Global Wellness Institute Research Ranks 150 Countries by Wellness Market Size

The nonprofit Global Wellness Institute (GWI) has released “The Global Wellness Economy: Country Rankings,” the first research to measure the wellness economies of 150 nations. It’s packed with information on national wellness markets from average wellness spend per capita to the wellness market’s contribution to each nation’s overall economy. 

The report reveals how different wellness sectors dominate in different nations. Both worldwide and in most countries, the wellness market is concentrated in three sectors: 1) healthy eating, nutrition, and weight loss; 2) personal care and beauty; and 3) physical activity. These three segments account for more than 60% of the total wellness market.

There is however a wide national and regional variance. In Japan, personal care/beauty represents a much bigger share of wellness spending than in most countries; for China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Turkey, it’s traditional/complementary medicine; in Germany, it’s wellness tourism, spas and thermal/mineral springs; while in Sub-Saharan Africa, public health and prevention spending dominates.

The Top 20 Wellness Markets 

US:                     $1.2 trillion

China:               $683 billion

Japan:               $304 billion

Germany:         $224 billion

UK:                     $158 billion

France:              $133 billion

Canada:             $95 billion

South Korea:     $94 billion

Italy:               $92 billion

Australia:            $84 billion

Brazil:             $83 billion

India:              $78 billion

Russia:           $71 billion

Spain:             $63 billion

Mexico:                $46 billion

Netherlands:      $41 billion

Taiwan:                $38 billion

Switzerland:        $38 billion

Indonesia:           $36 billion

Turkey:           $35 billion

World’s most populous countries (e.g., China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia), or the wealthiest (e.g., Switzerland, Australia, Netherlands), or countries that combine size with wealth (e.g., the US, Japan, Germany, the UK, etc.), spend the most on wellness.

The US is by far the largest market, at $1.2 trillion–nearly double the size of the second-largest market, China, at $683 billion. In fact, the US accounts for 28% of the entire global wellness market, while the top ten markets represent 71% of the world total.

The report provides granular data on national wellness markets, from growth rates in the pre-pandemic years of 2017-2019 to how the pandemic has impacted each market.

Where Do Consumers Spend the Most on Wellness? (Wellness Spending Per Capita)

Switzerland:     $4,372

Iceland:             $3,728

US:                      $3,685

Austria:              $3,568

Norway:             $3,346

Australia:            $3,771

New Zealand:    $2,969

Denmark:           $2,958

Hong Kong:       $2,943

Aruba:                 $2,792

Consumers in the very wealthiest economies spend the most each year on wellness. The report provides data on how much the wellness market contributes to national GDP (what percentage of the economy it represents). Globally, the wellness economy represents 5.1% of total GDP, roughly 1 in every 20 “dollars” spent by consumers worldwide is on wellness.

Source: Global Wellness Institute