What are the most popular hobbies among retirees?

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).