The Global Winter Sports Divide

In a survey of more than 30 countries carried out by Statista Consumer Insights, a stark divide between winter sports aficionados and those who couldn't care less becomes obvious. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Colombia and Argentina, just 3-4 percent said they followed such sports. In Canada, Sweden and Finland, these numbers ranged between 54 and 71 percent, mostly driven by ice hockey. In the United States, the share of respondents saying they followed ice hockey was also twice as high as share of those who said they enjoyed watching other winter sports. Both figures were relatively lower, however, at 20 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Nations that like other winter sports more than ice hockey included Austria, Italy, France, Poland, the Netherlands and China. But enthusiasm for these competitions didn't reach as many people, peaking at 38 percent in Austria and 34 percent in Switzerland. Generally speaking, winter sports find some fans and viewers all over the world, from Brazil and Thailand at 11 percent followers, India and Vietnam at 10 percent as well as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico and Japan at 9 percent.