Surfing is most popular in Australia, the United States, Brazil and France. All 11 countries ranked by surfers, breaks, world titles and Olympic medals.
Surfing was born in Polynesia and grew into a global sport from Hawaii, but today the biggest surfing cultures are Australia, the United States and Brazil. France, Portugal and Japan have turned surfing into a mainstream coastal sport, and Peru and South Africa have produced world champions.
Below you will find the full ranking, a table with the Olympic results, a profile of every country and a separate list of the nations that have won the most world titles.
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Countries where surfing is most popular:
- Australia
- United States
- Brazil
- France
- Portugal
- Japan
- South Africa
- Indonesia
- Peru
- Spain
- United Kingdom
Surfing Popularity by Country at a Glance
| Rank | Country | Olympic medals 2020 to 2024 | Best known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Australia | 2 | Bells Beach, eight-time champion Stephanie Gilmore |
| #2 | United States | 2 | Birthplace of modern surfing, Pipeline |
| #3 | Brazil | 3 | The Brazilian Storm, three Olympic medals |
| #4 | France | 2 | Hossegor, Biarritz, Olympic gold in Tahiti |
| #5 | Portugal | 0 | Nazaré giant waves, Peniche |
| #6 | Japan | 2 | Olympic silver and bronze at home in 2021 |
| #7 | South Africa | 1 | Jeffreys Bay, one of the best right-hand waves |
| #8 | Indonesia | 0 | Bali, Uluwatu, Mentawai Islands |
| #9 | Peru | 0 | Chicama, Mulanovich, Pan American gold |
| #10 | Spain | 0 | Basque coast, Mundaka, Zarautz |
| #11 | United Kingdom | 0 | Cornwall, Newquay, Surfers Against Sewage |
How We Ranked the Countries
We weighed four things: how many people surf (national estimates and the figures that the International Surfing Association has shared over the years), how much surfing shapes the coastal culture of the country, which world-class breaks and events it hosts, and how well its athletes do in the World Surf League and at the Olympics.
Surfer counts are rough estimates, because most countries do not register surfers, so we use them only as one input. The comparable number in the table is the count of Olympic surfing medals won at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, the only two Games with a surfing event.
#1 Australia
- 🏄 Surfers: about 706,000 Australians aged 15 and over surfed in 2022 (AusPlay)
- 🏆 World titles: 20 men’s and 25 women’s (Wikipedia list)
- 🥈 Olympics: silver in Paris (Jack Robinson), bronze in Tokyo (Owen Wright)
- ⭐ Stars: Mark Richards, Layne Beachley, Mick Fanning, Stephanie Gilmore
- 📅 Big event: Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, first held in 1962
Only the United States, once Hawaii is counted, has produced more world champions than Australia. Surfing arrived in 1914, when the Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku gave a demonstration at Freshwater beach in Sydney, and today it is part of everyday life on a coastline that stretches for thousands of kilometres.
Layne Beachley won seven women’s world titles, Stephanie Gilmore has won eight, and Mark Richards and Mick Fanning are among the most successful men. The Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, first held in January 1962, is the longest-running professional surfing contest in the world.
#2 United States
- 🏄 Surfers: around 3 million (rough industry estimates)
- 🏆 World titles: 27 men’s and 27 women’s including Hawaii (Wikipedia list)
- 🥇 Olympics: gold in Tokyo (Carissa Moore) and Paris (Caroline Marks)
- ⭐ Stars: Duke Kahanamoku, Kelly Slater, Carissa Moore, John John Florence
- 📅 Big event: Pipeline Masters on the North Shore of Oahu
Hawaii is where Polynesian wave riding grew into the sport we know today, and Duke Kahanamoku carried it to California and Australia in the early twentieth century. The North Shore of Oahu, with Pipeline, Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach, is still the place where the biggest titles are decided.
Kelly Slater has won eleven world titles, more than any other man. Carissa Moore became the first Olympic surfing champion at Tokyo 2020, and Caroline Marks won gold in Paris in 2024.
#3 Brazil
- 🏄 Surfers: around 3 million (rough industry estimates)
- 🏆 World titles: 8 men’s titles, all since 2014 (Wikipedia list)
- 🥇 Olympics: gold in Tokyo (Italo Ferreira), silver and bronze in Paris
- ⭐ Stars: Gabriel Medina, Italo Ferreira, Filipe Toledo, Maya Gabeira
- 📅 Big event: Saquarema, the “Maracana of surfing”
Brazil has one of the largest surfing communities in the world and, since 2014, the most successful men’s tour generation, known as the Brazilian Storm. Gabriel Medina won three world titles, and Adriano de Souza, Italo Ferreira, Filipe Toledo and Yago Dora (in 2025) have also been champions.
