Home advantage at world and European sporting championships has been measured at 25 per cent for the host nation, according to a new study.

The study, commissioned by UK Sport, looked at 10,000 top eight placings across 90 major single sport events and used a point system to provide a standardised measure of the results.

The host countries achieved an average 6 per cent share of the points available at major events they were not hosting, but an average 7.5 per cent share when competing at home.

At a World Swimming Championships, for example, this scale of improvement could – according to the system used – equate to a variety of different outcomes, including two completely different additional gold medals or seven increases from sixth place to bronze medal, or 23 increases of one place, for example, from fifth to fourth.

UK Sport chief executive John Steele said: “We are constantly looking for the edge over our rivals and these preliminary results suggest that there is indeed a quantifiable link between hosting events and improving performance.

“For example, it is clear that we have the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage through further targeted investment in major events. In an environment where medals are decided by increasingly smaller margins, the potential to achieve such a marked improvement in elite performance is highly significant.”

Simon Morton, UK Sport’s acting senior events consultant, added: “Some £15m is being invested into UK hosted events between 2009 and 2012, with 24 World Championships and 15 European Championships targeted. While we consider the broader impact issues of hosting events – such as maximising sporting, social, cultural and economic benefits – our current focus ahead of 2012 is to secure events based on their likely performance impact.”