> **来源：[研报客](https://pc.yanbaoke.cn)** # Global Wellness # ECONOMY MONITOR # 2025 \$6.8T GLOBAL MARKET # Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2025 NOVEMBER 2025 # Copyright © 2025 by the Global Wellness Institute Quotation of, citation from, and reference to any of the data, findings, and research methodology from this report must be credited to the Global Wellness Institute. # Suggested citation: Johnston, K. (2025). Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2025. Miami, FL: Global Wellness Institute. https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/2025-global-wellness-economy-monitor/ For more information, please contact research@globalwellnessinstitute.org or visit www.globalwellnessinstitute.org. # Contents What Is Wellness? What Is the Wellness Economy? ii Why Measure the Wellness Economy? iii Research Methodology iv At A Glance: The Global Wellness Economy in 2024 vi 1 The Global Wellness Economy 1 2 Growth Trends and Drivers in the Eleven Wellness Sectors 17 3 Wellness Real Estate 29 4 Mental Wellness 39 5 Physical Activity 47 6 Personal Care & Beauty 59 7 Healthy Eating, Nutrition, & Weight Loss 63 8 Traditional & Complementary Medicine 71 9 Wellness Tourism 77 10 Spas 89 Thermal/Mineral Springs 97 12 Public Health, Prevention, & Personalized Medicine 105 13 Workplace Wellness 111 Acknowledgements 119 Industry Research Sponsors 121 # About the Global Wellness Institute The Global Wellness Institute (GWI), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is considered the leading global research and educational resource for the global wellness industry and is known for introducing major industry initiatives and regional events that bring together leaders and visionaries to chart the future. GWI positively impacts global health and wellness by advocating for both public institutions and businesses that are working to help prevent disease, reduce stress, and enhance overall quality of life. Its mission is to empower wellness worldwide. www.globalwellnessinstitute.org # About the Authors Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2025 was prepared by Katherine Johnston, assisted by Joanne Hopkins, Ophelia Yeung, and Tonia Callender. As GWI's principal researchers, they are the team that has defined and measured the size of the global wellness economy and its sectors over the last eighteen years. Their academic and professional background is in economic analysis, international development, and public policy. Ms. Johnston, Ms. Hopkins, Ms. Yeung, and Ms. Callender received post-graduate degrees from Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, and Harvard Universities, respectively. Together, they bring many decades of experience conducting industry research, impact assessments, policy analysis, and strategy development for countries, regions, industry consortia, companies, and non-profit institutions around the world. # PREFACE # What Is Wellness? Wellness is a modern word with ancient roots. The key tenets of wellness as both preventive and holistic can be traced back to ancient civilizations from the East (India, China) to the West (Greece, Rome). In $19^{\text{th}}$ -century Europe and the United States, a variety of intellectual, religious, and medical movements developed in parallel with conventional medicine. With their focus on holistic and natural approaches, self-healing, and preventive care, these movements have provided a firm foundation for wellness today. Wellness-focused and holistic modalities have gained more visibility since the 1960s/1970s under the writings and thought leadership of an informal network of U.S. physicians and thinkers (such as Halbert Dunn, Jack Travis, Don Ardell, Bill Hettler, and others). As these have evolved, proliferated, and gone mainstream, they have informed the healthy living, self-help, self-care, fitness, nutrition, diet, and spirituality practices that have become a flourishing wellness movement in the $21^{\text{st}}$ century. The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) defines wellness as: the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health. There are two important aspects to this definition. First, wellness is not a passive or static state, but rather an "active pursuit" that is associated with intentions, choices, and actions as we work toward an optimal state of health and well-being. Second, wellness is linked to holistic health—that is, it extends beyond physical health and incorporates many different dimensions that should work in harmony (see Figure). Wellness is an individual pursuit—we have self-responsibility for our own choices, behaviors, and lifestyles—but it is also significantly influenced by the physical, social, and cultural environments in which we live. Research on the determinants of health indicates that environmental, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors can account for $80\% - 90\%$ of our disease risks and health outcomes. Wellness Is Multidimensional Wellness is often confused with terms like health, well-being, and happiness. While there are common elements among them, wellness is distinguished by not referring to a static state of being (i.e., being happy, in good health, or a state of well-being). Rather, wellness is associated with an active process of being aware and making choices that lead toward an outcome of optimal holistic health and well-being. # PREFACE # What Is the Wellness Economy? The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) defines the wellness economy as industries that enable consumers to incorporate wellness activities and lifestyles into their daily lives. In our definition, the wellness economy encompasses eleven varied and diverse sectors. GWI began measuring the size of the global wellness economy more than ten years ago, when we published the first edition of the Global Spa & Wellness Economy Monitor and estimated wellness as a \(3.4 trillion industry in 2013. To our knowledge, this was the first time that wellness was defined and measured as a global industry, with underlying sector-level and country-level data. Since then, we have published updated figures on the wellness economy for 2015, 2017, and 2019-2024. The overall