79% of adults in Northern Ireland engaged with culture, arts, heritage and sport in last year, finds survey

October 2022

79% of adults in Northern Ireland engaged with culture, arts, heritage and sport in last year: The findings of the latest Continuous Household survey have revealed that in the year 2021 to 2022, almost 4 out of 5 adults participated in some sort of engagement with the arts, culture, heritage and sport in Northern Ireland.

The survey which was published in October 2022 also found that 62% had engaged in culture and arts in the last 12 months, while 45% of adults had participated in sports.

Almost half said they had visited a historic place of interest in the last 12 months (48%), while 18% said they had visited a museum or science centre.

More than half (57%) said that they engaged in the arts during 2021/22, with 46% saying they have attended an arts event, with a quarter saying they had participated in arts activities (25%).

Just 15% of the people polled said they used a public library in the last year, and just a small number had used the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) services (3%).

The most popular arts activities that adults participated in included:

• Textile crafts such as embroidery, crocheting or knitting (9%)
• Painting, drawing, printmaking, or sculpture (7%)
• Took photographs or made films as an 'artistic activity' (5%)
• Sang or played a musical instrument or rehearsed for a performance (4%)
• Wood crafts such a furniture making, wood turning or carving (4%)

Male respondents were more likely to be engaged in wood crafts (6%), photography (5%), paining/drawing or sculpture making (5%) and playing a musical instrument or singing (4%), while female respondents favoured textile crafts (16%), painting, drawing and sculpture making (9%), crafts such as jewellery making, calligraphy or pottery making (5%) or singing/playing a musical instrument (5%).

When it came to attending arts events, the most popular events attended included:

• A film at a cinema or other venue (33%)
• A national or local museum (16%)
• A live music performance (12%)
• A theatre performance (6%)

When it came to analysing the use of public libraries the data revealed that women were more likely to have used the library than men (17% versus 12%), while adults aged 44 years and younger were more likely to have used the library than those aged 45 and over (19% versus 12%).

While 18% of respondents said they had visited a museum or science centre in the last 12 months, just one in 10 said they had visited a national museum. The survey revealed that while 22% of adults aged 44 and under had visited a museum or science centre in 2021/22, just 14% of respondents aged 45+ were likely to have visited.