a reduction in the number of questions in all three years. Therefore, the results from these years are not directly comparable to previous years due to the significant changes to the survey in terms of methodology and content. More information is available on the NISRA website.
This report presents the findings from the 2022/23 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to engagement with culture, arts, heritage and sport in Northern Ireland. These findings are used to inform the development, monitoring and evaluation of policy. More information relating to the CHS, methodology, definitions and the interpretation of the figures can be found in the Definitions & technical notes section. Data tables are available in Excel and ODS format. The questions that were asked in the CHS 2022/23 are available here.
Lead statistician: Iain Bryson
Engagement with culture, arts, heritage and sport is defined as engaging in the arts, using the public library service, visiting museums or science centres, visiting a place of historic interest, using PRONI services or participating in sport. In 2022/23, more than four in every five adults (88%) had engaged with culture, arts, heritage and sport within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 79%.
In 2022/23, 84% of adults had engaged in some way with culture, arts and sport within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 73%.
Note: The results from the 2020/21-2022/23 are not directly comparable to previous years due to the significant changes to the survey in terms of methodology and content. While comparisons can be made between 2021/22 and 2022/23, it is important to note that engagement in 2021/22 would have been impacted by closures due to COVID-19.
Figures for visiting a place of historic interest can only be combined with culture, arts and sport from 2021/22 onwards and are therefore not presented in this chart.
In 2019/20, the questions on visits to museums were revised to include a question to estimate the length of time from the last visit to a museum. As a result of the inclusion of this question, figures for visits to museums in 2019/20 are not comparable with previous years. Although this is one element of the overall culture, arts and sport engagement rate, the impact of the change is lessened by the fact that the majority of those who visit museums also engage in some other way with culture, arts and sport.
In 2022/23, four out of five adults in Northern Ireland (80%) had engaged with culture and the arts at least once within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 62%. Women were more likely to have engaged with culture and the arts within the previous year than men (83% and 77% respectively).
The proportions of adults who engaged with culture and the arts generally decreased as age group increased, particularly beyond the 35-44 years age group.
Adults with a disability were less likely to have engaged with culture and the arts compared to those without a disability (71% and 84% respectively). Also, adults living in a rural area (78%) were less likely to engage than those living in an urban area (82%).
Analysis by deprivations levels shows that adults living in the least deprived areas were more likely to have engaged in culture and the arts than those living in the most deprived areas (88% and 76% respectively). There was also a difference in engagement rates between adults with dependants and those without dependants (86% and 76% respectively).
In 2022/23, over three quarters of adults (77%) had engaged with the arts within the previous year, with over one quarter of adults (28%) participating in arts activities and just over seven out of ten adults (71%) attending an arts event.
In 2022/23, over three quarters of adults (77%) had engaged with the arts within the previous year, i.e. either participated in arts activities or attended arts events, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 57%
Females where more likely to have engaged with the arts compared with males (79% and 74% respectively).
Regarding age, the trend was similar to that for attending arts events, engagement rates tended to drop as age increased.
Adults who do not have a disability were more likely to engage in the arts (81%) than adults with a disability (67%). Similar proportions of adults from a Catholic background and those from a Protestant background engaged with the arts (75% and 76% respectively).
Adults who lived in the least deprived areas were more likely to have engaged with the arts within the previous year than those who lived in the most deprived areas (87% and 71% respectively). Also, those living in an urban area were more likely to engage in the arts compared to those living in a rural area (79% and 74% respectively).
In 2022/23, over a quarter of adults (28%) participated in an arts activity at least once within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 25%
A higher proportion of females than males participated in arts activities (33% and 23% respectively). In addition, relatively more adults from the Protestant community participated in arts activities within the previous year (29%) than those from the Catholic community (24%). Adults with a disability were more likely to have participated in the arts compared to adults without a disability (31% compared to 27%).
In 2022/23, adults with dependants were less likely to participate in an art activity compared to those without dependants (26% and 30% respectively). In addition, adults living in the most deprived areas were less likely to participate in art activities compared to adults living in the least deprived areas (24% and 35% respectively).
The five most popular arts activities that adults participated in within the previous year were: ‘Textile crafts such as embroidery, crocheting or knitting’ (10%), ‘Painting, drawing, printmaking or sculpture’ (7%), ‘Took photographs or made films or videos as an artistic activity’ (5%), ‘Sang or played a musical instrument to an audience or rehearsed for performance (5%)’ and ‘wood crafts such as wood turning, carving and furniture making’ (4%).
