Line up the countries where pickleball is growing fastest and all of the top 10 are in Asia. The rating system DUPR compiled the ranking from growth in new users over the past 12 months, and US outlet The Kitchen published it. The Philippines is first at 1,213% for the year, and Japan is fifth with growth of 170%. Compared with a few years ago, when talk of the global playing population centered on North America, the engine of growth has moved to Asia. For anyone playing on a court in Japan, it is also a guide to how opponents, equipment and tournaments may change from here.<\/p>\n
What The Kitchen compiled is the 12-month growth rate in new users registered with DUPR. Because it ranks the speed of increase rather than the absolute playing population, emerging countries with a small base tend to post high numbers. Even so, the fact that all 10 were in Asia without exception shows entrances widening across the region at once. DUPR itself has written on its blog that growth in several Asian countries is outpacing the recent United States.<\/p>\n
Japan is fifth, behind the Philippines, Indonesia, China and India, all large by population, and ahead of South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. The balance of power in Asia matches the pattern whereDUPR's Asian rankings showed sharp rises in South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam<\/a>, and Japan is one of the countries on the way up.<\/p>\n The 1,213% of the leading Philippines is an order of magnitude above the rest. Indonesia is second at 405%, China third at 183% and India fourth at 182%, and from fifth down the figures sit in the 100s. In the Philippines, as with the home-grown brandSmash Republic launching<\/a>, domestic production of equipment and the arrival of pro players have advanced together, so the path from the entrance of the sport to the top came together in a short time. The way the number jumps resembles the typical curve of a market that catches fire late and rises all at once.<\/p>\n Japan's 170% does not reach these explosive newcomers, but it means something that a 70% increase came on top of an already established playing population. Holding high growth in a market with a grown base is harder than jumping from zero.<\/p>\nWhat the Philippines' 1,213% says about room to grow in new markets<\/h2>\n
Growth rates for the 10 countries compiled by DUPR<\/h2>\n