Italo Ferreira won the first Olympic men’s gold in Tokyo, and in Paris Tatiana Weston-Webb took silver and Medina bronze. Big-wave surfer Maya Gabeira surfed a 22.4 metre (73.5 foot) wave at Nazaré in 2020, a women’s world record.
#4 France
- 🏄 Surfers: several hundred thousand (rough estimates)
- 🥇 Olympics: gold for Kauli Vaast and bronze for Johanne Defay in Paris
- 🏆 ISA team gold: 2017 and 2021
- ⭐ Stars: Kauli Vaast, Johanne Defay, Joan Duru
- 📅 Big event: Hossegor, a longtime World Tour stop
Surfing in France began in Biarritz in 1956, when the American screenwriter Peter Viertel tried it during the filming of The Sun Also Rises. The Atlantic coast from Biarritz to Hossegor now has beach breaks that host professional events every autumn.
France won its first two Olympic surfing medals at Paris 2024, where the contest took place at Teahupo’o in French Polynesia. Kauli Vaast, who grew up in Tahiti, won the men’s gold, and Johanne Defay took the women’s bronze.
#5 Portugal
- 🏄 Surfers: roughly 200,000 (rough estimate)
- 🌊 Giant waves: Praia do Norte at Nazaré, site of several Guinness records
- 📍 Top spots: Nazaré, Peniche, Ericeira
- ⭐ Stars: Garrett McNamara (record in 2011), Joao de Macedo, Frederico Morais
- 📅 Big events: Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge, Rip Curl Pro Portugal at Peniche
Portugal has become Europe’s surfing capital for travellers, thanks to a long Atlantic coast with consistent swell and mild water. Peniche, with its Supertubos beach break, has hosted the Rip Curl Pro Portugal, and Ericeira is a World Surfing Reserve.
Nazaré made the country famous for big waves. Garrett McNamara surfed a record wave there in 2011, Rodrigo Koxa broke the record in 2017, and Sebastian Steudtner rode an 86 foot (26.21 metre) wave in 2020 that Guinness recognised.
#6 Japan
- 🥈 Olympics: silver for Kanoa Igarashi and bronze for Amuro Tsuzuki in Tokyo
- 🏆 ISA team gold: 2018 at Tahara
- 📍 Top spots: Chiba, Shonan, Miyazaki
- ⭐ Stars: Kanoa Igarashi, Amuro Tsuzuki, Hiroto Ohhara
- 📅 Big event: Olympic surfing at Tsurigasaki beach in 2021
Surfing is a huge lifestyle sport in Japan, with a scene built around Shonan near Tokyo, the Chiba coast and Miyazaki on the island of Kyushu. The country hosted the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games in Miyazaki and the first Olympic surfing contest in 2021.
Kanoa Igarashi won silver in the men’s shortboard and Amuro Tsuzuki took bronze in the women’s event in Tokyo, which gave Japan two medals in the sport’s Olympic debut. Japan also won its first ISA World Surfing Games team gold in 2018.
#7 South Africa
- 🥈 Olympics: silver for Bianca Buitendag in Tokyo
- 🏆 World titles: 1 men’s and 1 women’s (Wikipedia list)
- 📍 Top spots: Jeffreys Bay, Durban, Cape Town
- ⭐ Stars: Shaun Tomson, Jordy Smith, Bianca Buitendag
- 📅 Big event: J-Bay Open, held since 1984
Jeffreys Bay, known as J-Bay, is the best known wave in South Africa and one of the longest right-hand point breaks in the world. The J-Bay Open has been part of the professional calendar since 1984.
Shaun Tomson is the country’s only men’s world champion, and Bianca Buitendag won silver at Tokyo 2020. South Africa also won the team title at the 2013 ISA World Surfing Games.
#8 Indonesia
- 📍 Top spots: Uluwatu, Padang Padang, Keramas on Bali
- 🏝️ Island chains: Mentawai Islands, Lombok, Sumbawa
- 🌊 Wave type: warm water reef breaks with long left and right waves
- 🏄 Visitors: one of the most popular surf travel destinations in the world
Indonesia is not a surfing superpower in the contest results, but it is one of the world’s best surf destinations. The reef breaks of Bali, such as Uluwatu and Padang Padang, and the remote Mentawai chain attract surfers from every continent.
Surf tourism supports whole coastal communities, from beginner schools in Kuta to surf camps in Sumbawa. Local surfers have been growing in number with each decade, helped by the same warm, consistent waves that draw visitors.
