The short version. Padel is unevenly spread. North West has 2.65 verified courts per 100,000 people; Scotland has 0.69, so a player in North West has roughly 3.8 times the choice.
Courts per head, region by region
We divide the courts we have verified in each English region and nation by its ONS mid-2025 population. Because our directory is still growing (see the coverage note below), absolute numbers will rise; the ranking is the interesting part, and it updates with every batch of clubs we add.
Source: Padel Britain directory: 327 clubs verified at their own websites, October 2026; ONS mid-year population estimates, mid-2025 (Nomis dataset NM_31_1) · Chart: Padel Britain
Show the data
| Region | Population | Verified courts | Courts per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North West | 7,772,854 | 206 | 2.65 |
| South West | 5,906,997 | 119 | 2.01 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 5,672,166 | 113 | 1.99 |
| London | 9,122,909 | 174 | 1.91 |
| South East | 9,691,844 | 183 | 1.89 |
| East of England | 6,613,801 | 123 | 1.86 |
| Wales | 3,175,181 | 59 | 1.86 |
| North East | 2,762,746 | 49 | 1.77 |
| East Midlands | 5,085,641 | 81 | 1.59 |
| West Midlands | 6,205,854 | 97 | 1.56 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,928,446 | 23 | 1.19 |
| Scotland | 5,545,500 | 38 | 0.69 |
| Region | Population | Verified clubs | Verified courts | Per 100,000 | People per court |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North West | 7,772,854 | 43 | 206 | 2.65 | 37,732 |
| South West | 5,906,997 | 31 | 119 | 2.01 | 49,639 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 5,672,166 | 33 | 113 | 1.99 | 50,196 |
| London | 9,122,909 | 37 | 174 | 1.91 | 52,431 |
| South East | 9,691,844 | 55 | 183 | 1.89 | 52,961 |
| East of England | 6,613,801 | 38 | 123 | 1.86 | 53,771 |
| Wales | 3,175,181 | 11 | 59 | 1.86 | 53,817 |
| North East | 2,762,746 | 12 | 49 | 1.77 | 56,383 |
| East Midlands | 5,085,641 | 19 | 81 | 1.59 | 62,786 |
| West Midlands | 6,205,854 | 29 | 97 | 1.56 | 63,978 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,928,446 | 5 | 23 | 1.19 | 83,845 |
| Scotland | 5,545,500 | 14 | 38 | 0.69 | 145,934 |
What makes a padel desert
Courts follow money and land. Dedicated padel clubs need a warehouse or a field near enough to a population that will pay evening prices, which is why big cities and their commuter belts fill up first. Rural areas often get padel through golf clubs, farms and hotels instead, a pattern you can see in our venue-type breakdown. If you live in a desert, the near-me search finds the closest courts by distance, and our building guide covers what it takes to change the map.
327 clubs verified at the time of writing.
How we worked this out
Every club in these figures has been checked at its own website or booking listing: address, number of courts, whether they are indoor, covered or outdoor, who can book, and any prices the club publishes. Prices are converted to one comparable number, the cost per player for a 90-minute game with four players sharing the court, using the club's cheapest non-member rate for "off-peak" and its dearest regular rate for "peak". Member-only prices are left out of the averages.
Coverage. We have verified 327 clubs and 1,265 courts so far. The LTA counted 1,825 courts at 551 venues in May 2026, so our figures cover roughly 59% of venues and grow every time we add more. Treat shares and medians as a strong sample rather than a census until coverage is complete; the page recalculates itself on every update.
Download the data: every verified club (CSV) and sourced national figures (CSV). Both are free to reuse with a link to this page. Every chart has an embed code and a PNG download under it.
Quick answers
Which part of the UK has the most padel courts per person?
On our verified count, North West, with 2.65 courts per 100,000 people.
Which part of the UK has the fewest?
Scotland, with 0.69 verified courts per 100,000 people, or one court for every 145,934 people.
Where do the population figures come from?
The ONS mid-2025 population estimates for each English region and for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, taken from the ONS Nomis service.