wellness economy definition, framework, and measurement methodology have not changed over the last decade, but we have made a few key expansions: - In our 2013 dataset, we only provided regional and country-level data for three sectors (wellness tourism, spas, and thermal/mineral springs). Over time, we have expanded the depth and breadth of our research, and we have provided detailed regional- and country-level data for additional sectors. - In our 2020 dataset, we expanded our regional- and country-level data collection to cover all eleven sectors. For the first time, this allowed us to release aggregated wellness economy figures for every country and region (rather than just at the global level). - In our 2020 dataset, we added mental wellness as an eleventh sector in the wellness economy (previously our figures had included ten sectors). We also significantly expanded our definition and measurement of the physical activity sector (previously this sector was defined more narrowly as "fitness & mind-body" only). Our wellness economy framework and data are grounded in our numerous in-depth, sector-level studies, starting with our very first study on the global spa industry in 2008. Since then, we have conducted pioneering research on the following seven wellness sectors: spas, thermal/mineral springs, wellness tourism, workplace wellness, wellness real estate, physical activity, and mental wellness. For each of these sectors, we have created a conceptual framework to define the sector and its boundaries, and we conduct original, country-level research to estimate the market size and arrive at globally aggregated figures. To our knowledge, these are the only studies that have estimated the size of these sectors across all countries in the world, using a consistent framework. In addition to the seven wellness sectors where we have done in-depth study, we also produce original country-level and global estimates for four other sectors: personal care & beauty; healthy eating, nutrition, & weight loss; public health, prevention, & personalized medicine; and traditional & complementary medicine. For more information and GWI's most recent data and analysis for the global wellness economy, see: https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/industry-research/. # PREFACE # Why Measure the Wellness Economy? As wellness becomes increasingly ubiquitous and embedded in our everyday lives, it is easy to forget just 10-20 years ago, there was no broadly understood definition of what "wellness" is, let alone an industry called "wellness." Like many important industries that have emerged in the last century—such as the IT industry, and the sustainability or "green" industry—the wellness industry is not measured in any standard industry datasets compiled by governments and multinational organizations. GWI's definition and quantification of wellness as a major global industry has had many important impacts: - The wellness economy figures are an important resource for investors and businesses within the wellness industry and in adjacent spaces, in order to understand the size, future trajectory, and opportunities within this incredibly diverse sector that intersects with many other industries. - By defining wellness and the industry sectors that are part of the wellness economy, we help businesses and entrepreneurs recognize wellness as a cohesive industry, understand how different pieces are connected, and identify opportunities for collaboration and integration. - Definitions are critical for the wellness economy and all its sectors, requiring discipline and a thorough understanding of wellness both as a concept and as an economic activity. If the definition is too narrow, it would limit imagination and innovation. If it is too broad, then everything could be considered "wellness," rendering the measurement meaningless. If the definition is too vague or opaque, then the user would not know what the data are measuring. Our definitions require us to delineate a boundary around specific activities, services, and products in each wellness sector, in order to measure its market size. By articulating "new" wellness sectors that were not well understood before (e.g., wellness tourism, wellness real estate, mental wellness), we bring attention to these emerging sectors and help them to attract investors and partners, and eventually take off. - Measuring the wellness economy helps to raise the industry's profile among consumers, entrepreneurs, investors, governments, and the research community. Having global data on the size and growth of the industry creates greater awareness of the consumer demand in the wellness space, stimulates new business ideas, and invites innovation. It also attracts more scientific and clinical research on ancient and emerging wellness modalities. The wellness economy as GWI defines it encompasses a diverse set of eleven industry sectors. We acknowledge other researchers, economists, and industry analysts may have differing opinions on what constitutes the global wellness industry. The data presented in this report are based on the GWI research team's eighteen years of work in this space, as well as our collaborations with industry stakeholders worldwide to understand the history and concept of wellness, how it is translated into economic activities, and how these activities can be defined and quantified. Business and investors can benefit from many sources of data and measurements, and we welcome other industry and research organizations to join the effort. However wellness may be defined or measured, it is critical that any measurements of the global wellness industry are based on concise definitions; promote transparency on what is being measured and the methodologies employed; and adopt uniform estimation methodologies in each wellness sector and across different countries and regions. # PREFACE # Research Methodology The global wellness economy and sector data presented in this report are for the years 2019-2024. The definitions, conceptual frameworks, and estimation models for each of the wellness sectors are developed by the authors under the auspices of the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), consistent with