119 countries... 6.6 million players
Rugby is now played in more countries around the world than ever before, boosted by record funding through the IRB Development
Programme (£8.23m), Regional Tournament Funding (£3.82m) and Strategic Investment Programme (£10.68m)
Registered 2.36 million
Non Registered 4.3 million
Female players 1.5 million
union (entry year)
PLAYERS
3,104
ANDORRA (1991)
Armenia (2004)
Associate member
1,320
AUSTRIA (1992)
Azerbaijan (2004)
Associate member
15,616
BELGIUM (1988)
979
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (1996)
1,815
BULGARIA (1992)
2,431
CROATIA (1992)
11,610
CZECH REPUBLIC (1988)
3,253
DENMARK (1988)
2,028,348
ENGLAND (1890)
2,701
FINLAND (2001)
359,022
FRANCE (1978)
6,708
GEORGIA (1992)
12,922
GERMANY (1988)
1,210
GREECE (2009)
3,053
HUNGARY (1991)
177,604
IRELAND (1886)
4,905
ISRAEL (1988)
77,858
ITALY (1987)
1,366
LATVIA (1991)
2,129
LITHUANIA (1992)
2,099
LUXEMBOURG (1991)
19,352
MALTA (2000)
3,263
MOLDOVA (1994)
991
MONACO (1998)
26,629
NETHERLANDS (1988)
2,280
NORWAY (1993)
14,389
POLAND (1988)
41,497
PORTUGAL (1988)
12,810
ROMANIA (1987)
28,542
RUSSIA (1990)
104,142
SCOTLAND (1886)
3,086
SERBIA (1988)
387
SLOVENIA (1996)
51,123
SPAIN (1988)
7,309
SWEDEN (1988)
4,365
SWITZERLAND (1988)
3,915
UKRAINE (1992)
66,114
WALES (1886)
fira-aer
38 Member Unions
Region Playing numbers
3,110,247
World playing population percentage
46.5%
World population percentage
13.75%
union (entry year)
union (entry year)
BAHAMAS (1994)
BARBADOS (1995)
BERMUDA (1992)
PLAYERS
335
252
714
British Virgin Islands (2001) Associate member
129,131
CANADA (1987)
2,401
CAYMAN (1997)
442
GUYANA (1995)
1,267
JAMAICA (1996)
7,099
MEXICO (2006)
St Lucia (1996) Associate member
ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES (2001)
192
1,190
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (1992)
1,402,962
USA (1987)
NACRA
11 Member Unions
Region Playing numbers
1,545,985
World playing population percentage
23%
World population percentage
8.99%
union (entry year)
ARGENTINA (1987)
BRAZIL (1995)
CHILE (1991)
COLOMBIA (1999)
PARAGUAY (1989)
PERU (1999)
URUGUAY (1989)
VENEZUELA (1998)
Consur
8 Member Unions
Region Playing numbers
World playing population percentage
World population percentage
PLAYERS
127,214
16,128
18,686
10,277
2,879
1,668
8,554
2,108
187,514
2.8%
6.99%
BOTSWANA (1994)
Burundi (2004) CAMEROON (1999)
Ghana (2004) IVORY COAST (1988)
KENYA (1990)
MADAGASCAR (1998)
Mali (2004) Mauritania (2003) MAURITIUS (2004)
MOROCCO (1988)
NAMIBIA (1990)
NIGERIA (2001)
Rwanda (2004) SENEGAL (1999)
SOUTH AFRICA (1949)
SWAZILAND (1998)
Tanzania (2004) Togo (2004) TUNISIA (1988)
UGANDA (1997)
ZAMBIA (1995)
ZIMBABWE (1987)
PLAYERS
9,255
Associate member
6,150
Associate member
2,718
29,707
31,278
Associate member
Associate member
779
4,899
9,317
800
Associate member
5,016
387,009
26,639
Associate member
Associate member
21,923
26,410
12,210
33,128
car
16 Member Unions
Region Playing numbers
World playing population percentage
World population percentage
607,238
9.08%
8.52%
union (entry year)
PLAYERS
Brunei (2013) Associate member
Cambodia (2004) Associate member
3,260
CHINA (1997)
6,395
CHINESE TAIPEI (1988)
1,088
GUAM (1998)
21,585
HONG KONG (1988)
23,927
INDIA (1999)
670
Indonesia (2008) Iran (2010) Associate member
119,598
JAPAN (1987)
4,070
KAZAKHSTAN (1997)
5,090
KOREA (1988)
Kyrgystan (2004) Associate member
Laos (2004) Associate member
75,400
MALAYSIA (1988)
Mongolia (2004) Associate member
7,215
PAKISTAN (2004)
2,295
PHILIPPINES (2004)
12,430
SINGAPORE (1989)
58,480
SRI LANKA (1988)
12,450
THAILAND (1989)
6,316
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (2012)
Uzbekistan (2004) Associate member
arfu
16 Member Unions
Region Playing numbers
World playing population percentage
World population percentage
360,269
5.4%
61.05%
union (entry year)
PLAYERS
AMERICAN SAMOA (2005)
AUSTRALIA (1949)
COOK ISLANDS (1995)
FIJI (1987)
NEW ZEALAND (1949)
NIUE ISLANDS (1999)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA (1993)
SAMOA (1988)
SOLOMON ISLANDS (1999)
TAHITI (1994)
TONGA (1987)
VANUATU (1999)
3,220
482,897
2,054
156,140
149,978
450
19,192
38,240
10,101
1,971
7,577
1,715
foru
12 Member Unions
Region Playing numbers
World playing population percentage
World population percentage
873,535
13%
0.7%