Children's Activity Benchmarks: Occupancy, Retention & Pricing
Most children’s activity providers run on gut feel because there’s almost no public benchmark data for the sector. This is a small contribution to fixing that: a snapshot of class occupancy, retention and pricing drawn from aggregated data across Zooza accounts in five European countries. It’s not the whole market — it’s what we can see across the providers who use Zooza — but it’s real operating data, not estimates.
The headline numbers
- Class occupancy averages ~54%. Nearly half of available class capacity goes unfilled — the single biggest revenue lever most providers leave on the table.
- Retention is ~39% a year — and age decides a lot of it. Ages 0–5 retain at ~46%; ages 6–11 drop to ~20%.
- Pricing rises where competition falls. Hourly class cost runs ~€8–24, highest in smaller markets like Austria.
How occupancy, retention & pricing vary by age group
| Age group | Class occupancy | Retention | Spaces per class | Cost per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | 85% | 46% | 8 | €18 |
| 6–11 | 73% | 20% | 10 | €10 |
| 12–16 | 92% | 25% | 6 | €8 |
| 16–18 | 64% | 32% | 12 | €19 |
The standout pattern: the youngest cohort retains best (parent-led baby and pre-school programmes keep families longest), while the 6–11 group — where children start choosing for themselves and trying multiple activities — churns fastest. Older cohorts run smaller class sizes and, where they’re competitive (e.g. exam-age tuition), fill tightly.
How it varies by country
| Market | Class occupancy | Retention | Spaces per class | Cost per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia | 48% | 43% | 13 | €14 |
| Czechia | 73% | 25% | 11 | €17 |
| Austria | 72% | 10% | 8 | €24 |
| Romania | 54% | 14% | 11 | €17 |
| Ireland | 64% | 25% | 20 | €10 |
Two things stand out. First, occupancy ranges enormously (48%→73%) — there’s no single “normal,” so benchmarking against your own market matters more than a global average. Second, cost per hour tends to be higher in smaller markets with less competition (Austria’s ~€24 vs lower rates in larger or more contested markets).
What providers can do with this
- If your occupancy sits at the low end of the ranges above, that’s your fastest win — filling existing capacity beats adding classes. (See how to fill empty class spots.)
- Watch the 6–11 cliff. If retention sags when children turn ~6, that’s the sector norm, not just you — re-enrolment prompts and progression pathways are where to focus.
- Price to your market, not a global figure — less competition supports higher rates.
Methodology & caveats
These figures are typical (representative) values per segment, aggregated across Zooza accounts in Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Romania and Ireland, with amounts converted to EUR. They were collected per question, so they are not a single weighted dataset and shouldn’t be cross-totalled — the overall occupancy figure and the per-age figures answer different questions and won’t average together. Retention is an annual measure and is influenced by course length: in markets where providers sell year-long courses, monthly retention views look different (Austria’s low figure, for example, partly reflects longer course structures and a thinner sample). The older-age and per-country cells rest on smaller samples, so treat individual cells as directional rather than precise. This is an early snapshot from one platform’s customer base, not a full-sector census — treat it as directional, and we’ll expand it as more data comes in.
Curious how your numbers compare? See how Zooza helps you track occupancy and retention, or browse our guides on retention & re-enrolment.
