More people are playing Australian football than ever before with the Northern Territory recording a 10.29% increase in total participation to take the figure to 42,196 in 2016.
This growth is representative of non-metropolitan areas as well with 29,277 rural and remote players counted across the NT.
With positive growth across every state and territory, the number of Australians playing football rose by 12.5% nationally.
"It is really pleasing to see continued growth in our game and we continue to have strong participation in junior programs," said Manager of Game Development Jennifer Le Quesne
"As well as having dedicated game development staff in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, AFLNT's unique network mean that programs can run in many of the remote communities giving more people an opportunity to get involved."
Northern Territory was second only to Tasmania with the highest change in female club participants with an enormous 133% increase.
There are now over 13,000 female participants across the Territory which translates to a year on year increase of 23%.
The number of young female Auskickers and junior participation program participants also grew with the total number of players reaching 2,725.
"This data represents the strong growth of female activity from a young age and that there are more and more opportunities for girls to get involved in AFL," Le Quesne said.
2016 NT participation highlights:
Overall participation - 42,196 (up 10.29% vs 2015)
Community club participation - 11,040 (up 27.93% vs 2015)
Junior program participation - 7,134
Total team participants - 25,770 (up 5%)
School program participation - 19,866 (down 21.14% which is accounted for by the increase in Auskick participation at the remote after and before school programs)
Female participation:
Total female participation - 13,295 (up 23%)
Female club participants - 2,642 (up 133%)
The number of girls participating NAB AFL Auskick and other junior programs - 2,725