Figures show the Women's World Cup gave Canada's economy a better than expected boost ©Getty Images

The success of this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup has been underlined by new figures showing that the tournament gave a bigger-than-expected boost to the Canadian economy.

Canada Soccer has disclosed that the competition, along with the 2014 under-20 Women’s World Cup, supported almost half a billion Canadian dollars in economic activity for the country, well ahead of preliminary projections of C$337 million (£168 million/$254 million/€236 million) .

Total initial expenditure for both tournaments was put at C$216 million (£108 million/$163 million/€151 million), which generated C$249 million (£124 million/$163 million/€188 million) in net economic activity, with C$97.6 million (£48.7 million/$73.6 million/€68.2 million) in tax revenues said to have been supported across the country.

The United States won this year's Women's World Cup in Canada
The United States won this year's Women's World Cup in Canada ©Getty Images

Of this C$97.6 million, C$46 million accrued to the federal government, C$36.7 million to provincial governments and C$14.9 million to the six official host cities.

This year’s competition, won by the United States, was staged in June and July, with matches played in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montréal and Moncton.

Canada Soccer has published the figures following a study using an assessment tool provided by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA).

Victor Montagliani, Canada Soccer’s President, thanked funding partners for their support in staging “the largest single sporting event ever hosted in Canada”.

He said: “Without their early commitment to the hosting of these competitions and their outstanding support throughout, along with that of the Canadian soccer community, we could not have had such a profound impact on not only our economy, but also on our country and women’s sport in Canada and around the world.”

The 2015 tournament drew crowds totalling some 1.35 million.



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