How Many Padel Courts Are There In The World?

This post may contain affiliate links.

According to the International Padel Federation (FIP), padel is played in more than 90 countries around the world. This naturally means that there are also padel courts in more than 90 countries. I dove into the statistics to find out how many padel courts there are worldwide.

The global estimate is 40,000 padel courts for all countries where padel is played. However, there are already 33,000 padel courts in 16 countries in 2021. Most padel courts are located in Europe and the construction of new courts is expected to grow.

To understand these figures, we first need to dive into the details. Next, we will look at the country with the most padel courts as well as the fastest-growing country in terms of new padel courts.

Total Number Of Padel Courts Worldwide

While there are no exact figures of the total number of padel courts worldwide, let’s use one of my favorite shorthands, the Pareto principle, also known as the good old 80/20 rule. The implication in our case is that 20% of the countries, contribute to 80% of the total number of courts.

In 2021 there were already more than 33,000 courts when considering the countries with the most padel courts. These 16 countries are almost 20% of the total number of countries where padel is played. While we don’t end up with a perfect number, the other 80% of the countries, would contribute to around 6,600 courts. Using these assumptions there are around 40,000 courts worldwide.

there will be around 67,000 padel courts in Europe alone!

Between 2016 and 2021 the number of padel courts in Europe grew annually on average by 21%. However, in 2021 most courts were constructed. Playtomic predicts that the number of courts will experience annual growth of 26% between 2021 and 2025. According to this prediction, there will be around 67,000 padel courts in Europe alone!

As mentioned, there are countries with more padel courts than other countries, so let’s find out which country has the most padel courts.

Which Country Has The Most Padel Courts?

Spain is the country with the most padel courts and has over 14,000 courts and it grew by 55% in the period from 2016 to 2021. Other countries with many padel courts are Argentina, Italy, and Sweden.

Outside of Europe, there are fewer courts available and the growth is less rapid. Argentina had around 4,900 courts in 2021. Even Mexico, the birthplace of padel, has fewer padel courts.

Sure, the number of padel courts gives you a rough estimate of the popularity of padel in that country. However, countries with large populations are in need of more padel courts to accommodate for the same popularity as countries with a smaller population. Therefore, if we correct for the size of the population we would end up with a better proxy. In this case, a lower number means fewer people per court, thus there are relatively more courts available for a certain number of people.

Comparing these numbers, it seems easier to get a padel court in Spain than in France for example. Looking at the overview below, imagine the US or Canada. While I acknowledge that it is easier to achieve a lower number for the population per court metric, it remains a valuable figure in my estimation.

Still, we have the variability across time, so let’s tackle that point right here, right now. Currently, there are around 8 billion people on this planet and it is expected to keep growing at less than 1% and eventually cap out at 10 billion according to the prediction of the United Nations. Especially in Europe and North America, the population size remains fairly stable. Also in Latin America, there is only a small increase expected until 2050. If the total population for each country remains stable, any significant increase in the number of padel courts means there are more padel courts available. From there it is not so much of a stretch to make a conclusion around the popularity.

Let’s consider the following mental thought experiment. in 2021 there were 2,103,100 people per padel court in the United States. However, if there are 10,000 new padel courts built (and the population remains stable as predicted), the number decreases to 33,120 US citizens per padel court! This may seem farfetched, but it actually is not. The US Padel Association has the ambition to grow to 30,000 courts by 2030. Given the predictions from the United Nations, the US population will grow to around 350 million at that time. Using these numbers, there will be 11,667 people per padel court.

If you are interested to find out more about the popularity of padel, I wrote an article about this topic you might want to check out.

Fastest Growing Country for Padel Courts?

Sweden is the fastest-growing country in terms of new padel courts when considering both the percentual increase as well as the absolute increase. When only considering absolute terms, Spain has the greatest increase of padel courts.

In order to make a fair comparison between fast-growing countries, I defined fast-growing both in terms of the number of new courts as well as in percentage of increase. Although no data was available for every country, padel is mainly growing in Europe (and to a lesser extent in Pan America).

Let’s look at some figures from 2020 to demonstrate the point. 1,200 new courts were built in Mexico, 380 in Paraguay, and only 70 new courts in Chili.

Based on recent figures, Sweden is the fastest-growing country with 3,370 new courts added between 2016 and 2021. This meant more than 26 times as many courts!

Even though Spain with 5,000 courts, has the greatest number of new courts during that period, it ‘only’ resulted in a 55% increase and not a 26 times increase.

Italy is another big contender where the number of padel courts is growing rapidly. During the same period, 3,227 new courts were built. As a result, the total number of courts grew 12 times.

Indoor vs Outdoor Padel Courts

Since padel can be played at both indoor and outdoor courts, there are more options to put a padel court. According to Playtomic, there is a clear distinction visible between countries in the percentage of indoor vs outdoor. Warmer climate countries (such as Spain and Italy) tend to have a higher percentage of outdoor courts (including roofed outdoor courts), whereas indoor courts are more present in colder climates (such as Denmark and Norway) with much more rainfall. While this rule generally applies, I noticed some outliers that do not follow this rule to a T. In Belgium, a country that I would consider to fall in the colder/rainy climate, 84% of the courts are actually outdoors. Other factors such as cultural differences, location, and space considerations can also impact the decision to construct outdoor or indoor padel courts. Talking about location and space considerations, if you are looking for the optimal location for your padel court in your facility, you would want to read this article as well.

If on the other hand, you are interested in more statistics, I wrote another article covering the following topics (you can check it out by clicking the buttons):