Hi. Newcomer from Norway here. In no way a professional pilot, but just soloed in a 172P, hopefully I'll have my PPL before Christmas
The statistics over GA flight hours here indicates a decrease in ACs requiring a PPL or better, while hours for ultralights are skyrocketing. It also seems, from facebook groups I follow (ultra lights) that there's a lot of more "basic" aviation going on there. A lot more affordable for the general public, I guess. You have the fast composite planes with glass cockpits, but also a lot of privately owned cub replicas etc. For many, if you want the basic "stick and rudder" experience, PPL might not be the way to go. It's a lot easier and cheaper just to get a ultra light (here: micro) license and a 2-seater with nice STOL capabilities.