the development goal
Impact analysis of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™on growth, trade and women’s empowerment
The Spanish Women’s National Team celebrating the victory of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 ™
The study and its main outcomes
Main impacts
on the economy and trade
1.9
USD billion
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)
1.3
USD billion
TRADE IN VALUE ADDED
38,204
FULL-TIME EQ. (FTE)
JOBS CREATED
932
USD million
HOUSEHOLD
INCOMES
95
USD million
TOURISTS EXPENSES
12
USD million
TAX
INCOME
1,960
FULL-TIME EQ (FTE)
JOBS FOR WOMEN
228
USD million
HOUSEHOLD
INCOMES
62
USD million
TOURISTS
EXPENSES
7
USD million
TAX
INCOME
965
FULL-TIME EQ (FTE)
JOBS FOR WOMEN
95
USD million
HOUSEHOLD
INCOMES
Source: OpenEconomics elaboration based on FIFA data
FIFA and the WTO promoted an analysis of the global socio-economic impacts of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™. The assessment was conducted by employing a multi-country and multi-sector macroeconomic model, in which the event is modelled as a demand shock of goods and services.
This approach allows us to trace how initial expenditures related to the FIFA Women’s World Cup—ranging from infrastructure investment to tourist spending—ripple through various sectors of the global economy, and can provide insights into the direct, indirect, and induced effects of this global event (see Technical Report).
In excess of 2 billion people worldwide engaged with the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which involved 736 athletes (23 players per squad) from 32 countries. The additional demand of goods and services for the event activated numerous trade channels worldwide, stimulating a series of import-export dynamics in all sectors of the economy.
The estimated economic and occupational impacts are significant, with almost USD 1.9 billion of global gross domestic product (GDP) growth contribution and 38,204 full time jobs generated by direct, indirect and induced effects. Additionally, new household income amounts to USD 932 million, including USD 228 million and USD 95 million in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. More than 30% of the total economic growth attributable to the event involved low-middle income economies.
The impact in terms of Trade in Value Added (TiVA) is equal to USD 1.3 billion, which refers to the foreign value added generated by the domestic demand in the hosting economies and it is part of the total GDP impact of USD 1.9 billion.
Due to the specificity of events like the FIFA Women’s World Cup, most of the economic impact is directed to the tourism-related sectors, in addition to the entertainment and sport industries. Given that employment in these sectors is women-intensive, the share of women jobs generated by the event are 5 and 10 percentage points higher than the average gender distribution in Australia and New Zealand, respectively, resulting in an additional 1,960 and 965 full-time equivalent jobs for women.
Furthermore, Australia and New Zealand have observed GDP increases in the tourism sectors of USD 95 million and USD 62 million and the additional tax contributions to the governments of the hosting countries amount to USD 12 million and USD 7 million, respectively.
This study shows that football and global sporting events can be an opportunity for more inclusive growth.
A global event
The achievements of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 ™
2,000
million
TOTAL ENGAGEMENT
2
million
STADIUM ATTENDANCE
110
USD million
PRIZE MONEY
64
MATCHES
32
TEAMS
736
ATHLETES
10
VENUES
Source: OpenEconomics elaboration based on FIFA data
The tournament, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, shattered records both on and off the field.
Following FIFA’s decision, the number of teams increased from 24 to 32 teams. Stadium attendance exceeded expectations establishing a new record for the event with 2 million fans watching all the 64 games and an average attendance of 30,911.
The final between Spain and England at Sydney’s Stadium Australia registered 75,784 fans, a figure that was achieved on four other occasions at the same stadium throughout the record-breaking tournament. A new benchmark has been set also for the number of stadiums used, with matches played across ten venues. This surpasses the previous maximum of nine stadiums made available in past editions.
As fans flocked to stadiums, millions and millions also tuned in across the world. The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 reached unprecedented levels of viewership, drawing in nearly two billion people worldwide and setting a new record for the event. Record-breaking viewership figures were recorded in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia, where interest in the tournament reached new heights.
In conclusion, the 2023 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup saw a significant leap also in prize money, with USD 110 million available to the participating teams, marking a substantial increase from the USD 30 million offered in the 2019 edition. This considerable growth in prize money is a clear indicator of the rising appreciation and value placed on women’s football. Moreover, it represents a stride towards achieving parity with men’s sports, reflecting advancements in pay, investment, commercial earnings, and popularity.