#9 Peru
- 🏆 World titles: 1 men’s (Felipe Pomar, 1965) and 1 women’s (Sofia Mulanovich, 2004)
- 🥇 Pan Am Games: three surfing golds at Lima 2019
- 📍 Top spots: Chicama, Punta Hermosa, Punta Rocas
- ⭐ Stars: Felipe Pomar, Sofia Mulanovich, Lucca Mesinas
- 🌊 Longest wave: Chicama, widely described as the longest left in the world
Peru has a surfing tradition that predates the modern sport, since fishermen have ridden reed boats called caballitos de totora through the waves for centuries. Chicama in the north is widely described as the longest left-hand wave in the world, with reports of rides of more than two kilometres.
Sofia Mulanovich became the first South American world champion in 2004, and Felipe Pomar won the men’s world title in 1965. At the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, Peru won three surfing golds, with Lucca Mesinas, Daniella Rosas and Benoit Clemente.
#10 Spain
- 📍 Top spots: Mundaka, Zarautz, Sopelana, Tenerife
- 🌊 Wave type: river-mouth left at Mundaka, beach breaks in the north
- 🏄 Season: autumn and winter swells on the Atlantic coast
- 📅 Big event: WSL Qualifying events in the Basque Country
Surfing in Spain is concentrated on the northern Atlantic coast, in the Basque Country, Cantabria and Galicia. Mundaka, a left-hand wave at a river mouth, is considered one of the best waves in Europe and has hosted World Tour events.
Surf schools and camps in Zarautz, Somo and the Canary Islands make surfing a year-round tourism business, and the sport is growing among younger Spaniards.
#11 United Kingdom
- 🏄 Surfers: no reliable count
- 📍 Top spots: Newquay, Croyde, Thurso, Gower
- 🏆 World titles: 1 men’s (Wikipedia list)
- ⭐ Star: Martin Potter
- 🌍 Activism: Surfers Against Sewage, founded in Cornwall in 1990
Cornwall is the centre of British surfing. Fistral Beach in Newquay has hosted national and international contests for decades, and cold-water surfing in wetsuits has grown into a year-round pastime from Devon to Scotland.
Surfers Against Sewage, founded in Cornwall in 1990, became one of Europe’s most influential ocean campaigns. Martin Potter, born in England, won the 1989 world title, the only men’s world title listed for the country.
Which Countries Are Best at Surfing?
This table counts world titles on the professional tour (the Wikipedia list of world champions up to the 2025 season, with Hawaii added to the United States) and Olympic surfing medals from Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
| Country | Men’s world titles | Women’s world titles | Olympic medals 2020 to 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 20 | 25 | 2 (silver, bronze) |
| United States (including Hawaii) | 27 | 27 | 2 (2 gold) |
| Brazil | 8 | 0 | 3 (gold, silver, bronze) |
| South Africa | 1 | 1 | 1 (silver) |
| Peru | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| France | 0 | 0 | 2 (gold, bronze) |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 2 (silver, bronze) |
Other Countries Where Surfing Is Growing
These countries just missed the ranking but have a strong and growing surfing scene.
| Country | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| El Salvador | Hosted the ISA World Surfing Games in 2021 and 2025 and has built a surf tourism industry around Surf City. |
| Costa Rica | Hosted the ISA World Surfing Games in 2009 and 2016 and has warm, consistent beach breaks on both coasts. |
| New Zealand | Has a strong surf club culture and a national team that travels to the ISA World Surfing Games. |
More About Surfing
FAQ
Which country is surfing most popular in?
Surfing is most popular in Australia, the United States and Brazil, which each have hundreds of thousands to millions of surfers, depending on the estimate. France, Japan and Portugal follow.
Which country is best at surfing?
The United States leads the world title count with 54 (27 men’s and 27 women’s) when Hawaii is included, ahead of Australia with 45 (20 men’s and 25 women’s). At the Olympics, Brazil leads with three medals across Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
Where was surfing invented?
Surfing developed in Polynesia and was a central part of Hawaiian culture long before European contact. Duke Kahanamoku then carried it to California and Australia in the early twentieth century.
Which country has the most surfers?
The United States and Brazil are usually named as the countries with the most surfers, at around 3 million each according to rough industry estimates. Australia’s AusPlay survey counted about 706,000 adults who surfed in 2022. All these figures are rough, because there are no official counts in most countries.
Which country has won the most Olympic surfing medals?
Brazil has won three Olympic surfing medals (one gold, one silver, one bronze). Australia, France, Japan and the United States have two each, and South Africa has one.
Where is the biggest wave ever surfed?
The biggest wave recognised by Guinness is an 86 foot (26.21 metre) wave ridden by Sebastian Steudtner in October 2020 at Praia do Norte in Nazaré, Portugal.
Is surfing popular in Europe?
Yes. France, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom all have large surf communities, and France won Olympic gold in 2024 with Kauli Vaast.
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