Less than a third of Romania’s population aged 16 or over (29.9%) attended a cultural or sports event in 2015. This is the lowest participation rate in the EU, according to data from EU’s statistical office Eurostat.

Neighboring Bulgaria ranked second to last, with a rate of 32%.

At the level of the European Union, two-thirds (66.5%) of the population aged 16 or over went to at least one cultural or sports event in 2015. A larger percentage of the population went to cultural events than to sports events: while over 40% went at least once in that year to the cinema (45.3%), visited a cultural site (42.6%) or attended a live performance (42.0%), less than a third went to a sports event (29.7%).

Sweden registered the highest participation rate among EU Member States, of 88.8%, followed by Denmark at 86.1%, and Finland at 84.6%.

According to Eurostat, cultural and sports attendance seems to be closely linked to the level of education as the proportion of those who go to a cultural or sports event increases with their educational level. Only 45.4% of those aged 16 or over with a low education level (at most lower secondary education) participated at least once in any cultural or sports event in 2015. The share increased to 70.2% for those with a medium education level. It reached 87.5% when it came to those in the population with a high education level (tertiary education).

Cultural involvement at worsening levels in Romania, survey finds

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com