In 2022/23, seven out of ten adults (71%) had attended at least one arts event within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 46%. More women than men had attended an arts event within the previous year (73% and 69% respectively). There is a relationship between arts attendance and age, with attendance generally decreasing as age increases.
Adults with a disability were less likely to attend an art event than adults without a disability (57% and 77% respectively), while a higher proportion of adults with dependants attended art events than those without dependants (77% and 67% respectively).
Adults who lived in the least deprived areas were more likely to have attended an arts event (82%) than those who live in the most deprived areas (65%). Also, those adults who lived in urban areas were more likely to have attended an arts event than those who lived in rural areas (73% compared to 68%).
The most popular arts events attended by adults over the previous year were ‘Film at cinema or other venue’ (52%), ‘Visited a national or local museum’ (28%) ‘A live music performance’ (34%), ‘A play, drama other theatre performance’ (18%).
In 2022/23, 22% of the adult population had used the public library service at least once within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 15%.
Women were more likely to have used the public library service than men (27% and 17% respectively). Similarly, adults aged 44 and under were more likely to have used the public library service (26%) than those aged 45 and over (19%).
Adults with dependants were more likely to have used the public library service (29%) compared to adults who do not have dependants (17%). In addition, adults with a disability were less likely to have used the public library service than those without a disability (20% and 23% respectively).
There were no differences in the use of public library services when comparing the least deprived with the most deprived areas or those living in either urban or rural areas.
In 2022/23, 32% of adults had visited a museum or science centre within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 18%. One in five adults (20%) having visited a national museum over the same period, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 10%.
More females than males had visited a museum or science centre within the previous year (34% and 31% respectively). Also adults aged 45 and over were less likely to have visited a museum or science centre (26%) than those aged 44 and under (40%) within the previous year.
Adults from a Protestant background were more likely to visit a museum or science centre than adults from a Catholic background (33% and 28% respectively). In addition, adults with dependants were more likely to have visited than adults without dependants (39% and 27% respectively).
Adults who lived in the least deprived areas were more likely to have visited a museum or science centre (47%) than those who lived in the most deprived areas (23%). Also, adults who lived in urban areas were more likely to visit a museum or science centre (35%) than those living in rural areas (28%).
National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) has four museums across Northern Ireland. One in five adults (20%) had been to a NMNI museum within the previous year an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 10%. Females were more likey to have visited a National Museum than males (22% and 18% respectively).
Adults aged 45 and over were less likely to have visited a national museum (16%) than those aged 44 and under (25%). Similarly, adults with a disability were less likely to visit a national museum (16%) than adults without a disability (22%).
Those adults with dependants were more likely to have visited a national museum in the past year than adults without dependants (25% and 17% respectively).
Adults living in the least deprived areas were more likely to have visited a national museum (31% compared to 14% for most deprived areas). Those living in urban areas were also more likely to have visited a national museum (23% compared to 16% for rural areas).
In 2022/23, 14% of adults in Northern Ireland had visited a local museum at least once within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 9%. There was no significant difference between the proportions of women and men who had visited a local museum within the previous year (15% and 13%).
Adults from a Protestant background were more likely to visit a local museum than adults from a Catholic background (16% and 11% respectively). In addition, adults in the least deprived areas were more likely to have visited a local museum within the past year than adults from the most deprived areas (20% and 9% respectively). Finally, adults with a disability were less likely to visit a local museum (11%) than adults without a disability (15%).
Over one in ten of adults (11%) had visited a science centre at least once within the within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 3%.
Those adults with dependants were more likely to have visited a science centre in the past year than adults without dependants (18% and 6% respectively).
Adults living in the least deprived areas were more likely to have visited a science centre (14% compared to 8% for most deprived areas). Also, those in urban areas were also more likely to have visited a science centre (12% compared to 10% for rural areas).
In 2022/23, 5% of adults had used PRONI services within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 3%. Use of PRONI services includes visiting PRONI, the use of the PRONI website to access the online catalogue or other applications, contacting PRONI by email to request information and engaging with PRONI through social media or viewing a PRONI exhibition at another public building.
Those living in the least deprived areas were more likely to have used PRONI in the previous year than those living in the most deprived areas (6% and 3% respectively). In addition, adults living in urban areas were more likely to have used PRONI in the previous year compared to those in rural areas (5% and 4% respectively).
There were no differences in the use of PRONI services for gender, older and younger adults, adults with and without dependants or those with a disability.
In 2022/23, 59% of adults in Northern Ireland had visited a place of historic interest within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 48%.
Similar proportions of men and women visited places of historic interest within the previous year (60% and 59% respectively). However, analysis by age shows that adults aged 44 and under were more likely to have visited a place of historic interest than those aged 45 and over (65% and 54% respectively).
