Ballet Statistics - Putting the Facts Centre Stage

We clearly all love ballet here and thousands upon thousands of children and adults alike are participating or go to see shows annually. But just how popular does ballet remain in the UK in 2025 and how much funding is going in?

We’re getting en pointe with the numbers in our 2025 round up of ballet statistics.

The Key Facts

If you’re only here for the short version, here are the key facts from our research. But if you’re sticking around for the whole show, read on for more context:

• Searches for “ballet classes” and “ballet classes near me” are up 79% since before the pandemic.
• There are still over 4,000 monthly searches  for Rudolf Nureyev’s name, despite the fact he died more than 30 years ago.
• Arts Council England funding for dance institutions is typically up above pre-covide levels despite funding overall being down across all other categories.
• London is the UK region with the highest number of searches per million people for “ballet classes near me” with over 200 estimated searches each month per million people.

Ballet Popularity and Participation in the UK: Behind the Curtain

Little by way of accurate ballet participation data exists in the UK. So it’s tricky to say specifically how many people take part in ballet classes.

But what we can do is take a look at popularity based on a sneak peek at people Googling classes!

Using kwfinder.com, we took a look at the estimated number of searches in Google UK for different ballet related keywords. We looked up the estimated number of searches for:

• Ballet classes
• Ballet classes near me

We added those both together to get a rough idea as to how many searches each month indicate people looking to find ballet classes.

Here’s what we found:

Year	Average Searches Per Month in Google UK for “Ballet Classes” and “Ballet Classes Near Me” Combined
2019	6671
2020	6158
2021	9342
2022	9883
2023	11733
2024	11950

An expected, likely Covid induced, dip in interest in 2020 was quickly turned around as restrictions loosened in 2021 and last year we saw an average of 11,950 searches per month, up 79% since the pre-pandemic 2019 figures.

We also looked at each region of the UK and found the search volumes for “ballet classes near me”.  We weighted them against 2020 population estimates and found that London has the most interest in finding ballet classes than anywhere else in the UK with over 200 searches per million people each month.

Popular Ballet Dancers

We don’t just go looking for classes in Google. We also go looking for inspiration. So we took a look at the number of searches for the names of Classic FM’s named top 10 greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. Here’s what we found:

We found that, in the UK, there are over 4,000 searches every month on average for Rudolf Nureyev’s name, despite the fact the Soviet-born dancer died more than 30 years ago, which highlights the ongoing impact that incredibly talented and high profile dancers can have.

Arts Council Funding for Ballet

Ballet and dance as a whole often relies on funding from the likes of the Arts Council. While no numbers specific to ballet exist, we can see how much funding each year is allocated to dance and we can again look at funding to specific organisations.

In terms of funding allocated to dance, it varies year on year:

• Dance funding(including ballet) has varied year-on-year, peaking during 2020/21, which is likely due to pandemic-related support
• The percentage of total Arts Council funding allocated to dance fluctuates, hitting nearly 10% in some years (notably 2020/21 and 2023/24), but dropping to just over 4% in 2022/23.

Funding by Organisation

In terms of some of the biggest recipients of Arts Council funding, these are ballet institutions who benefit (note that the Royal Opera House, while home to the Royal Ballet, also houses the Royal Opera).

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Northern Ballet	£3.11M	£3.11M	£3.11M	£3.11M	£3.16M	£3.16M	£3.29M	£3.29M	£3.29M
Birmingham Royal Ballet	£7.89M	£7.89M	£7.89M	£7.89M	£8.04M	£8.04M	£8.04M	£8.04M	£8.04M
English National Ballet	£6.21M	£6.21M	£6.21M	£6.21M	£6.33M	£6.33M	£6.01M	£6.01M	£6.01M
Royal Opera House	£24.8M	£24.8M	£24.8M	£24.8M	£25.2M	£25.2M	£22.3M	£22.3M	£22.3M

Investment remains relatively consistent across all of these organisations, with minor fluctuations:

Comparing committed funding for 2025/26 with that in 2018, we see the following fluctuations:

• The Northern Ballet has seen a 5.7% increase in Arts Council funding
• The Birmingham Royal Ballet has seen a 1.8% increase
• The English National Ballet has seen a 3.3% drop in funding
• The Royal Opera house has seen a 10% drop

The Future is Bright for Ballet

If there’s one thing these stats show, it’s that ballet in the UK is staying firmly en pointe. Across the country, people are leaping at the chance to join classes and take their place at the barre, proving ballet isn’t just for London’s big stages. From first plié to final curtain call, the appetite for dance is anything but flat-footed.

The numbers behind the scenes are just as telling. While some companies are pirouetting into funding boosts, others are working hard to stay balanced. Support from Arts Council England is still a crucial partner, helping our budding ballet stars to stay in the spotlight rather than waiting in the wings.

Britain’s ballet scene still has plenty of spring in its step. Here’s to keeping those toes pointed and the curtain rising for many more acts to come