The global wellness economy surged to an all-time high valuation of US$6.3 trillion in 2023 – meaning it has broken records for the third year running – according to brand new research from the Global Wellness Institute (GWI).

Called the Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2024, the 100-page report predicts the economy will continue to go from strength to strength and reach US$9 trillion in 2028 (nearly double its 2019 size).

The research, now in its 11th year, is an annual highlight of the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) and was presented live on-stage today (5 November) at the 2024 event in St. Andrews, Scotland.

To provide some context for what a force wellness is in the world economy, GWI researchers compared it to other vast global industries, finding that it's now much larger than the pharmaceutical industry, sports, IT, tourism and the green economy.

The report provides new market sizes, recent growth rates and projections through 2028 for all 11 wellness sectors all while exploring the big trends that will impact each segment in the future.

Nine of the 11 wellness sectors now have market sizes exceeding their 2019 levels and wellness markets across every global region have also seen strong growth from 2019-2023, with North America, Europe and Middle East-North Africa clocking the biggest gains.

Regional data including the top 20 national markets for each wellness sector and per-capita spending by sector is also included.

The researchers say that because the trends that are fueling the wellness economy will only accelerate – including an ageing population, chronic disease and widespread mental unwellness – the industry will grow a rapid 7.3 per cent annually from 2023-2028, when it will represent 6.8 per cent of global GDP.

“The wellness economy continues to march forward at a brisk pace, despite a decline in global wellbeing on many fronts,” said Katherine Johnston and Ophelia Yeung, GWI senior researchers.

“In a world full of uncertainty and divisiveness, wellness has become a universal value. No matter your politics or beliefs, who doesn’t desire the knowledge, tools, and opportunities to build a healthy life for yourself and your family?”

New valuations for 11 sectors
The GWI’s brand new 2023 figures for the 11 sectors are as follows (in ascending order):

• Personal Care and Beauty – US$1.213 trillion (+6.2 per cent on 2022).

• Healthy Eating, Nutrition and Weight Loss – US$1.096 trillion (+3.1 per cent on 2022).

• Physical Activity – US$1.060 trillion (+5 per cent on 2022).

• Wellness Tourism – US$830 billion (+30.3 per cent on 2022).

• Public Health, Prevention and Personalized Medicine – US$781 billion (+6 per cent on 2022).

• Traditional and Complementary Medicine – US$553 billion (+5.1 per cent on 2022).

• Wellness Real Estate – US$438 billion (+13.4 per cent on 2022).

• Mental Wellness – US$233 billion (+29.3 per cent on 2022).

• Spas – US$137 billion (+92 per cent on 2022).

• Thermal / Mineral Springs – US$63 billion (+28.7 per cent on 2022).

• Workplace Wellness – US$52 billion (+2.6 per cent on 2022).

Top performers: 2021-2023
All 11 wellness sectors saw positive growth from 2021 to 2023 – with Wellness Tourism (30.3 per cent), Spas (29.3 per cent) and Thermal/Mineral Springs (28.7 per cent) enjoying the biggest growth spurts.

Researchers say this is a testament to the recent boom in wellness travel, but also reflects that these sectors suffered the biggest pandemic hits.

Top performers: 2019-2023
The sectors with the most impressive annual growth rates from 2019 to 2023 were:
• Wellness Real Estate (+195 per cent on 2019).
• Public Health, Prevention and Personalized Medicine (+176 per cent on 2019).
• Mental Wellness (+155 per cent on 2019).
• Healthy Eating, Nutrition and Weight Loss (+120 per cent on 2019).
• Wellness Tourism (119 per cent of 2019 level).

Wellness real estate has been the growth star before, during and after the pandemic. The GWI researchers say this is because consumers and the building industry have finally grasped the outsized role that external environments play in our physical and mental health.

Regional leaders
Wellness markets in every region have grown since the pandemic, but North America (137 per cent of its 2019 market), Middle East-North Africa (130 per cent of 2019) and Europe (125 per cent of 2019) are the three growth leaders through 2023.

The largest regional wellness markets are North America (US$2.2 trillion), Asia-Pacific (US$1.9 trillion) and Europe (US$1.7 trillion) – which together account for more than 90 per cent of the entire global wellness economy.

Growth projections
“The years between 2013 and 2023 could be dubbed “the wellness decade,” as it’s when the consumer interest and need for wellness became an explosive and permanent shift,” say researchers.

Over that decade, the market grew by 6.5 per cent annually.

GWI forecasts that between 2023-2028, the annual growth rate for the wellness economy will be an even faster 7.3 per cent, substantially higher than the projected global GDP growth rate of 4.8 per cent.

The projected growth leaders through 2028 are:
• Wellness Real Estate – 15.8 per cent.
• Mental Wellness – 12.2 per cent.
• Wellness Tourism – 10.2 per cent.
• Thermal & mineral springs – 9.2 per cent.
• Healthy Eating, Nutrition & Weight Loss – 6.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Spa sector is set to experience a healthy 6.1 per cent projected annual growth rate and hit US$184.3 billion by 2028.

In that year, for the first time, five wellness markets will surpass US$1 trillion in market size: Personal Care & Beauty; Healthy Eating, Nutrition, & Weight Loss; Physical Activity; Wellness Tourism; And Public Health, Prevention, & Personalized Medicine.

Stay tuned for the next issue of Spa Business where we’ll dig into the Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2024 in even more detail – sign up here to receive your copy.

The Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2024 was prepared by Katherine Johnston, Ophelia Yeung, Tonia Callender and Joanne Hopkins