What methods are used by official statistics to quantify the practice of sport? The Institut national de la jeunesse et de l’éducation populaire (Injep) runs the ministerial statistical service responsible for sport. It has developed a set of indicators to quantify sporting activity, including the national survey of physical and sporting activity (ENPPS) and the census of sports licences and clubs. The statistics produced are widely used by public authorities to monitor the results of policies designed to develop ‘sport for all’, as well as by economic players in the sports sector. This observation system is based on a sociological and economic approach, aimed at better understanding the place of sport in leisure time. In this respect, it differs from yet completes a purely health-based vision, focusing on sport as a physical activity that contributes to the fight against a sedentary lifestyle. The Injep’s statistical tools are thus complementary to the surveys on physical activity conducted, for example, by Santé publique France or the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees). These two approaches require different observation tools, and lead to structure the surveys differently (reference period, definition of sport, etc.). A number of possibilities have been put forward to improve the system of observing sporting practices; for example, analysing the potential of data obtained by new technologies, such as applications dedicated to sport, but also helping local public players, whose role is crucial in terms of sports policy, by adapting statistical indicators to the local level.