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