Comparison of the employment rate in the sports sector of the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and the EU average

Sport plays an important role in society mainly for its health and social benefits.The essence of sport also lies in its great influence on society in areas such as politics and economics.If we look into the past, the Olympic Games themselves were organized with the aim of meeting the individual states of ancient Greece and solving political issues and strengthening friendly relations.Sport also has an impact on the economic situation of the country, as it directly participates in the creation of GDP and creates job opportunities within the sports sector and indirectly through reduced health care costs, which is caused by an active and healthy lifestyle.The purpose of this paper was, based on the analysis, to forecast the employment rate in the sports sector in the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and the EU average.We applied Box-Jenkins methodology, ARIMA models, performed in R. Following the study's results, the analysis revealed significant disparities in employment rates within the sports sector across countries.Slovakia recorded one of the lowest rates in 2023, while the Czech Republic performed slightly better but remained below the EU average.Based on the forecast, employment rates in Slovakia and the Czech Republic are expected to fluctuate between 2024 and 2026, although still remaining below the overall EU average.The EU average is expected to increase.