Event expenditure
The USD 640 million of total expenditure is divided in two types: the FIFA Women’s World Cup expenses (USD 499 million) and the tourism expenses related to the event (USD 141 million).
Most of the expenditure was directed towards the successful organisation of the event in Australia and New Zealand, favouring a safe, well-organised tournament and a strong economic stimulus for hosting economies. Investments in event-related expenses, which include information and communication technology (ICT), workforce, team services, team preparation, Club Benefits Programme, TV operations, marketing rights, prize money, operational other expenses, accounted for about 80% of the total budget. The total prize money of USD 110 million accounted for 17% of the event revenues, representing a major improvement compared both to previous editions and to the men’s competition.
The remaining 22% represents the tourism expenditure directly activated in Australia and New Zealand by the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 event.
The USD 499 million FIFA Women’s World Cup expenses were made by FIFA (53%) and by local FIFA subsidiary of Australia and New Zealand (47%).
Insights on global trade
Goods and services by type, source and destination
The diagram shows the flows of final and intermediate goods between the importing sectors in Australia and New Zealand and the exporting sectors generated by FIFA Women’s World Cup. The competition serves as a catalyst for local sectors, stimulating demand for goods and services and fostering global transactions. These intersectoral linkages, considering second-round effects, create a multiplier effect on the global economy, facilitating the redistribution of resources on a global scale.
*“Arts and sports” cover ISIC Rev. 4 Divisions 90 to 93, also including other entertainment and recreation services.
The increased local demand for goods and services in hosting countries leads to imports from the rest of the world (e.g. China exports fabrics for the construction or renovation of a stadium in Australia).
Through these trade linkages, the World Cup Event organised in Australia and New Zealand also affects other economies, including developing and developed regions. The extent and nature of these impacts vary according to each economy’s specialisation and their respective positions within global value chains.
Which are the main trade channels of the event?
The FIFA Women’s World Cup event stimulates trade across countries in two different phases:
- The first one is related to the financing of the event through the export of services worldwide, such as media rights and sponsorship rights, which are purchased by corporations belonging to different sectors such as sports apparel manufacture and food and beverage, with companies in these sectors also purchase marketing rights.
- Then, the collected funds are spent by FIFA and the local organising committees, to facilitate the activation of trade exchanges between countries. Indeed, while part of the funds is spent in the host countries, for example in energy & infrastructure and team preparation activities, the remaining expenditure is dedicated to the import of goods and services from abroad.
In the following dynamic charts, it is possible to explore and analyse imports from the top ten economies for the most relevant sectors for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.
For example, US Air transport being top exporter to New Zealand with USD 13.77 million means that such sector’s economic activity is linked to New Zealand demand for air freight services from US companies for the shipment of food products or building materials.
Socioeconomic Impact
Main Economic Impacts
on the global and local economy
ECONOMIC SHOCK
Expenditure activates value added and employment worldwide.
640
USD million
TOTAL
EXPENDITURE
63% in Australia
37% in New Zealand
37% Art & sport
13% Real estate
13% Accommodation
13% Other sectors
12% Air transport
6% IT services
6% Telecommunications
ECONOMIC RESPONSE
Value added generated locally and worldwide by the competition.
1,874
USD million
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)
2.9 GDP / Expenditure ratio
31% Low-Middle income economies
69% High income economies
3% Agriculture
23% Industrial
74% Services
EFFECT ON LABOUR
Full time workers employed locally and worldwide by the competition.
38,204
FULL-TIME EQ. (FTE)
JOBS
CREATED
41% Women
59% Man
8% Direct
12% Indirect
80% Induced
6% Agriculture
29% Industrial
65% Services
Source: OpenEconomics elaboration based on FIFA data
The USD 640 million expenditure (of which USD 499 million related to FIFA and local committees investments and USD 141 million due to tourism expenditure linked to the event) is modelled in this analysis as an exogenous demand shock for the local economy; such inflow of resources activates an economic cycle which results in a positive impact on global GDP of around USD 1.9 billion. Such economic impact stems from the direct, indirect and induced effects of the economic shock.
At the same time, the event generated 38,204 full-time equivalent jobs worldwide. GDP and employment impacts involved both male and female workforces from low-middle income and high income economies. Although the initial expenditure belongs to the football event-specific economic sectors, its impact in terms of GDP and employment reaches a wider range of economic sectors worldwide.
