Understanding Basketball's Global Popularity

Basketball is a very popular sport played all around the world, though it is more popular in certain countries particularly the US where it was invented. Here we use online search traffic for the term 'basketball' to analyze which countries it is more popular. See also the lists of popular sports in many countries.

Basketball is most popular, based on online searches for that term, in the USA. By the large list below it is clear how well the sport of basketball has spread from where it was invented to around the world. The data reveals fascinating patterns about how basketball has been adopted globally, with particularly strong showings in unexpected regions including Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and parts of Africa.

Key Findings from the Data

Basketball popularity correlates strongly with several factors including historical ties to the United States, presence of professional leagues, and integration into school physical education programs. The Philippines' remarkably high ranking demonstrates how cultural adoption can rival even the sport's country of origin in terms of relative popularity.

Complete Basketball Popularity Rankings

The following table ranks 110 countries based on their regional popularity score for basketball-related searches. The USA receives the baseline score of 100, with all other countries measured relative to this benchmark.

Ranking Country Regional Popularity*
1 USA 100
2 Philippines 71
3 Australia 42
4 Canada 41
5 Iraq 32
6 Mongolia 29
7 Lebanon 26
8 Lithuania 23
9 Macedonia 22
10 New Zealand 20
11 Puerto Rico 20
12 Afghanistan 19
13 Greece 16
14 Bosnia and Herzegovina 16
15 Jamaica 16
16 Singapore 15
17 Fiji 15
18 Germany 15
19 Ghana 15
20 Estonia 14
21 Ireland 13
22 Zimbabwe 13
23 Uganda 13
24 Cameroon 13
25 Dominican Republic 13
26 Slovenia 12
27 Botswana 12
28 Georgia 12
29 Croatia 12
30 Trinidad and Tobago 12
31 Ethiopia 11
32 Nepal 11
33 Uruguay 11
34 Latvia 10
35 Hong Kong 10
36 United Kingdom 10
37 Nigeria 10
38 Tanzania 10
39 Kenya 10
40 Senegal 9
41 Albania 9
42 United Arab Emirates 8
43 Costa Rica 8
44 Honduras 8
45 Malaysia 8
46 Cote d'Ivoire 8
47 Myanmar 7
48 Sri Lanka 7
49 Austria 7
50 Nicaragua 7
51 Mauritius 7
52 Panama 7
53 Israel 6
54 Indonesia 6
55 Switzerland 6
56 South Korea 6
57 Denmark 6
58 Kuwait 6
59 El Salvador 6
60 Jordan 6
61 Norway 6
62 Bulgaria 6
63 Guatemala 6
64 Ecuador 5
65 Mexico 5
66 India 5
67 Chile 5
68 Czechia 5
69 Netherlands 5
70 Thailand 5
71 Belgium 4
72 Morocco 4
73 South Africa 4
74 Tunisia 4
75 Moldova 4
76 Syria 4
77 Slovakia 4
78 Bangladesh 4
79 Hungary 4
80 Oman 4
81 Portugal 4
82 Azerbaijan 4
83 Iran 4
84 Paraguay 3
85 Pakistan 3
86 Venezuela 3
87 Bolivia 3
88 Colombia 3
89 Peru 3
90 Sweden 3
91 France 3
92 Spain 3
93 Poland 3
94 Finland 3
95 Taiwan 3
96 Algeria 3
97 Romania 3
98 Türkiye 3
99 Saudi Arabia 3
100 Egypt 2
101 Palestinian Territory 2
102 Argentina 2
103 Italy 2
104 Belarus 2
105 Russian Federation 2
106 Viet Nam 2
107 Ukraine 1
108 Japan 1
109 China 1
110 Brazil 1

*Regional Popularity Note: Regional Popularity is a relative term (proportional to the most popular term and related to the popularity of other terms in each region), and does not represent an actual number of searches.

Understanding the Rankings

The basketball popularity rankings reveal several interesting patterns. The United States' top position is expected given basketball's American origins and the global influence of the NBA. However, the Philippines' second-place ranking at 71 demonstrates basketball's extraordinary cultural significance there, where the sport is played at every level from professional leagues to neighborhood courts.

European nations show strong representation in the rankings, particularly Lithuania (23), which has produced numerous NBA players and maintains a passionate basketball culture. Other basketball strongholds like Greece, Slovenia, and Croatia also feature prominently, reflecting the sport's establishment as a major European team sport alongside football.

💡 Pro Tip: When interpreting these rankings, remember that regional popularity measures relative search interest within each country, not absolute search volumes. A country with a smaller population might rank higher than a larger nation if basketball represents a greater proportion of their sports searches.