Participants in roller skating in the U.S. from 2006 to 2017

The number of U.S. citizens aged six and above that participated roller skating amounted to approximately 11.8 million in 2017. This number has almost halved in size over the past 10 years.

The two types of roller skating

Roller skating is a recreational activity or sport where participants can choose to use either inline skates or 2x2 wheel skates. Inline skates typically have two to four wheels that are arranged in a single line. 2x2 wheel skates, or quad skates, have two front and two real wheels. In 2017, there were approximately 5.3 million participants in inline skating in the U.S., while 2x2 wheel skating proved the more popular of the two engaging around 6.3 million U.S. participants.

Who spends the most time on outdoor activities?

It has been found that children participate more often in outdoor activities than older age groups. In a 2017 survey it was shown that 61 percent of children aged six to twelve participated at least once in an outdoor activity. Comparatively, only 37 percent of respondents aged 45 and older participated in outdoor recreational activities.