How many divers are there?

[Scuba_Jenny]

Ok, this seems to be the big question among those that want to know....
I am asking here on SB, because SB has become the defacto resource for diving information. However, everybody I have talked to, and internet research can't answer these questions...


1. How many divers are there in the US? the World?
2. How many are active?
3. What is considered an active diver?
4. Demographic of an active diver. Age. Income. Certification level. Dives done per year, etc.
4. Where did you get your numbers? Is it verifiable? Please name sources (PM if neccessary, I need verification to the numbers for the research I am doing).


From the research I have done, Undercurrent's 2006 numbers are 1.2 million active divers, (about 8%, US population) give or take 15%!

A more indepth study by DEMA claims that 5% of the US population dives (14.9 m). To get to the 1.2m active divers, only 8% of those divers would be considered active. To me this percent sounds low. Also, I am assuming that this is recreational divers only, professionals, technical and the like are not included.

One of the problems I have run into to get the number is that since the industry is not regulated, there is no formal accounting of divers, and agencies generally inflate their numbers to look better amongst the competition. PADI alone claims 14.7 million members (worldwide??)!!

So, begs the question. How many divers are there?

 

[kg4giy]

While it is an interesting question (and there will be fewer divers off the Gulf Coast of the US in the months ahead), I have to ask "Who cares?"

I am not being flip here, but really, is there a reason to know how many of us there are and "classify us?" It is like the old NAUI/PADI debate. Once you have your card, you are a diver. I admit that I haven't dove as much as I would like since the birth of my daughter and probably could use a refresher, but I consider myself a diver and I am interested in those things that are related to diving. I am not as focused on it as perhaps I am the issues that affect Amateur Radio or my job, but there you go.

 

[Mike Boswell]

While it is an interesting question (and there will be fewer divers off the Gulf Coast of the US in the months ahead), I have to ask "Who cares?"
QUOTE]

I think lots of people care for various reasons. Many divers and dive professionals care just because they are interested in their sport, or because it is a source of present or future employment. Dive shops care, dive ops and dive magazines care, and dive equipment manufacturers care. One of the reasons I care is that the accident/incident numbers need to be viewed in terms of how many people are diving.

My wife and I meet a lot of people in the course of our business, and it's interesting how many of the adults say "Oh, you guys dive? I got my certification in 19xx but I haven't dived for years." Usually it's because they were busy with jobs and families, or because they didn't have a buddy.

For the numbers, I would ask the training agencies, DAN, and the manufacturers. Scuba magazines may also have some numbers.

 

[DennisS]

So much for the stereotype that HAMS, (amateur radio enthusiasts) are a bunch of grumpy old men

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Thanks for your reply, and yes, some people want to know that number. As you can see from my post, I am doing some research on it and need those numbers.. that's why I care.

Also, I see you just joined and this is your first post. Welcome to ScubaBoard! Stop by Introductions section and say HI!!

 

[Rhone Man]

It is hard to pin an exact number on it, because if you haven't been diving for 2 years or so, but think you might next time you go on holiday, are you an "active" diver or not?

I remember seeing an answer on WikiAnswers (which I cannot now find) which extrapolated PADI's number of certified divers from their market share and estimated the number of certified divers worldwide at around 25 million or so. But the problem with extrapolation is that it is not a very accurate way to basically guess.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Exactly. The research I have been doing basically becomes throwing a dart at a dart board and using whatever number is lands on. Using an agency for numbers is useless as they are all inflated.
The 25m divers may be a little high. I got 22.1m from a 2006 study, with the US-depending on what source anywhere from 1.2 - 4.2m active divers. That's a big range!

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Undercurrent's 2006 numbers are 1.2 million active divers

How did they define "actvie divers"?

Some people might consider 3x per week active, and others might cosider 1x per year active. Active seems to depend on your point of view.

I think you could ask shops and boats how many fills they do per year and get a pretty resonable estimate on the number of dives done. From that an estimate of the number of active divers could be made.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Undercurrent defines an active diver as one who does at least 5 dives per year.
Dema defines an active diver as one who participates in a series of activites which varies with the customer. There are nine activities they identify-- additional cert courses, number of dives, $$ spent on gear, dive trips taken, etc...
And despite all this information, the actual number of divers, active or otherwise; let's say, +/- 2%, is a dartboard game.

 

[cdolphin]

Hi Jenny.

Is it possible for you to tell us the nature of the research (for what purpose?)