The truth about '16 million Vietnamese people play pickleball'

Many pickleball forums, fanpages as well as many newspapers posted information that "there are 16 million Vietnamese people playing pickleball", a number that would startle anyone.

Pickleball attracts a large number of Vietnamese people, but 16 million is an unreasonable number - Photo archive

This information was given by PPA Tour Pickleball Asia - an Asian pickleball tournament system, which is said to be statistics obtained after a "wide survey" in many Asian countries, from the parent organization UPA Asia (United States Pickleball Association).

Many articles cite this information to confirm that Vietnam is the fastest growing pickleball country in Asia. Specifically, according to this survey, the pickleball recognition rate of Vietnamese people is up to 88%, the highest in Asia.

Regarding the number of pickleball players, PPA also said that in Vietnam there are 16 million people who play pickleball at least once a month, meaning they actually play.

Not only that, PPA also said that the corresponding number in China is 60 million pickleball players, and in India is 178 million players.

In terms of population ratio, Vietnam is the country with the highest percentage of gamers according to this statistic, at about 16%.

But is that really true? Whether you're a pickleball fan or not, the number 16 million seems completely absurd at first glance.

In fact, most forums and articles when citing this statistic have missed an important detail, which is the statistical method.

In its post, UPA also noted that it conducted the survey from a total of 14,000 citizens of 12 Asian countries, with about 1,000 people in each country.

That is, from about 1,000 Vietnamese people in the survey sample, UPA got the number of about 160 players, or 16%. From there, they multiplied by the population of about 100 million in Vietnam, and came up with the "virtual number" of 16 million pickleball players in Vietnam.

Similarly, the UPA also applied the same method of calculation and conjecture to China and India. The media of these countries have recorded the development of pickleball. However, they have never reported that pickleball has become a "national" sport , with tens, hundreds of millions of players in their countries.

Similar to Vietnam, 16 million is an extremely large number, to the point of being unreasonable. If we consider the special circumstances of pickleball. The requirement for quality courts and expensive equipment, having "millions" of people playing this sport is already impossible.

In addition, UPA also did not specify which subjects they took the survey samples from. In fact, there are many companies and corporations specializing in statistics, and this is a complex job that requires a lot of investment.

The information board was provided by PPA Tour, with the notes below but... few people read them - Photo: PPA

There is an important concept in the field of surveying called "sampling bias", which means that the survey subjects do not reflect the general characteristics of the population.

For example, you go to a badminton club and survey: "Do Vietnamese people like badminton or table tennis more?". Such a survey is considered "sampling bias".

In the case of UPA, it is possible that the organization surveyed... pickleball clubs, located in urban areas. UPA only posted an infographic promoting the movement, and the information provided was not clear.

16% of Vietnam's population plays pickleball? No sports organization, organization, or market research company has been able to provide similar statistics on popular sports such as badminton, swimming, jogging, cycling...

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thuc-hu-chuyen-16-trieu-nguoi-viet-nam-choi-pickleball-20251126222523254.htm