What are the most popular hobbies among retirees?

Mar 31, 2023

With the collaboration of Statista.

In the United Kingdom, reading is the most popular hobby among retirees. Image: Unsplash/Clay Banks

Anna Fleck

Data Journalist, Statista

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A new survey from Statista reveals the most popular hobbies for retirees in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Cooking and baking came out top in the US, while reading was the most preferred hobby in the UK.
Socializing was slightly more popular among British retirees than Americans.

Cooking and baking is the most popular hobby among retirees in the United States with nearly half of all respondents saying it is one of their pastimes, according to the latest wave of data from Statista’s Consumer Insights. This is followed by reading (42 percent), caring for pets (39 percent) and gardening (34 percent).

In the United Kingdom, reading was the top pick, with a high 59 percent of respondents saying they enjoyed the hobby. Gardening and planting also came higher up the ranking (46 percent), followed by traveling (44 percent). Meanwhile, just under a third of all respondents in both countries said they enjoy outdoor activities.

Socializing was slightly more popular among British retirees than Americans, with roughly a quarter of respondents selecting it as a hobby (24 percent) versus 18 percent in the U.S., where it ranked tenth, after board games (21 percent) and video gaming (19 percent).

Graphic showing most popular hobbies among retirees in the US and UK

Outdoor activities ranked fairly low down the list for both US and UK retirees. Image: Statista

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