the data and methodologies used in prior GWI studies over the last eighteen years. Our dataset covers the entire world (218 countries, territories, and markets). The authors have developed original, country-level data estimates for nine wellness economy sectors (spas; thermal/mineral springs; wellness tourism; workplace wellness; wellness real estate; physical activity; mental wellness; traditional & complementary medicine; and public health, prevention, & personalized medicine), based on GWI's proprietary models and databases and drawing on a wide variety of primary and secondary data sources. Figures for the other two wellness sectors (personal care & beauty, and healthy eating, nutrition, & weight loss) follow GWI's customized definitions and conceptual framework, but they are aggregated primarily from Euromonitor and other secondary sources. The analysis is based on extensive primary and secondary research conducted from January to September 2025, including literature reviews, data research, and expert interviews. Key public and private sources consulted include: Euromonitor International, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Health Organization (WHO), International Labour Organization (ILO), World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Statista, Eurostat, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. National Institutes of Health, International Spa Association (ISPA), Health & Fitness Association (HFA/IHRSA), International Coaching Federation (ICF), and many other organizations. Other sources include global travel promotion and booking websites; numerous industry-specific organizations, databases, publications, and media sources (e.g., the Global Wellness Trends Reports by the Global Wellness Summit, Spa Business Handbook, Spa Business Magazine, Club Industry, Health Club Management, etc.); and dozens of government ministries and statistical agencies in countries around the world. Additional details about our definitions and measurement methodologies are provided in the individual chapters for each of the eleven wellness economy sectors. # Revisions and Updates to the Wellness Economy Sector Data The 2019-2023 wellness economy figures that are presented in this report (for each of the eleven sectors, and for the overall wellness economy) have been revised and are slightly different from the figures presented in the previous edition of the Global Wellness Economy Monitor (released in 2024). These adjustments were made for a number of reasons, including changes in sector definitions and measurements to reflect the evolution of the wellness market, as well as revisions in the underlying data sources that are used for making GWI's estimates for certain sectors and subsectors. International organizations that aggregate large, cross-country datasets (e.g., World Bank, World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, Euromonitor, etc.) gather their data from individual country sources across dozens of countries. Since every country has its own release schedule for different streams of data, the data aggregators will retroactively revise their cross-country datasets and estimates, as new and updated data become available in individual countries. This is a common and expected practice among data aggregators, and GWI's updates reflect this process, as well as our own revisions as better data become available in some of the countries and segments that we analyze. During the pandemic, public sector data collection efforts were temporarily stalled or delayed in most countries, and so data availability for the years 2020 onwards has continued to improve, and the retroactive revisions have been more substantial for some sectors than they typically would be (e.g., for country-level health expenditures, public health spending, tourism, and construction spending, among others). In this report, we present figures for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. All data revisions and adjustments have been made across all years as necessary, in order to provide a consistent time series for all sectors. # The Global Wellness Economy in 2024 - The global wellness economy grew by $7.9\%$ from 2023-2024 and reached a new peak of $6.8 trillion in 2024. It has doubled in size since 2013. - The wellness economy is a major force in the global economy, larger in size than the green economy, IT, tourism, and sports. - The global wellness economy has consistently grown faster than the global economy. Looking over the long term, wellness grew by $6.5\%$ annually from 2013-2024, while global GDP grew by $3.2\%$ annually. Wellness represents $6.12\%$ of global GDP as of 2024. - North America, Middle East-North Africa, and Europe are the fastest-growing regional wellness economies over the last five years and have shown the strongest resilience and recovery in the post-pandemic period. - All of the eleven wellness sectors have fully recovered from the pandemic, with a 2024 market size that exceeds their 2019 level. Wellness real estate and mental wellness are by far the fastest-growing sectors, expanding at average annual rates of $19.5\%$ and $12.4\%$ , respectively, from 2019-2024. We project the global wellness economy will expand by $7.6\%$ annually from 2024-2029, a growth rate substantially higher than the projected global GDP growth of $4.5\%$ (according to current IMF forecasts). The wellness economy is expected to reach nearly $9.8 trillion in 2029. Global Wellness Economy Market Size and Growth Projections, 2013-2029 # Wellness Economy Sectors in 2024 Compound Annual Growth Rate: Past=2019-2024 • Future=2024-2029 Explosive Growth Sectors <table><tr><td colspan="2">Wellness Real Estate</td><td colspan="2">Mental Wellness</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">$548.4 billion</td><td colspan="2">$268.3 billion</td></tr><tr><td>Past</td><td>Future</td><td>Past</td><td>Future</td></tr><tr><td>19.5%</td><td>15.2%</td><td>12.4%</td><td>10.1%</td></tr></table> Mature & Steady Growth Sectors <table><tr><td colspan="2">Physical Activity</td><td colspan="2">Personal Care & Beauty</td><td colspan="2">Healthy Eating, Nutrition & Weight Loss</td><td colspan="2">Traditional & Complementary