Ukulele Popularity by Country-Curiosity

I am a communication professor in S.E. Ohio. Many of my students incorporate ukuleles in their demonstration presentations, as they do with guitars, cellos, clarinets, drums etc. - the ukulele is just another musical instrument to them.

I’m not sure the ukulele is as popular as it was 10-12 years ago in the US. I have no numbers, but there was a time when local music stores stocked a lot more ukuleles. When we went on vacation, I would track down music stores that carried ukuleles. It was uncommon to find a dozen or more examples of various ukuleles. Now I just see a token few generic ones.

I realize that there is a lot more online buying and brick and mortar music shops are disappearing, but the instrument doesn’t seem to be as popular. It would be interesting to know the age demographics where the ukulele is growing.

John