The number 23,000,000 gets kicked around but how many of us are there really?
So I was poking around Stab yesterday for giggles and found the story Only 0.0000014 Percent Of Surfers Will Qualify For The Tour which asserted that there are 23 million surfers worldwide as its baseline. Since it was Stab no source was credited but I’ve seen this figure before and total bullshit right?
Right?
And let’s finally get to the bottom of this once and for all. We can do it!
Now, before we begin, self-identifying surfers don’t count. Those who like the image, look, feel but don’t actually get in the water. A “surfer” as far as it matters to us must surf. Also not boogie or SUP primarily.
Right?
We don’t need to put a hard number on how many times a week makes a surfer a surfer but let us suggest that at least once every ten days on average barring horrific injury or death. Once every fourteen days tops. On average.
Ok.
No way are there more than 1.5 million surfers in the United States. Let’s say Europe and Australia have the same amount, 750k each and that is generous for Australia basically implying that 5% of that whole population surfs but Snapper Rocks. And Bondi.
Let’s say Brazil has another 750k and the rest of the world another million. This all seems totally fair yeah?
That is 4.75 million surfers.
Where in hell did this 23,000,000 number come from?
4.75 million is the number we will use from now on unless you have a better idea.
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I know heaps of Sydney surfers, that might only surf every month or two or on annual holidays and I’ll fucking guarantee they’ll charge harder than Chas — not to mention old mate Rory who reckons margaret river is a flat longboarder wave – but we won’t count them – they not “surfers!”
Blood feud “Holiday Warrior out surfs 2 for one Beach Grit special!”
Oh it’s on on. I’ll fuck the holiday warriors up! Rory will too!
No love for Derek?
Giv’m Hell on a platter, my oldest turned me onto Vimeo movie “G.N.A.R” Enjoy!
I actually counted 4.75 million in the water at snapper last week
That population must shift from spot to spot. Noosa for the “swell of the century” for example. Kong got his head on TVs and radio telling everyone Noosa was going to be all time, then surfed a ledge further south with a select group of pros. Thanks Kong.
Kudos for tackling such a bs, harmful, and completely unknowable fallacy! Your truth is as solid as anyone else’s. 4.75m it is! I feel better already.
I (along with maybe another 12 people in my country) was watching the Vans Sunset competition when a very surreal thing happened, during the ad break an ad specifically aimed at this tiny domestic market came on – advertising naturally enough a horse racing meet in the Capital city. I would love to have heard the pitch made to the horseracing association, yeah we are the WSL and we will have about 25% of the population under the age of 30 watching this event. Total bullshit, but I don’t mind, it keeps the lights on in the WSL head office and more importantly the free broadcasting of these events!
Oh and re surfer numbers, we could always look at surfboard production, it’s a tricky one since few figures are actually published, but you’d be pretty safe to say that including everything, Costco, Thailand, conventional stock production, custom, PU, PS, other constructions, blah blah blah, it’d be hovering a bit over or under a million a year. If the world has 23 million surfers, that is a very long time between new boards.
On another, possibly even more frightening topic: this morning the esteemed Sydney Morning Herald in their weekly shit canning of poor old SurfStitch, reports that sharemarket analysts are worried that “the big surf brands have failed to capitalise on the lucrative wellness market”.
Oh No!!! We’ve lost touch with Wellness! Failed to produce Activewear! Not enough Yoga! Surely this is the end of all things.
And that’s where Lululemon swoops in to save/destroy us all!
That might be the most on point analysis of surf brands ever. In other words, it was their only hope to survive and they missed it and more tough times ahead. Alas, the active wear opportunity is gone…alas.
Oh I don’t know Black Rubber, perhaps it places them perfectly to capitalise on the coming Bitterness market.
Coming Bitterness market? But Rory, Chas, and Derek have already catapulted it into its Renaissance, right here!
I’d argue it’s because the ‘big surf brands’ have failed to capitalise on the growing women’s market.
Lizzie Me don’t tell me you are a sharemarket analyst. Please don’t tell me that.
Noooooo! In fact, I’m not 100% sure I know what a sharemarket analyst does?
Keep it that way Lizzie Me for god’s sake.
will Harry Hodge be able to direct SS to the wellness????
wellness is a word for middle management cunts if ever there was one
mr carroll wasn’t your dad editor of the esteemed sydney morning herald ?
why yes! Yes he was. He is now 92 years of age and filled with dry amusement at the world.
i read way to many surf mags in the 70’s 80’s anyway i thought at the time it was cool that your dad was probably a non surfing intello whose kids went on to shape the future of surfing . really enjoyed the history of australian surfing though i disagree that whitlam went too far
That’s impossible Chas – the WSL has more likes than that and why would anyone who doesn’t surf like the WSL?
The WSL Facebook “likes” are “surfers” in India!
Well as long as they all got recalled Samsung Galaxy 7’s then a like for a phone is a pretty good deal.
Make that a phone AND a means of heating your home!
In 2013 Australian census , there were about 300K surfers who surfed once a week , interesting to see there were more surfers over 55 than between 13 and 35 . Surfing has not been a youth sport for more than a decade , but if you listen to those organizations who need Government support and commercial sponsorships , fuck there’s millions of sufferers everywhere and some surf!
Fuckin baby boomers, again.
Still , there will soon be a grey /bald nomad club , that will use their wealth to send Genx and Y to the WSL pools !!! Long live the Boomers!!
A Roy Morgan study from April last year found that there were 746000 surfers in Australia and while you’re right that there are more silver surfers than youths, the young people that are surfing, are young girls. This is supported by the last decade or so’s data from the ERASS reports and the ABS that show that fewer and fewer men are surfing in Australia and and women are slowly taking over. *cue evil laugh
http://www.roymorgan.com/fi…
LOTS of girls taking up surfing here in Europe.
Look how close my 750k guess was! I should have gone to Vegas…