Padel is one of the fastest growing sports on the planet and is set to become extremely popular in the UK in the coming years thanks to the LTA’s recent commitment to growing the sport in Britain. So, to give you a better idea of just how big the sport really is, we’ve pulled together some of the most important global padel statistics.
Padel Statistics: The Quick Version
Here are the key facts and figures about padel tennis:
- Padel is one of the fastest growing sports globally, with over 25 million players in over 90 countries worldwide.
- The term ‘padel’ is searched 968,000 times a month globally.
- Italy shows the most interest in padel online and is responsible for 180,000 monthly searches for the search term ‘padel’.
- There are 60,700 online searches a month for ‘padel rackets’ globally.
Global Padel Statistics 2022
As far as sports go, padel is a very modern game. However, since its invention in Mexico in 1969, the sport has become one of the fastest growing sports on the planet. Here are some of the statistics about padel around the world:
- According to the FIP (International Padel Federation), over 25 million people play padel in over 90 countries around the world.
- The FIP also recognises 300,000 federated padel players.
- There are over 6 million active padel players in Spain and more than 20,000 padel courts, making it the second most popular sport in Spain behind football.
- As of February 2022, Italy is home to over 5,000 padel courts.
- Argentina has over 2 million padel players and more than 4,900 padel courts.
- Padel is trending in Sweden too, where 500,000 people play the sport nationwide.
- It’s estimated around 15,000 new padel courts were registered in Europe in 2021.
To better understand people’s interest in padel beyond simply taking to the court, we’ve also analysed the number of online searches for the term ‘padel’ using KW Finder. According to our research:
- ‘Padel’ is searched for on average 968,000 times a month around the world.
- Italy shows the most interest in padel with 180,000 monthly searches. That’s just under 19% of the total global searches for ‘padel’.
- Unsurprisingly, Spain also shows an extreme interest in the sport, with 149,000 searches a month for the search term ‘padel’. That’s more than 15% of all global searches completed.
- Interestingly, the Netherlands is the third most interested country and is responsible for 74,000 online searches a month for ‘padel’ (almost 8% of global searches).
- The UK is only responsible for 1.27% of online global searches for ‘padel’, though the sport is relatively new to Britain.
Padel In The UK
Padel is taking the UK by storm and has come a long way from the roughly 3,000 players and 20 courts it had in 2018. Since the LTA first committed to developing the sport in Britain back in 2019, padel has grown a lot. According to the latest data:
- There are currently 89,000 active padel players in Britain as of November 2021
- There are a total of 155 padel courts (93 indoor, 62 outdoor) at 70 venues throughout Britain.
- The LTA is targeting a total of 400 padel courts being available in Britain by 2021.
- ‘Padel courts near me’ is searched an average of 780 times a month in the UK.
Professional Padel Statistics
When it comes to pro padel, things get a little complicated. There are currently two professional tours in padel: The FIP Tour, organised by the official governing body in padel (International Padel Federation) and the and the World Padel Tour, run by Spanish brewer S.S Damm outside of the federation’s umbrella.
But regardless of the rankings you go off, professional padel is massively dominated by Spanish players.
In April 2022, the International Padel Federation website recognises 1264 pro ranked male players and 596 female players. Of the top 100 players in the FIP rankings, 73 of the top 100 male players and 72 of the top 100 female players are Spanish (as of April 2022).
Naturally, the growth of the sport at a recreational level also brings with it an increased interest in watching professional padel too. In 2021, the World Padel Tour’s official Youtube channel recorded an average of 2.3 million live viewers per tournament (up 43% from 2020) and saw a growth of 36% for on-demand content. That inspired the creation of the World Padel Tour TV which acquired 225,000 active users in its first two months.
As for the prize money on offer, it’s estimated that approximately 2.95 million euros are up for grabs across 20 different tournaments. By comparison, the total prize fund for Wimbledon alone was £35 million in 2021. The good news though is that sport is striving towards equal prize money for men and women.
The Demand For Padel Rackets
Once again, using search volume data collected using KW Finder, we’ve taken a closer look at the demand for padel rackets around the world and in the UK.
- Globally, there are 60,700 searches a month for ‘padel rackets’. Searches peaked at 74,000 in April and then again in August 2021.
- According to Padel Lands data, 409,158 padel rackets were sold in 2017.
- On the other hand, some sources suggest that the annual padel racket sales are closer to 900,000.
- In the UK, there are 2,200 searches a month for ‘padel rackets’.
We’ve also compiled a list of the most searched for padel racket brands and it’s no surprise to see that many of them are also major tennis racket manufacturers. Here’s a list of the top 10 most searched for padel racket brands globally:
| Keyword | Monthly Searches (Global) |
| adidas padel racket | 2700 |
| head padel racket | 2300 |
| babolat padel racket | 2300 |
| wilson padel racket | 1700 |
| bullpadel racket | 1600 |
| nox padel racket | 1000 |
| dunlop padel racket | 640 |
| asics padel racket | 380 |
| osaka padel racket | 360 |
| starvie padel racket | 350 |
Of the top 5 most searched for padel racket brands, 3 (Head, Babolat & Wilson) are major tennis racket racket manufacturers. However, it’s also interesting to see that Adidas, who used to play a big role in the world of tennis rackets, are now leading the way in padel.
So it’s safe to say that padel is definitely growing, both in the UK and globally. And the numbers are there to back it!
