11 Refreshing Fitness Industry Statistics

Thanks to a global public awareness campaign, the fitness industry is seeing large annualized gains when it comes to both membership and revenues. Although the global effort is being done through wellness efforts at a community level in most countries, undertaken by individual entities or governments, the results are difficult to ignore. People are becoming fitter.

Fitness Industry Statistics

The fitness industry in the United States generated $2.7 billion in revenues in the last year. Globally there are over 180,000 fitness clubs, estimated to have earned $84 billion from their 145 million members. Over 54 million Americans paid gym membership fees in 2014, and for the second year in a row actual visits to the gyms exceeded 5 billion! The average member visited their club over 100 times, an all-time high.

The past five years in the fitness industry saw an annualized growth rate of 2.3%, which is impressive because the levels of disposable income on a global scale were reduced during this period. The industry is expected to directly benefit from increased disposable income levels in the next 5 years, thus creating even more growth opportunities.

Essential Facts About the Fitness Industry

1. The fitness industry employs over 500,000 full time employees in the United States alone.
2. There are nearly 30,000 fitness locations in the United States, accounting for about 33% of the global total.
3. There is no one company that has a dominant market share within this industry, meaning the average business owner is locally motivated.

Takeaway: There is a great cost savings in being healthy today. With medical care costs rising or wait times increasing, it is becoming extremely important for each person to do their best to remain as healthy as possible. Even employers are introducing wellness programs as a benefit to reduce their overall health care costs! As income levels increase in the next 5 years and people see the benefits of being healthy, this should correlate in a reduction of overweight and obesity rates.

Additional Statistics of Interest

1. 16 million people in the United States worked out for more than 100 days in the past year.
2. The fastest growing age demographic that is utilizing the fitness industry are those aged 50 and older.
3. 1,300 unique weight loss companies provide an additional $2 billion in revenues to the fitness industry every year.
4. High intensity interval training is the top expected trend in the fitness industry for 2014, with several products available by infomercial.
5. The number of employment opportunities within the fitness industry is expected to expand by 23% in the next decade.
6. Personal trainers have an even better outlook for employment over the next decade with a 31% expected increase of employment opportunities.

Takeaway: As lifestyles become busier, but also more sedentary, people are realizing that there is a need for personal fitness. Some are taking care of this on their own, but many people need a little help to make sure they get the right amount of exercise every day. That’s why the fitness industry looks to keep expanding in the future and why revenues and employment opportunities are much higher within this industry than others.