STATISTICAL DATA

Evolution of licenses and additional data below, in the Related Content section

Spanish golf ended the year 2025 with 317,155 registered members, 315,437 of them amateurs and 1,718 professionals, according to the official count carried out on December 31.

This figure represents an absolute increase of 11,552 licenses during the past year, which in percentage terms is 3.81% more than at the beginning of the year. These figures are the second highest since 2010, surpassed only by the growth experienced in 2022, when the post-pandemic phase was consolidated.

Both figures, the absolute and the percentage, consolidate the growth experienced during the last seven years, a period of consolidation that has allowed us to gradually overcome the effects of the economic crisis and the aforementioned coronavirus health crisis of the years between 2011 and 2020.

Against that very complicated backdrop, the idiosyncrasies of golf – a healthy, outdoor, safe sport that naturally establishes safety distances – have become an attraction for many people in recent years, who find in golf a healthy activity from both a physical and psychological point of view.

This increase in golf licenses marks the seventh consecutive year of growth, breaking the long streak of nine consecutive years of decline experienced between 2011 and 2019, coinciding with much of the prolonged economic crisis and social changes that conditioned the development of very diverse sectors of Spanish society for many years.

This last seven-year period, with a combined growth of 15.81%, also confirms a trend that began in 2013, when the peak of the decline was reached – specifically 6.01% – subsequently slowed in 2014 (-3.71%), 2015 (-2.71%), 2016 (-1.51%), 2017 (-0.51%) and 2018 (-0.31%) before giving way to growth of 0.11% in 2019 and 2020, 4.81% in 2021, 3.01% in 2022, 1.81% in 2023, 2.21% in 2024 and 3.81% in 2025, which draws a curve that, in statistical terms, is understood as an inflection point from that moment.

Looking at a longer timeframe, it's worth noting that in 1990 there were 45,000 players in Spain; the 100,000 mark was surpassed in 1996; 200,000 were registered in the first months of 2002; by mid-2004, 250,000 were counted, and by the end of 2006, the 300,000 mark had been exceeded. The peak number of licenses occurred in 2010, with 338,588 registered players, after which the previously described inflection point began to decline.

Data by Autonomous Communities

During 2025, the performance in the different Autonomous Communities was firm in almost all of them, with positive data being the trend of the year, with some certainly significant upward variations.

In absolute terms, Madrid, with 98,685 members, accounts for 31.1% of the total number of licenses, followed by Andalusia, with 53,442, and Catalonia, with 30,581, which together account for 16.8% and 9.6% of the total number of members, respectively.

The Valencian Community (24,191), the Basque Country (18,639), Castile and León (14,752) and Galicia (13,089) are the other Autonomous Communities that exceed the 10,000 member threshold.

The region that added the most licenses during 2025 was Madrid, with 3,686 registered members (a 3.91% increase), followed by the Valencian Community (1,786 registered members, an 8.01% increase), Andalusia (1,540 registered members, a 2.91% increase), Catalonia (879 registered members, a 2.91% increase), the Balearic Islands (667 registered members, a 7.71% increase), Galicia (456 registered members, a 3.61% increase), the Canary Islands (434 registered members, a 5.21% increase), Murcia (311 registered members, a 4.01% increase), Castile and León (267 registered members, a 1.81% increase), Castile-La Mancha (214 registered members, a 3.81% increase), and Cantabria. (210 members, 2.7% more), Navarre (137 members, 4.0% more), Extremadura (87 members, 3.1% more), Asturias (47 members, 0.6% more), La Rioja (39 members, 1.9% more)...

In terms of percentages, it is worth highlighting those Autonomous Communities that have exceeded the national average growth of 3.81%. This has been the case, first and foremost, of the Valencian Community, with the aforementioned 8.01% increase.

The Balearic Islands, Aragon and the Canary Islands, with 7.7%, 6.0% and 5.2%, are also in that outstanding group, while Murcia (4.0%), Navarre (4.0%) and Madrid (3.9%) also increased their members above the average, just the growth point of Castilla La Mancha.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, although in both cases in a moderate or very moderate way, with records that represent 2 and 15 fewer members, respectively, than the previous year.

Women and the future of golf in Spain

It should be noted that the number of female golf licenses currently stands at 86,882, an increase of 2,419 licenses compared to the previous year. In relative terms, this figure represents 27.2% of the total number of golf licenses in Spain.

Of these, 51,805 correspond to women over 50 years old, 22,054 to women between 21 and 50 years old and 12,303 to those under 21 years old, with special mention for the 8,160 under 16 years old.

Among the youngest, it should be noted that the Spanish golf pool is based on 24,020 boys and girls under 16 years of age – almost 38,000, specifically 37,942, if the age range is extended to 21 years – which in percentage terms represents 7.6% or 12.0 % of the total number of registered members, respectively.

This process of slow overall growth coincides with the progressive and gradual implementation of the Golf in Schools Program, the Friends Cup and various promotional actions among the youngest, which are jointly developed by the RFEG, Autonomous Federations and Clubs for several years now, also highlighting the support of the CSD through the Women and Sport and Women's Universe programs.