Bear in mind that this analysis does not consider the opportunity costs of this expenditure (see Technical Report for a detail account of the methodology and limitations). It does however show how its effects propagate in the economy.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup impacts on global GDP through direct, indirect and induced effects:
- Direct impact refers to the value added generated by sectors involved in the delivery of the event.
- Indirect impact entails the value added from sectors supplying goods and services through value chains.
- Induced impact is the effect on global GDP reflecting additional expenditure on goods and services from households further to a rise of their income.
Both the indirect and induced components account for more than the revenue directly generated by the event. This outlines the strong production and trade interconnection between Australia and New Zealand and foreign economies.
Direct, indirect and induced impacts:
the case of travel and accomodation sector
The USD 640 million expenditure constitutes the analysed exogenous shock to the economy whose impact can be decomposed into three rounds.
To better understand what each round of impacts considers, we can take the example of the travel and accommodation expenses related to the FIFA Women’s World Cup:
- In this case, the direct impact could be seen as the value added generated in that specific sector, namely labour bills and revenues fromthe sale of goods and services provided by accommodation facilities, restaurants, etc.
- The Indirect impact, then, is brought about by the increase in value added along the value chains activated by the food and accommodation sector, given for instance by the demand for unprocessed food, telecommunications and real estate services (including travel agencies), general wholesale intermediate goods, agricultural goods etc.
- Finally, the induced impact is determined by the effect of reinjecting household income into the economy, meaning that people benefiting from the direct and indirect increase in value added spend part of their income on goods and services which in turn activate global value chains.
The above charts represent the global distribution of additional GDP due to the event.
Direct impact accrue specifically to Australia and New Zealand, making Oceania the most impacted continent in terms of additional GDP generated by the event.
All other countries experience an increase of GDP according to their degree of production and trade inteconnection with the host countries. A key outcome of the impact analysis is that hardly no country is left out from the benefits distribution of the value added and trade generated by the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.
As an additional point of view, the following map shows the per capita impact on GDP across different economies, induced by the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.
Although all sectors benefit to a greater or lesser extent from the FIFA Women’s World Cup, most of the positive spillovers accrue to the services sectors.
This is particularly true for wholesale and retail trade and business services as well as ICT, financial and transport services and real estate.
The food, beverages and textile manufacturing industries largely benefit from indirect and induced effects.
Tourism is articulated in several economic branches. As a proxy for the tourism industry, three economic activities classified under the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) were selected: real estate, air transport services and the accommodation and food sector.
The impact on tourism is activated directly by the tourism related expenses, and indirectly by the event expenses. The economic stimulus of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in these sectors drives the demand for women in the labour force.
Women empowerment starts from labour
Share of women workforce in the host countries
FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zeland 2023™
Update: August 2024
Comparing the gender distribution of the FIFA Women’s World Cup workforce with the average in hosting economies, the tournament increases demand for jobs in female-intensive sectors.
The difference in percentage points between the two shares is five percent and ten percent in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™
impact on Australian football
The Matildas success
2023 data compared to the 2022 figures
+ 669 %
Club memberships
+ 5 %
Female participation in schools
+ 120 %
Matches streaming
+ 102 %
Average stadium attendance
(from 1,240 to 2,500 fans)
+ 206 %
Registered children
(from 8,800 to 27,000 fans)
+ 19 %
Jersey sales
(when compared to the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™)
Source: OpenEconomics elaboration based on FIFA data
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The evolution of the women’s football through the analysis of the main sector indicators and those related to the FIFA Women’s World Cup™
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Copyright © GoalEconomy | All rights reserved The WTO and FIFA have agreed to work together to examine how international trade and football can serve as catalysts for economic growth and social inclusion. The collaboration, spelled out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, seeks to foster synergies in relation to the economic dimension of sport and empowerment, especially for least-developed countries (LDCs) and women. Under the MoU, which will remain in force until 31 December 2027, the WTO and FIFA will exchange information and expertise on the economic dimension of football, through participation in conferences, regular meetings, and contribution to studies. The opinions expressed on this website do not necessarily represent the positions or opinions of WTO or FIFA members and are without prejudice to members’ rights and obligations under the WTO and FIFA.