Medicine</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">$1,143.9 billion</td><td colspan="2">$1,350.0 billion</td><td colspan="2">$1,148.0 billion</td><td colspan="2">$605.6 billion</td></tr><tr><td>Past 4.6%</td><td>Future 5.1%</td><td>Past 4.8%</td><td>Future 4.8%</td><td>Past 4.7%</td><td>Future 7.1%</td><td>Past 4.6%</td><td>Future 10.8%</td></tr></table> Tourism-Based Sectors <table><tr><td colspan="2">Wellness Tourism</td><td colspan="2">Spas</td><td colspan="2">Thermal/Mineral Springs</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">$893.9 billion</td><td colspan="2">$157.4 billion</td><td colspan="2">$71.7 billion</td></tr><tr><td>Past 6.4%</td><td>Future 9.1%</td><td>Past 6.2%</td><td>Future 7.7%</td><td>Past 1.7%</td><td>Future 10.0%</td></tr></table> Public/Private Policy-Based Sectors <table><tr><td colspan="2">Public Health, Prevention, & Personal Medicine</td><td colspan="2">Workplace Wellness</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">$675.9 billion</td><td colspan="2">$53.3 billion</td></tr><tr><td>Past</td><td>Future</td><td>Past</td><td>Future</td></tr><tr><td>8.6%</td><td>4.7%</td><td>0.7%</td><td>2.2%</td></tr></table> Source: Global Wellness Institute Global Wellness Economy Versus Other Major Industries, Market Size in 2024 Note: Manufacturing is a value-added figure; the other sectors are a revenue or market size measurement. Tourism includes both inbound and domestic trip expenditures. Source: Global Wellness Institute, World Bank, WHO, Gartner, LSEG, Euromonitor, Global Sports Insights, IQVIA # CHAPTER 1 # The Global Wellness Economy # Definition The eleven industry sectors that enable consumers to incorporate wellness activities and lifestyles into their daily lives. $6.8 trillion Global Market In 2024 6.2% CAGR 2019-2024 Figure 1:1: GLOBAL WELLNESS ECONOMY: $6.8 trillion in 2024 # The global wellness economy has doubled in size in just eleven years, reaching a new peak of $6.8 trillion in 2024. In 2024, the global wellness economy stands at $6.8 trillion, growing by 7.9% from 2023-2024. After a downturn in 2020 due to the pandemic, the wellness economy recovered quickly and has expanded at a robust pace ever since (see Figure 1.2). Worldwide, spending on wellness is now 35% higher than in 2019, and it is more than double the level in 2013 (when GWI first started measuring the wellness economy). Looking at the five-year trend since before the pandemic, the global wellness economy has been increasing at an average annual rate of 6.2% from 2019-2024, a growth trend that is significantly faster than the global GDP growth rate of 4.7%. With its rapid post-pandemic recovery and a growth rate that has consistently been faster than economic growth, the global wellness economy has also been expanding in its share of the overall economy. In 2024, the wellness economy represented $6.12\%$ of global GDP, as compared to only $5.67\%$ in 2019. Figure 1.2: Global Wellness Economy Market Size and Growth Projections, 2013-2029 # The wellness economy is a major force in the global economy, larger in size than the green economy, IT, tourism, sports, and pharmaceuticals. Wellness has become a major force in the global economy. With its rapid growth in recent years, the global wellness economy is now larger in its market size than many other major industries, including IT, tourism, sports, and pharmaceuticals. The green industry has emerged and grown over the last few decades alongside the growth of wellness, with a similar aim of addressing some of the world's most pressing future challenges. In spite of the rapid growth of green and sustainability businesses, the wellness economy in 2024 is more than $30\%$ larger than the green economy (estimated at $5.1 trillion in revenues in $2024^{2}$ ). Wellness is also about $60\%$ of the size of global health expenditures (estimated at $11.2 trillion in $2024^{3}$ ). Figure 1.3: Global Wellness Economy Versus Other Major Industries, Market Size in 2024 Note: Manufacturing is a value-added figure; the other sectors are a revenue or market size measurement. Tourism includes both inbound and domestic trip expenditures. Source: Global Wellness Institute, World Bank, WHO, Gartner, LSEG, Euromonitor, Global Sports Insights, IQVIA # North America, Middle East-North Africa, and Europe are the fastest-growing regional wellness economies over the last five years. In the last few years, North America has surpassed Asia-Pacific to become the largest regional wellness economy (see Figure 1.4), a shift that has occurred due to prolonged pandemic effects and slower growth in some major Asian markets in 2020-2022, as well as currency depreciation in 2022-2024 (see further discussion below). North America ( $2.3 trillion), Asia-Pacific ($ 2.0 trillion), and Europe ($1.7 trillion) together account for nearly $90\%$ of the entire global wellness economy. Per capita spending on wellness is significantly higher in North America ( $6,029 in 2024) and Europe ($ 1,876) than in other regions of the world (e.g., $607 in Latin America-Caribbean, $471 in Asia-Pacific, and $339 in Middle East-North Africa). It is important to keep in mind that some of the wellness sectors are "export industries" (i.e., selling services to people who are not residents of the country in which the business is located). For example, about $29\%$ of all wellness tourism expenditures are from international travel; likewise, a significant portion of revenues in thermal/mineral springs and some types of spas come from international visitors. Therefore, not all of the wellness spending shown in the table below for each region is made by residents of that region. Figure 1.4: Wellness Economy by Region, 2019-2024 <table><tr><td rowspan="3"></td><td colspan="6">Wellness Economy</td><td colspan="2">Average Annual Growth Rate</td></tr><tr><td colspan="6">(US$ billions)</td><td rowspan="2">2023-2024</td><td rowspan="2">2019-2024</td></tr><tr><td>2019*</td><td>2020*</td><td>2021*</td><td>2022*</td><td>2023*</td><td>2024</td></tr><tr><td>North