Statistics on USHPA members, instructors, and more are available below. These will be added to and updated periodically.
Member Statistics
USHPA's overall membership is on the rise as a result of the increasing participation in paragliding. As the hang glider pilot population ages (see chart below), USHPA's hang glider numbers have been steadily declining. USHPA is committed to supporting hang gliding and has been collaborating with a hang gliding work group focused specifically on helping the sport grow.
USHPA Membership - June 2009-July 2020
Tracking membership with no ratings (including Contributing Members) began in 2010. Prior to 2010, members with no ratings or ratings in both wing types were tracked in the Both category. Recreation RRG was established in March 2016 and began issuing policies in June 2016. For member counts by month and year, please click here.
USHPA Membership - 1972-2020
USHPA Active Member Age - July 2020
Instructor Statistics
Average Annual Basic/Advanced Instructors - August 2012-July 2019
Average Annual Tandem Instructors - August 2012-July 2019
Instructors Total - April 2011-July 2020
For instructor counts by month and year, please click here.
PASA Schools Statistics
Student and Rating Data - May 2018-April 2019
| PASA School Type |
Unique Solo Students
|
# of Students Issued Ratings
|
% of Students Issued Ratings
|
% of All Ratings Issued by USHPA
|
| Paragliding
|
2152
|
635
|
29.51%
|
56.29%
|
| Hang Gliding
|
6295
|
151
|
2.4%
|
13.39%
|
| Total
|
8447
|
786
|
9.31%
|
69.68%
|
While hang gliding has nearly three times as many unique participants in solo training, the percentage of hang gliding ratings issued is under 3% compared to almost 30% for paragliding. Hang gliding has a higher participation rate, but a much lower conversion to ratings issued. PASA-certified schools issued nearly 70% of all USHPA ratings during this time period.