Adults from the Protestant community were more likely to visit a place of historic interest (62%) in 2022/23 compared to those from the Catholic community (53%). Similarly, a higher proportion of adults who have dependants (64%) visited a place of historic interest compared to those who do not have dependants (56%).
Adults who have a disability were less likely to visit a place of historic interest within the previous year (53%) compared to those who do not have a disability (62%).
Three-quarters (75%) of adults who lived in the least deprived areas visited a place of historic interest within the previous year compared to 45% of adults who lived in the most deprived areas. In addition, adults living in urban areas were more likely to have visited a place of historic interest (62%) compared to those living in rural areas (55%).
In 2022/23, almost half of all adults (48%) had participated in sport at least once within the previous year (excluding walking), an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 45%. While two out of every five adults had participated in sport over the last 4 weeks (40%), an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 37%
Females were less likely to have taken part in sport at least once within the previous year than males (40% and 55% respectively). Similarly, when looking at participation rates over the previous four weeks, just over a third of females (34%) stated that they had taken part in sport compared to almost half of all males (47%).
Sport participation declines with age among adults. Particiption in sport was highest among the 16-24 age group and lowest in the 65 years and over group (24%)
Adults with a disability were less likely to participate in sport in the previous year (26%) compared to adults without a disability (56%). Similarly, when looking at participation rates over the previous four weeks, just over one in five (21%) of those with a disability had taken part in sport compared to almost half of all adults without a disability (48%).
Adults with dependants were more likely to participate in sport in the previous year than those without dependants (50% and 46% respectively). Similar proportions of adults with dependants and those without had participated in sport in the previous 4 weeks (41% compared to 40%).
Adults living in the most deprived areas were less likely to have participated in sport within the previous year (33%) or within the last four weeks (26%) than those adults living in the least deprived areas (61% and 52% respectively).
Keep-fit, aerobics, dance exercise, yoga, weight training (24%) was the most popular sporting activity amongst adults within the previous year. Swimming or diving (13%), jogging (12%) and cycling (10%) were the next most popular sporting activities.
There were differences in the types of sports males and females participated in within the previous year. A higher proportion of males participated in most of the sports listed, however women were more likely than men to have participated in keep-fit, aerobics, dance exercise, yoga, weight training (26% compared to 22%). Swimming or diving showed no significant difference in participation between males and females.
| Sport | All | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walking for recreation | 65 | 59 | 71 |
| Keep fit/aerobics/yoga/dance exercise/weight training | 24 | 22 | 26 |
| Swimming or diving | 13 | 12 | 13 |
| Jogging | 12 | 14 | 10 |
| Cycling for recreation | 10 | 14 | 6 |
| Football indoors or outdoors (incl 5-a-side) | 7 | 14 | 1 |
| Golf or pitch and putt | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| Other | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Snooker or pool | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| Gaelic Games | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Racket sports (tennis, badminton, squash) | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Bowls (indoor or outdoor) or tenpin bowling | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Angling or fishing | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Basketball or netball | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| None | 21 | 20 | 21 |
| Base | 4,956 | 2,103 | 2,855 |
Walking for recreation is not included in the overall sport participation figures. Nearly two out of three adults (65%) had walked for recreation within the previous year. In contrast to the demographic pattern seen with the overall sport participation rates, a higher proportion of females (71%) than males (59%) had walked for recreation.
Almost a third of adults (32%) had not participated in sport but had walked for recreation within the previous year. As with the overall results for walking, a higher proportion of non-sport participating females (39%) had walked for recreation than non-sport participating males (24%).
Adults with dependants were more likely to have walked for recreation compared to those without dependants (71% and 61% respectively).
Analysis by deprivation shows that fewer adults living in the most deprived areas walked for recreation in the previous year (55%) compared to those living in the least deprived areas (75%). In contrast, similar proportions of adults living in urban areas had walked for recreation compared to those living in rural areas (65% and 66% respectively).
In 2022/23, 21% of the adult population participated in volunteering within the previous year, an increase on the 2021/22 figure of 17%.
There were no significant differences in the proportions of males and females volunteering within the last year (22% and 20% respectively). Similarly, for the proportions of those aged 45 and over and those aged 44 and under (21% and 20% respectively).
Adults from the Protestant community were more likely to volunteer (25%) than those from the Catholic community (17%). Similarly, adults who have dependants were more likely to volunteer (23%) than those without dependants (20%). However, adults with a disability were less likely to have volunteered within the last year than adults without a disability (17% and 23% respectively).