America</td><td>$1,570.0</td><td>$1,528.2</td><td>$1,814.3</td><td>$2,042.9</td><td>$2,158.2</td><td>$2,299.6</td><td>6.6%</td><td>7.9%</td></tr><tr><td>Asia-Pacific</td><td>$1,623.9</td><td>$1,531.1</td><td>$1,731.1</td><td>$1,755.6</td><td>$1,861.1</td><td>$2,034.4</td><td>9.3%</td><td>4.6%</td></tr><tr><td>Europe</td><td>$1,284.8</td><td>$1,158.5</td><td>$1,425.1</td><td>$1,478.0</td><td>$1,594.8</td><td>$1,742.6</td><td>9.3%</td><td>6.3%</td></tr><tr><td>Latin America-Caribbean</td><td>$304.9</td><td>$247.5</td><td>$288.9</td><td>$340.6</td><td>$386.0</td><td>$402.8</td><td>4.3%</td><td>5.7%</td></tr><tr><td>Middle East-North Africa</td><td>$134.2</td><td>$131.9</td><td>$146.0</td><td>$164.2</td><td>$175.3</td><td>$190.1</td><td>8.5%</td><td>7.2%</td></tr><tr><td>Sub-Saharan Africa</td><td>$77.5</td><td>$72.1</td><td>$78.7</td><td>$88.4</td><td>$91.9</td><td>$94.0</td><td>2.3%</td><td>3.9%</td></tr><tr><td>WORLD</td><td>$4,995.4</td><td>$4,669.4</td><td>$5,484.1</td><td>$5,869.7</td><td>$6,267.4</td><td>$6,763.6</td><td>7.9%</td><td>6.2%</td></tr></table> * 2019-2023 figures have been revised since GWI released the previous version of the Global Wellness Economy Monitor (see Page iv for more details). Note: Figures may not sum to total due to rounding. Source: Global Wellness Institute, based on extensive primary research and secondary data sources. It can be challenging to compare the regional growth rates in 2020-2024 as a metric for which markets have been growing the fastest, because the growth trends during this period reflect recovery from the pandemic dip in 2020 (i.e., regions with the greatest declines in 2019-2020 are likely to have higher growth rates in 2021-2024). A better metric for growth is to examine the extent to which each region has surpassed its pre-pandemic level (see Figure 1.5). As of 2024, North America, Middle East-North Africa, and Europe have shown the strongest resilience, recovery, and growth since before the start of the pandemic, with all three regions now exceeding their 2019 levels of spending by more than $35\%$ . These three regions have also posted the highest growth rates over the last five years, with North America's wellness economy growing by $7.9\%$ annually from 2019-2024, Middle East-North Africa growing by $7.2\%$ annually, and Europe growing by $6.3\%$ annually. Asia-Pacific was one of the slowest-growing slowest growing regions in 2021, 2022, and 2023, although regional growth bumped up to $9.3\%$ in 2024. The prolonged travel restrictions and pandemic impacts across Asia-Pacific and the sluggish economic conditions in China led to a severe downturn in tourism-related sectors (wellness tourism, spas, thermal/mineral springs), which lasted longer than in other regions. Other sectors that are closely linked with consumer spending (healthy eating, personal care & beauty, physical activity, traditional & complementary medicine) have also been growing relatively slowly in the Asia-Pacific region, a trend that is largely due to the effects of currency depreciation in 2022-2024 across all of the region's largest wellness markets (including China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia). The depreciation of the Japanese yen has especially dampened the Asia-Pacific market growth and recovery when it is expressed in U.S. dollar terms (since Japan is such a large share of the overall region)—when measured in yen, the Asia-Pacific market is at $174\%$ of its pre-pandemic level, as compared to $125\%$ when measured in dollars. Figure 1.5: Size and Recovery of the Wellness Economy by Region, 2019 Versus 2024 <sup>4</sup>Note: See the individual sector chapters for more details on regional growth trends and currency depreciation impacts across different sectors. # All of the eleven wellness sectors have fully recovered from the pandemic, with a 2024 market size that exceeds their 2019 level. The wellness economy comprises eleven sectors, and their sizes and growth rates are presented in Figure 1.6. Seven out of the eleven wellness sectors declined in 2020 due to the pandemic (see Figure 1.7). Wellness tourism, thermal/mineral springs, and spas were the sectors most negatively impacted in 2020, and these three sectors were also the slowest to recover in the subsequent years (wellness tourism and spas recovered in 2023, while thermal/mineral springs did not fully recover until 2024). All eleven sectors have fully recovered and surpassed their pre-pandemic levels as of 2024. Personal care & beauty; healthy eating, nutrition, & weight loss; and physical activity are the largest sectors in the wellness economy; together, these three sectors account for $54\%$ of the entire global wellness market in 2024. Wellness tourism and public health, prevention, & personalized medicine comprise the rest of the top five largest sectors. Figure 1.6: Wellness Economy by Sector, 2019-2024 <table><tr><td rowspan="2"></td><td colspan="6">Market Size (US$ billions)</td><td colspan="2">Average Annual Growth Rate</td></tr><tr><td>2019*</td><td>2020*</td><td>2021*</td><td>2022*</td><td>2023*</td><td>2024</td><td>2023-2024</td><td>2019-2024</td></tr><tr><td>Personal Care & Beauty</td><td>$1,068.8</td><td>$966.8</td><td>$1,113.1</td><td>$1,185.4</td><td>$1,281.2</td><td>$1,350.0</td><td>5.4%</td><td>4.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Healthy Eating, Nutrition, & Weight Loss</td><td>$911.2</td><td>$952.1</td><td>$1,038.3</td><td>$1,062.2</td><td>$1,094.6</td><td>$1,148.0</td><td>4.9%</td><td>4.7%</td></tr><tr><td>Physical Activity</td><td>$912.1</td><td>$784.0</td><td>$983.9</td><td>$1,030.2</td><td>$1,080.8</td><td>$1,143.9</td><td>5.8%</td><td>4.6%</td></tr><tr><td>Wellness Tourism</td><td>$655.1</td><td>$327.6</td><td>$440.9</td><td>$597.3</td><td>$785.6</td><td>$893.9</td><td>13.8%</td><td>6.4%</td></tr><tr><td>Public Health, Prevention, & Personalized Medicine</td><td>$446.6</td><td>$659.6</td><td>$768.3</td><td>$767.1</td><td>$642.7</td><td>$675.9</td><td>5.2%</td><td>8.6%</td></tr><tr><td>Traditional & Complementary Medicine</td><td>$483.9</td><td>$465.0</td><td>$527.5</td><td>$527.9</td><td>$557.4</td><td>$605.6</td><td>8.6%</td><td>4.6%</td></tr><tr><td>Wellness Real Estate</td><td>$225.2</td><td>$274.0</td><td>$342.0</td><td>$396.7</td><td>$465.2</td><td>$548.4</td><td>17.9%</td><td>19.5%</td></tr><tr><td>Mental