The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics cost £8.8bn to host
The UK government says it is in "discussions about supporting potential bids" for the Olympics and Paralympics in the 2040s.
It added that "initial work examining whether the UK could host the Games for the first time since London 2012 will assess key factors such as potential cost, socio-economic benefit and [the] chance of success".
Ministers say they are also considering whether to support bids to stage golf's Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup in the 2030s.
The last time the two team competitions were staged in the UK was in 2014 and 2019 respectively, both at Gleneagles in Scotland.
