Trends (2003–2020) in later-life sports participation among five ethnic groups in the Netherlands

This study assesses trends in regular (i.e., at least weekly) sports participation among people aged 55 + in the Netherlands. It also examines later-life sports participation differences between native Dutch people and their counterparts in four groups with a non-Western migration background (Turkish; Moroccan; Surinamese; Dutch Caribbean), and on how such differences developed between 2003 and 2020. Logistic regression analyses of population-based repeated cross-sectional survey data (n = 4,362) showed that regular later-life sports participation increased substantially between 2003 and 2020. Older people in all migrant groups considered were less likely than native Dutch people to participate in sports regularly. KHB decomposition analyses indicated that the rise in later-life sports participation between 2003 and 2020 and the lower sports participation rates of people of Turkish and Moroccan origin could partly be attributed to differences over time and between groups in educational attainment. Models with interaction terms were furthermore estimated to assess how ethnic differences in sports participation developed over the observed period. These models showed that the sports participation gap between people of Moroccan origin and native Dutch people became smaller between 2003 and 2020. Nevertheless, native Dutch people remained the group most likely to participate in sports regularly.