Wellness</td><td>$149.9</td><td>$167.7</td><td>$193.9</td><td>$215.8</td><td>$241.9</td><td>$268.3</td><td>10.9%</td><td>12.4%</td></tr><tr><td>Spas</td><td>$116.5</td><td>$71.9</td><td>$84.0</td><td>$105.8</td><td>$137.4</td><td>$157.4</td><td>14.6%</td><td>6.2%</td></tr><tr><td>Thermal/Mineral Springs</td><td>$65.8</td><td>$38.9</td><td>$45.3</td><td>$49.0</td><td>$64.5</td><td>$71.7</td><td>11.1%</td><td>1.7%</td></tr><tr><td>Workplace Wellness</td><td>$51.5</td><td>$48.0</td><td>$51.7</td><td>$52.9</td><td>$54.1</td><td>$53.3</td><td>-1.5%</td><td>0.7%</td></tr><tr><td>Wellness Economy</td><td>$4,995.4</td><td>$4,669.4</td><td>$5,484.1</td><td>$5,869.7</td><td>$6,267.4</td><td>$6,763.6</td><td>7.9%</td><td>6.2%</td></tr></table> * 2019-2023 figures for most sectors have been revised since GWI released the previous version of the Global Wellness Economy Monitor (see Page iv for more details). Note: Figures do not sum to total due to overlap in segments. Source: Global Wellness Institute, based on extensive primary research and secondary data sources. Figure 1.7: Wellness Economy Market Size by Sector, 2019, 2020, and 2024 Figure 1.8: Wellness Economy Market Recovery by Sector 2024 Market Size as a % of 2019 Level Source: Global Wellness Institute and IMF # Wellness economy growth leaders over the last five years include wellness real estate and mental wellness. Simply comparing the year-over-year growth rates for 2020-2024 is not the best way to assess which sectors have been growing fastest, because the growth trends during this period reflect recovery from the pandemic dip in 2020—and so the sectors with the greatest declines in 2019-2020 are likely to have higher growth rates in 2021-2024. A better metric for growth is to look at the extent to which each sector has surpassed its pre-pandemic level (see Figure 1.8), in addition to its annual growth rate. - The sectors that have shown the strongest resilience, recovery, and growth over the last five years are wellness real estate and mental wellness, and both sectors are expected to be growth leaders in the coming years. - The public health, prevention, & personalized medicine sector has also grown rapidly from 2019-2024, but this growth is due to the pandemic and is not expected to continue at the same pace. - Wellness tourism and spas have both recovered fully from the pandemic as of 2023, and they are now over one-third larger than they were in 2019. Although both sectors were affected by the tourism downturn during the pandemic, both have recovered and grown faster than the overall tourism industry in recent years (by comparison, all tourism expenditures are now at $110\%$ of their pre-pandemic level). - The thermal & mineral springs sector took the longest to recover from the pandemic-related downturn, and revenues have fully recovered to $109\%$ of their pre-pandemic level as of 2024. This slow recovery is due to the protracted tourism downturn, weaker economic conditions, and currency depreciation in China and Japan (which account for nearly half of the global market). Other regions of the world have been growing more rapidly in recent years, and this market is projected to have robust growth going forward. - Personal care & beauty; healthy eating, nutrition, & weight loss; physical activity; and traditional & complementary medicine are all one-quarter larger than their size in 2019. All four sectors have been growing at a rate of $4.6\% - 4.8\%$ annually from 2019-2024 (generally tracking the overall consumer expenditures growth rate of $4.6\%$ during this time period). - The workplace wellness sector has seen sluggish growth over the last five years and is just barely larger than its size in 2019; revenues also shrank from 2023-2024. The growth patterns in this sector are shaped by the changing approaches to employee health and well-being among employers, as well as shifts in the structure of the global workforce, which affect access to wellness programs and benefits. Chapter 2 provides a more in-depth analysis of the growth trends for the eleven wellness economy sectors and some of the key factors driving their development. Detailed data, including subsector and regional breakdowns, are provided in the chapters for each specific sector. # What are the macro factors underlying the development of the global wellness economy? Since the GWI research team first started to define and measure various wellness sectors, the overall wellness economy has consistently performed better than the global economy. Prior to the pandemic, the wellness economy grew by $6.8\%$ annually from 2013-2019, more than three times faster than the global GDP growth rate of $2.1\%$ during this time period.[5] In 2020, the global wellness economy was more negatively affected than the overall global economy; however, after the initial pandemic year, the wellness economy bounced back quickly and grew by $9.7\%$ annually from 2020-2024 (as compared to only $6.6\%$ annual growth for global GDP, see Figure 1.9). Since wellness has grown faster than the general economy, it has also expanded as a share of global GDP over time. In 2013, the wellness economy accounted for $4.45\%$ of global GDP. This share has grown to $5.67\%$ in 2019 and $6.12\%$ in 2024. As always, the wellness economy is underpinned by broader global conditions, and its development and growth patterns reflect many overarching factors in the consumer, macroeconomic, social, and geopolitical conditions around the world and across regions. - As a consumer value, wellness has been rising since before the pandemic, and this growth has continued unabated afterwards. Leisure, self-care, active lifestyles, healthspan, and more recently, longevity and healthspan, are concepts that have been widely embraced by affluent consumers and are increasingly being adopted by the global middle class-making wellness a universal pursuit and a strategy to counter the rising threats of aging, chronic disease, and stress from economic, geopolitical, and environmental uncertainties. This ongoing consumer shift is a key reason for the strong performance of the global wellness economy as compared to overall economic growth. - At the regional level, the wellness economy remains tied to overall economic growth, which has been positive across all regions