51 percent of respondents in Lithuania said they never exercise, compared to 56 percent in Latvia and 48 percent in Estonia.
According to the Department of Physical Education and Sports, the number of physically inactive people in Lithuania has been growing in recent years as it stood at 44 percent in 2010 and 46 percent in 2014.
Across the EU, Bulgarians are the most physically inactive (68 percent don’t exercise) and Finnish people are the most active as only 13 percent said they never exercise.
Asked how many days over the past week they walked more that 10 minutes, 16 percent of Lithuanians said they did not walk that long not once. 20 percent said they walked ten minutes several days over the week and 64 percent said they walked that much on the majority of days.
Asked where they exercised most often, 59 percent said they did so at home.
The Eurobarometer survey showed that 11 percent of Lithuanians sit more than 8 hours a day and a quarter sit more than five hours.
In general, Eurobarometer surveyors note that the number of physically inactive people is growing. They also say physical activeness depends on a persons’ financial situation as a person with financial problems is less likely to be physically active.
The survey in 28 EU countries was carried out on Dec. 2-11.