Orlando, United States: Japan and South Korea are the world’s second and third largest golf markets while China (including Hong Kong and Macau) is the sixth largest golf equipment market.

Those are among the findings in the World Golf Report 2015, produced by two of the industry’s leading independent research and data firms, Golf Datatech, LLC and Yano Research Institute Ltd.

A first-of-its-kind study, the report provides an in-depth global retail market summary based upon geography, size and economic significance of the US$8.7 billion Worldwide Golf Equipment Market.

Highlighting the study, data concludes that the world’s five largest golf markets represent over 80% of total equipment sales. Nearly 20 additional countries/regions account for the remaining world golf market, including Mexico, China, Germany, Australia and the Caribbean among others.

Among the unique findings for specific markets, individual product categories (clubs, balls, apparel, etc) and other global trends, include:

-The Top 5 World Golf Markets: #1 United States; #2 Japan; #3 South Korea; #4 United Kingdom; #5 Canada

-Germany is the largest golf market in continental Europe.

-China (including Hong Kong and Macau) is the sixth largest golf equipment market but is continually influenced by government regulation.

-The US and Japan control over 65% of the world golf equipment market.

“Our collaboration with Golf Datatech continues to produce valuable data that serves to capture the size and scope of the world golf market, as well as individual countries/regions,” said Takashi Mizukoshi, President of Yano Research Institute Ltd.

“As we now have a firm understanding of the two biggest golf markets, the US and Japan, this World Golf Market Study is the next step in evaluating on-going golf market trends around the world, especially those of developing countries where the future growth of golf is so important.”

Golf Datatech’s Tom Stine said: “In creating this study we were able to aggregate hard data from select countries and combine that with soft data from expert sources across a range of global markets.

“The overall information gathered enabled us to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the entire global marketplace and develop an unbiased report that will serve as a benchmark for the golf industry on many levels. This is the first step in a process that will allow us to establish a footprint for global data collection that will speak to the game of golf well into the future.

“Golf is truly a worldwide sport, with the game being played in over 200 countries, but emerging markets for golf such as China, Southeast Asia, Central Europe and South America have just begun to realise their potential.

“Further, golf’s introduction into the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil will undoubtedly spark interest in the game worldwide. This global expansion of golf necessitates a need to have solid, consistent data to track growth and progress on all levels, from player participation to golf equipment sales. This will be our mission.”