with some variations in 2024. The global economy grew by $3.9\%$ in 2023-2024. By comparison, the Middle East and Central Asia region grew by $3.5\%$ , and emerging and developing Asia grew by $3.4\%$ , while the Latin America-Caribbean economies grew more modestly by $2.6\%$ . The European Union expanded at a faster rate of $4.3\%$ , and the U.S. economy grew at a brisk pace of $5.3\%$ . Sub-Saharan African was the only region with an economic contraction $(-5.6\%)$ in 2023-2024. These economic growth differences are reflected in consumer spending and the growth rates of different wellness sectors across these regions. Figure 1.9: Average Annual Growth: Wellness Economy Versus Global GDP Source: Global Wellness Institute and IMF. Labels indicate the $\%$ to which the 2024 wellness economy and global economy exceed their 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels. - In 2023-2024, global consumer spending grew by $4.2\%$ (according to Euromonitor data), higher than the global GDP growth rate of $3.9\%$ , which reflects a cautiously optimistic consumer spending environment that has spilled over into wellness-related spending in 2024. - Europe continued to be affected by the Russia-Ukraine war, but the region has shown resilience and considerable transition from its energy dependence on Russia. Tourism, trade, and investment flows have settled into a new pattern, which helped to stabilize and lower inflation rates in the European Union to $2.6\%$ in 2024 (as compared to $6.3\%$ in 2023, based on IMF data). Elsewhere, the Israel-Gaza conflict, which began in late 2023, has affected the wider region but its geopolitical impacts have not been fully reflected in the economic data for 2024. - Inflation rates around the world have continued to fall, to $5.7\%$ in 2024 (as compared to $6.6\%$ in 2023), based on IMF data), but they are still significantly higher than in the pre-pandemic period. At the regional level, the Middle East and Central Asia, Latin America-Caribbean, emerging and developing Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa regions all continued to experience persistently high inflation rates, in the range of $14.4\% - 18.3\%$ in 2024. Higher inflation rates have boosted the wellness economy figures in many markets across the world, which means that consumers may just be spending more money on their wellness products and services because prices are higher, rather than buying more of them. - The global wellness economy is measured in U.S. dollars; therefore, its size and growth rates are affected by currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar across countries. In 2024, those fluctuations have been relatively mild as compared to the previous year. For example, the Euro hardly moved at all, appreciating slightly by $0.1\%$ against the U.S. dollar, while the British pound appreciated by $2.7\%$ , and the Chinese yuan depreciated by $1.6\%$ . The Japanese yen continued its multi-year trend of depreciation against the U.S. dollar, declining by another $7.7\%$ in 2024 (and falling by $42\%$ overall from 2020-2024). This depreciation has continued to dampen the size and the growth of Japan's wellness sectors, when measured in U.S. dollars. With the currencies of most major Asian markets losing value against the U.S. dollar (e.g., the South Korean won depreciated by $4.4\%$ , while the Indian rupee fell by $1.3\%$ in 2024), a dampening effect on the overall growth rates for the Asia-Pacific region has occurred (as noted on Page 5). - Several wellness sectors—including wellness tourism, spas, and thermal/mineral springs—are deeply embedded in the global tourism industry. In 2024, global tourism as measured by inbound arrivals had just barely recovered from the pandemic, remaining at $99.9\%$ of the pre-pandemic/2019 level of trips. Several regions also had not recovered in 2024, including Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America (which were still at $82\% - 92\%$ of their pre-pandemic number of inbound trips in 2024). Inbound tourism spending has grown faster than trips. When measured by inbound spending, the tourism market finally recovered in 2024 (to $111\%$ of its 2019 level); however, two major regions—Asia-Pacific and North America—are still below their 2019 levels, despite having high growth rates of $25.4\%$ and $13.1\%$ , respectively, in 2023-2024. With the pandemic altering travel patterns in many countries and regions, domestic tourism shows a different picture. Globally, the number of domestic tourism trips fully recovered in 2024, reaching $101\%$ of the 2019 level, and growing by $11.1\%$ in 2023-2024. Domestic tourism spending has reached $109\%$ of its pre-pandemic level; however, its growth rate was less robust, at $7.4\%$ globally in 2023-2024. Overall, the Middle East and Africa region has experienced the strongest tourism expansion and recovery rates since the pandemic across all metrics: inbound trips (at $119\%$ of pre-pandemic levels in 2024), inbound trip spending $(141\%)$ , domestic trips $(163\%)$ and domestic trip spending $(134\%)$ . - Many countries and regions across the world experienced enormous human and economic costs from climate-related events in 2024, including hurricanes, floods, extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires. Climate change is already affecting the prices of wellness-related goods and services (from food to hotel rooms), travel behaviors (e.g., consumers are increasingly favoring cooler destinations), and wellness tourism investments (e.g., rising insurance costs for areas vulnerable to storms, floods, and wildfire risks). Climate anxiety is beginning to affect mental wellness, while wellness real estate is starting to incorporate climate resilience and climate adaptation as part of a holistic wellness framework for design and operations. As an issue that is not going away in the foreseeable future, climate change and its risks/costs will continue to affect the wellness economy, with the effects playing out in variable ways depending on the sector and the location. # What is the future of the wellness economy? Wellness has become a dominant consumer value worldwide, driving lifestyles, behaviors, decision making, and