The global wellness industry grew 10.6% in the last two years, from a $3.36 trillion market in 2013 to $3.72 trillion in 2015, according to research released today by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI). This new data on the ten markets that comprise the global wellness “cluster” provides fresh evidence that wellness is one of the world’s largest, fastest growing, and most resilient markets.
Economic context:
- From 2013-2015, the global wellness sector registered double-digit growth, while the global economy/GDP shrank by -3.6%* – a “growth gap” of nearly 15%.
- The wellness industry now represents 5.1% of global economic output.
- Wellness expenditures are now nearly half as large as total global health expenditures ($7.6 trillion**).
Among the ten wellness markets analyzed, the fastest growing from 2013-2015 were: 1) Preventative/Personalized Medicine & Public Health (+23.5%), 2) Fitness & Mind-Body (+21.4%), 3) Wellness Lifestyle Real Estate (+18.6%), 4) Wellness Tourism (+14%), and 5) Healthy Eating, Nutrition & Weight Loss (+12.8%).
These topline numbers were released today at the 10th annual Global Wellness Summit being held in Kitzbühel, Austria, which has attracted 500 industry leaders from 45 nations. The in-depth report, the 2016 Global Wellness Economy Monitor, with detailed data on regional and national wellness markets, will be released in early 2017.
“Recent years have been marked by global economic contraction and disruptive geopolitical events, but a ‘wellness economy’ just keeps rising, with an upward trajectory that seems unstoppable,” said Ophelia Yeung, Senior Research Fellow, GWI. “And we predict that consumers, governments and employers will continue to spend big on wellness because of these megatrends: an emerging global middle class, a rapidly aging world population, a chronic disease and stress epidemic, the failure of the ‘sick-care’ medical model (resulting in uncontrollable healthcare costs), and a growing subset of (more affluent, educated) consumers seeking experiences rooted in meaning, purpose, authenticity and nature.”
Global Wellness Markets – 2013-2015
Note: Growth percentages are conservative, as revenues are reported in U.S. dollars,
which appreciated significantly from 2013-2015 against the currencies of major wellness markets, including the Euro, Russian Ruble, Canadian Dollar, Japanese Yen, Indian Rupee and Brazilian Real.
2013 revenues – 2015 revenues
Beauty and Anti-Aging: $1.02 trillion – $999 billion
Healthy Eating, Nutrition & Weight Loss: $574.2 billion – $647.8 billion
Wellness Tourism: $494.1 billion – $563.2 billion
Fitness & Mind-Body: $446.4 billion – $542 billion
Preventative & Personalized Medicine & Public Health: $432.7 billion – $534.3 billion
Complementary & Alternative Medicine: $186.7 billion – $199 billion
Wellness Lifestyle Real Estate: $100 billion – $118.6 billion
Spa Industry: $94 billion – $98.6 billion
Thermal/Mineral Springs Facilities: $50 billion – $51 billion
Workplace Wellness: $40.7 billion – $43.3 billion
