Wellness is big business; it's global and is surging post-pandemic. The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) first pioneered this concept and measured the wellness economy in the 2014 Global Wellness Economy Monitor, when wellness was estimated to be a $3.4 trillion industry in 2013.

According to new reporting from GWI, the global wellness industry has reached a record $5.6 trillion and is forecasted to hit $8.5 trillion by 2027. The sector has grown 12% annually since 2020 and reached a 14% higher value than the previous record year of 2019. With strong tailwinds, it’s forecasted to grow another 52% by 2027, making it about twice as large as Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) at that growth rate.

“We are surprised by the resiliency of the global wellness economy, and how quickly it has bounced back from the pandemic. It has exceeded our own expectations and forecasts,” said Katherine Johnston, GWI Senior Research Fellow. “If the pandemic disrupted industry momentum in the short term, it has simultaneously created a dramatic shift in the long-term opportunities and trajectory for wellness.”

The GWI defines the wellness economy as industries that enable consumers to incorporate wellness activities and lifestyles into their daily lives. The definition of the wellness economy encompasses eleven varied and diverse sectors.

Market Size 2022 and Growth 2020–2022

• Personal Care and Beauty—$1,089 billion (+8.5%)
• Healthy Eating, Nutrition, and Weight Loss—$1,079 billion (+6.7%)
• Physical Activity—$976 billion (+14.3%)
• Wellness Tourism—$651 billion (36.2%)
• Public Health, Prevention, and Personalized Medicine—$611 billion (+6.6%)
• Traditional and Complementary Medicine—$519 billion (7.4%)
• Wellness Real Estate—$398 billion (+20.5%)
• Mental Wellness—$181 billion (12.5%)
• Spas—$105 billion (22.3%)
• Workplace Wellness—$51 billion (+2.8%)
• Thermal/Mineral Springs—$46 billion (+7.7%)

While robust, the 2022 numbers reflect a cautious economic outlook that demonstrates an environment of rising interest rates, persistent inflation, and fear of recession—resulting in consumers reining in consumer spending, including wellness. According to Euromonitor, after a -4.8% drop in 2020, global consumer spending increased by 12.8% in 2021, but then grew by only 4.6% in 2022.

Projected Growth 2022–2027

• Wellness Real Estate—17.4%
• Wellness Tourism—$16.6%
• Thermal/Mineral Springs—14.3%
• Mental Wellness—12.8%
• Spas—8.3%
• Traditional and Complementary Medicine—8.2%
• Healthy Eating, Nutrition, and Weight Loss—6.8%
• Physical Activity—6.7%
• Personal Care and Beauty—5.7%
• Workplace Wellness—2.9%
• Public Health, Prevention, and Personalized Medicine—1.6%

For the next five years, GWI projects that the global wellness economy will grow at a robust rate of 8.6% annually, a growth rate substantially higher than the projected global GDP growth of 5.1% according to current forcasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). By 2027, the global wellness economy is estimated to represent 6.6% of global GDP, as compared to 5.6% in 2022.

The wellness economy is dynamic and rapidly evolving and its adjacency to the beauty and personal care makes the GWI research an important resource to understand the future trajectory and identify opportuniites in what has become an incredibly diverse sector.