purchases across the economy. Now that all of the wellness sectors have exceeded their pre-pandemic levels and reached new heights, what is the outlook going forward? Figure 1.10: Projected Average Annual Growth Rate by Sector, 2024-2029 GWI predicts the wellness economy will continue its rapid growth and expand its share of consumer spending and the global economy over the next five years. The underlying forces that propel the growth of wellness remain as compelling as ever, including: population aging, the rise of chronic disease, the unsustainable costs of the sick-care model, widespread mental unwellness, and expanding awareness of healthy lifestyles and wellness modalities. There is no question that consumer interest in all things related to wellness has been rising rapidly and has accelerated during and after the pandemic to become a permanent shift. There is also a growing awareness of the environmental determinants of health, whether we are at home, at work, in our community, or traveling. Wellness has expanded to encompass many stakeholder groups beyond hospitality, leisure, and personal care; it is being embraced by more businesses and brands (e.g., sports and entertainment, finance, technology, big foods, fashion, automobiles), employers, nonprofits, public health, urban planning, and more—and these stakeholders will increasingly take wellness to more consumers and to the masses. For the next five years, we project that the global wellness economy will grow at a robust rate of $7.6\%$ annually, a growth rate substantially higher than the projected global GDP growth of $4.5\%$ (according to current IMF forecasts). The wellness economy is expected to reach nearly $7.4$ trillion in 2025 and will grow to nearly $\$ 9.8$ trillion in 2029. All but one of the individual wellness sectors are projected to exceed global GDP growth in the next five years (the exception is workplace wellness, at $2.2\%$ annual growth, see Figure 1.10). - The sectors that have been growing fastest since the pandemic—wellness real estate and mental wellness—are expected to continue their strong growth trends in the coming years, growing by $15.2\%$ and $10.1\%$ , respectively. - Traditional & complementary medicine is also projected to grow rapidly, by $10.8\%$ annually. This growth is driven by the same forces that are propelling the overall wellness economy (consumer interest in alternative, holistic, and natural approaches; dissatisfaction with conventional medicine; etc.), along with the continued expansion of indigenous, traditional, complementary, and novel wellness modalities into new and existing business models across many wellness sectors. - Some of the sectors with very high growth projections (wellness tourism at $9.1\%$ , thermal/mineral springs at $10.0\%$ ) are those that took the greatest hit in 2020. The strong projections for these sectors reflect a combination of ongoing post-pandemic recovery, alongside robust and rising consumer demand for these types of wellness experiences—though the growth is expected to taper off a bit in the later years. In our forecasts, six wellness sectors—personal care & beauty; healthy eating, nutrition, & weight loss; physical activity; wellness tourism; wellness real estate; and traditional & complementary medicine—will each exceed $1 trillion in market size by 2029. We currently project that personal care & beauty will remain the largest segment in the wellness economy through 2029. With its ongoing strong growth trend, wellness real estate will enter the top five sectors by 2027. By 2029, we project the global wellness economy will represent $7.08\%$ of global GDP, as compared to $6.12\%$ in 2024. Figure 1.11: Wellness Economy Growth Projections, 2024-2029 <table><tr><td rowspan="2"></td><td colspan="2">Market Size (US$ billions)</td><td colspan="5">Projected Market Size (US$ billions)</td><td>Projected Average Annual Growth Rate</td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>2024</td><td>2025</td><td>2026</td><td>2027</td><td>2028</td><td>2029</td><td>2024-2029</td></tr><tr><td>Personal Care & Beauty</td><td>$1,068.8</td><td>$1,350.0</td><td>$1,431.3</td><td>$1,479.5</td><td>$1,549.1</td><td>$1,628.0</td><td>$1,710.4</td><td>4.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Healthy Eating, Nutrition, & Weight Loss</td><td>$911.2</td><td>$1,148.0</td><td>$1,283.5</td><td>$1,364.3</td><td>$1,443.7</td><td>$1,529.1</td><td>$1,620.9</td><td>7.1%</td></tr><tr><td>Physical Activity</td><td>$912.1</td><td>$1,143.9</td><td>$1,210.5</td><td>$1,261.3</td><td>$1,323.5</td><td>$1,391.7</td><td>$1,463.6</td><td>5.1%</td></tr><tr><td>Wellness Tourism</td><td>$655.1</td><td>$893.9</td><td>$978.7</td><td>$1,077.8</td><td>$1,180.5</td><td>$1,280.6</td><td>$1,383.3</td><td>9.1%</td></tr><tr><td>Wellness Real Estate</td><td>$225.2</td><td>$548.4</td><td>$637.2</td><td>$746.1</td><td>$857.4</td><td>$978.0</td><td>$1,114.0</td><td>15.2%</td></tr><tr><td>Traditional & Complementary Medicine</td><td>$483.9</td><td>$605.6</td><td>$678.6</td><td>$756.6</td><td>$836.8</td><td>$922.0</td><td>$1,012.0</td><td>10.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Public Health, Prevention, & Personalized Medicine</td><td>$446.6</td><td>$675.9</td><td>$712.3</td><td>$743.8</td><td>$777.8</td><td>$814.1</td><td>$852.3</td><td>4.7%</td></tr><tr><td>Mental Wellness</td><td>$149.9</td><td>$268.3</td><td>$299.3</td><td>$331.1</td><td>$364.6</td><td>$399.3</td><td>$434.6</td><td>10.1%</td></tr><tr><td>Spas</td><td>$116.5</td><td>$157.4</td><td>$170.8</td><td>$186.4</td><td>$200.6</td><td>$214.2</td><td>$228.0</td><td>7.7%</td></tr><tr><td>Thermal/Mineral Springs</td><td>$65.8</td><td>$71.7</td><td>$79.1</td><td>$87.9</td><td>$97.2</td><td>$106.2</td><td>$115.6</td><td>10.0%</td></tr><tr><td>Workplace Wellness</td><td>$51.5</td><td>$53.3</td><td>$53.7</td><td>$54.2</td><td>$55.8</td><td>$57.5</td><td>$59.3</td><td>2.2%</td></tr><tr><td>Wellness Economy</td><td>$4,995.4</td><td>$6,763.6</td><td>$7,364.9</td><td>$7,901.1</td><td>$8,480.0</td><td>$9,095.2</td><td>$9,750.4</td><td>7.6%</td></tr></table> Note: Figures do not sum to total due to overlap in segments. Source: Global Wellness Institute estimates, based upon economic a