The aim of this study is to analyze the correlation between per capita GDP and sports items' demand and to estimate the income elasticities of sports items' demand based on the International Social Survey Programme: Leisure Time and Sports - ISSP 2007 of the GESIS(Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany). The facts found from the analyses are as follows; First, in general, when the correlation coefficient of a particular sports item turns out to be both positive and statistically significant, the item can be interpreted to have a good possibility to be a luxury goods and when the coefficient is ascertained to be both negative and statistically significant, the item can be inferred to have a considerable chance to be an inferior goods. In this study, other team sports(excluding basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball etc.), squash, walking/trekking/climbing, boat sports, hunting/fishing, horse riding/horse racing, motor sports, shooting, and snow sports were confirmed to show a luxury goods' features and basketball, soccer, volleyball, athletics, and martial arts were identified to have an inferior goods' characteristics. Second, similar to the results of the correlation analysis, in the income elasticities estimation, cockfighting appeared to be an inferior goods and other team sports, squash, walking/trekking/climbing, bowling/curling/bocce, boat sports, darts, hunting/fishing, golf/minigolf, horse riding/horse racing were proved to be a luxury goods.
