The fitness segment of the wellness industry experienced a 37.1 percent decline in spending in 2020, but it is expected to rebound with the hybrid brick-and-mortar and digital fitness segment anticipated to grow from $738 billion in 2020 to $1.2 trillion in 2025, according to a new research report, “The Global Wellness Economy: Looking Beyond Covid,” from the Global Wellness Institute (GWI).
The report looked at 11 segments of the wellness industry with physical activity being one of those segments. Fitness was a sub-sector of the physical activity segment. GWI defines physical activity sector as “consumer spending associated with intentional physical activities performed during leisure and recreation.” For GWI, “fitness” includes workouts and classes in home-based gyms, community centers, outdoor gyms, schools, hotels, and via online platforms as well as those occurring in brick-and-mortar locations.
From 2018-2019, spending on physical activity grew 5 percent to reach $874 billion, but with the COVID-19 pandemic and gym closures in 2020, revenues fell 15.5 percent to $738 billion in 2020.
Even though revenue in the fitness sub-sector declined 37 percent in 2020, revenue from fitness technology increased 29 percent to $49.5 billion for the year. Digital apps, streaming and on-demand workout platforms grew 40 percent. The segment’s hybrid brick-and-mortar/digital future is bright with GWI predicting the market will nearly double — from $738 billion in 2020 to $1.2 trillion in 2025.
The overall wellness market — which in addition to physical activity also includes healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss; mental wellness; spas; wellness tourism; wellness real estate; personal care and beauty; workplace wellness; public health, prevention and personalized medicine; traditional and complementary medicine; and thermal/mineral springs — generated record revenue of $4.9 trillion in 2019 and then fell to $4.4 trillion in the pandemic year of 2020.
However, the pandemic ushered in a shift in values for consumers, governments, and the medical world in which prevention and wellness have taken on greater importance, according to the report.
With that in mind, the GWI predicts that the wellness market will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2021 ($5 trillion) and will grow at a 10 percent annual pace through 2025, when it will reach $7 trillion.