Higher proportions of those who lived in the least deprived areas (23%) volunteered in the last year compared to those who lived in the most deprived areas (16%). Similarly, adults living in a rural area were more likely to volunteer compared to adults living in an urban area (25% and 19% respectively).
The proportion of adults in 2022/23 who had some knowledge of Irish (i.e. who can understand, speak, read or write Irish or any combination of these skills) was 17%, no change from the 2021/22 figure (17%).
There was no difference in the proportions of males and females who had some knowledge of Irish (both 17%). Knowledge of Irish generally decreases as the population age increases. Adults aged 44 and under were more likely to have some knowledge of Irish (20%) compared to those aged 45 and over (14%).
A higher proportion of adults from the Catholic community (35%) had some knowledge of Irish compared to adults from the Protestant community (3%).
In 2022/23, adults living in the least deprived areas were less likely to have some knowledge of Irish than those living in the most deprived areas (12% and 19% respectively). Similarly, adults who live in urban areas were less likely than those living in rural areas to have some knowledge of Irish (16% and 20% respectively).
In addition, adults with a disability were less likely to have some knowledge of Irish compared to those without a disability (14% and 18% respectively).
The proportion of adults in 2022/23 who had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots (i.e. who can understand, speak, read or write Ulster-Scots or any combination of these skills) was 17%, similar to the 2021/22 figure of 16%.
Males were more likely to have some knowledge of Ulster-Scots (19%) than females (15%). Knowledge of Ulster-Scots generally increases with age, with adults aged 45 and over were more likely to have some knowledge of Ulster-Scots compared to adults aged 44 and under (22% and 10% respectively).
A higher proportion of adults from a Protestant background (24%) had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots compared to those from a Catholic background (8%). In addition, adults with a disability were more likely to have some knowledge of Ulster-Scots compared to those without a disability (20% and 15% respectively).
In 2022/23, adults living in the least deprived areas were more likely to have some knowledge of Ulster-Scots than those living in the most deprived areas (18% and 11% respectively). Similarly, adults who live in rural areas were more likely than those living in urban areas to have some knowledge of Ulster-Scots (20% and 15% respectively).
Continuous Household Survey
The Continuous Household Survey is a Northern Ireland wide household survey administered by Central Survey Unit, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. The sample for this survey consists of a systematic random sample of 9,000 addresses selected from the Land and Property Service’s list of private addresses. The findings reported for 2022/23 are based on 4,960 respondents, aged 16 and over.
Note: Following a move in 2020/21 from face-to-face interviewing to telephone interviewing to collect data, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 surveys used a mix of telephone and face-to-face modes. There has also been a reduction in the number of questions in all three years. Therefore, the results from these years are not directly comparable to previous years due to the significant changes to the survey in terms of methodology and content. More information is available on the NISRA website.
Weighting the Continuous Household Survey
Analysis of the culture, arts and sport modules of the CHS have been weighted for non-response. A chi square goodness-of-fit test showed that the CHS sample (4,960) was not representative of the population by age and sex when compared with the 2021 Census for Northern Ireland (NISRA 24 May 2022). As a result, separate weights were produced for age, sex and age and sex combined.
Non-response weighting sometimes increases standard errors, although the impact tends to be fairly small, i.e. the adjustment may be less or greater than 1, but will generally be reasonably close to 1. In the case of the culture, arts and sport modules of the CHS, the values of the adjustment for all three weighting systems are so close to one, it is not necessary to take account of this in the calculation of standard error and confidence intervals.
While weighting for non-response (also called post-stratification) should reduce bias, it must be acknowledged that it will not eliminate bias. The reasons individuals choose to take part in surveys are complex and depend on lots of factors specific to the individual. As a result, the non-response biases in surveys are likely to be complex. Post-stratification works on the assumption that, by aligning the survey to the population along a small number of dimensions such as age, gender and MDM, many of these complex biases will reduce. However, it would be misleading to suggest that they will be eliminated.
Statistical significance in this report
Any statements in this report regarding differences between groups are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This means that we can be 95% confident that the differences between groups are actual differences and have not just arisen by chance. The base numbers, sizes of percentages (relating to low self-efficacy and loneliness) or variance of scores (relating to wellbeing) have an effect on statistical significance. Therefore on occasion, a difference between two groups may be statistically significant while the same difference in percentage points or mean score between two other groups may not be statistically significant. The reason for this is because the larger the base numbers or the closer the percentages are to 0 or 100 or the smaller the variance in scores, the smaller the standard errors. This leads to increased precision of the estimates which increases the likelihood that the difference between the proportions or mean scores is actually significant and has not just arisen by chance.
Other notes
The following should be noted when interpreting figures and tables: