Sports as an economic driver: analysis and review of Eurostat’s sport satellite account 2025

The monograph EU Sport Satellite Account: Research into estimating the economic value of sport in the EU – 2025 edition offers a methodologically coherent and empirically grounded assessment of the economic role of sport in the European Union. Drawing on the Sport Satellite Account framework and the upgraded Vilnius 3.0 methodology, the study quantifies the direct and indirect contributions of sport and identifies structural differences in the development of sport economies across Member States. The findings indicate that sport functions as both an economic and societal driver, generating value that extends beyond measurable financial outputs to include health, social cohesion and overall well-being. Through transparent data procedures and a reproducible methodological design, the monograph provides reliable evidence demonstrating that, in 2019, sport accounted for 3.4% of the EU’s GDP and 3.8% of total employment, underscoring its relevance for policy planning and sustainable development.