EuropeActive and Deloitte unveiled the key findings of the 2023 European Health & Fitness Market Report (EHFMR), which reveals a strong rebound of the sector after two difficult years because of the pandemic. The results were presented in a webinar with a remarkable number of participants. The report represents the twelfth joint publication with Deloitte and reflects EuropeActive’s effort to further strengthen its position as the knowledge centre of the European fitness and physical activity sector by providing reliable and sound market data.
According to the report, European memberships increased by roughly 7 million members or 12.3% from 56.2 million in 2021 to 63.1 million by year end 2022, just slightly hort of the pre-COVID year 2019. The 20 largest operators saw their membership numbers increase by 2.6 million or 22% to 14.8 million.
The top 3 fitness operators per end 2022 in terms of membership were Basic-Fit (3.352.000 Members), RSG Group (1.805.000 Members) and PureGym (1.655.000 Members).
Total European revenues increased by 66% to EUR 28.0 billion in 2022, and came also close to the year 2019. The number of fitness clubs slightly increased by 0.5% to 63,830.
In 2022, 13 major M&A transactions were completed, thus proving the continued interest of investors in acquiring shares in classic brick-and-mortar fitness companies. These transactions also underscore how club operators will continue to be at the heart of the sector's ecosystem moving forward. Furthermore, the overall penetration of fitness club membership as % of total population in 2022 was 7.9%, and 9.5% of the 15+ population. This number shows again the enormous growth potential that still exists for the sector.
This year’s chapter on the fitness ecosystem has been expanded, including some in-depth description of the intermediary market. An extensive chapter is also dedicated to the results of a large scale EuropeActive consumer research among 11.000 people in 19 countries conducted in January 2023 and a comparison with the results from similar research in 2022 was included, showing that the sector is quickly getting back on track now and that the “hybrid” or omni fitness is here to stay.
Herman Rutgers, EuropeActive Ambassador and co-author of the report said: "The European Health & Fitness Market Report has become the gold standard for market research in the fitness and physical activity sector. Based on the strong rebound shown in our research we are still confident to reach EuropeActive's ambition of getting to 100 million members of health & fitness centres by 2030".
Karsten Hollasch, Deloitte, commented: “Entering 2023, the European health and fitness market is back on its growth track. Looking ahead, a positive market development is expected also for this year, further supported by ambitious expansion plans of Europe's largest operators.”
The 2023 European Health & Fitness Market Report represents the most comprehensive study on the European health and fitness market and serves as a valuable source of information for industry stakeholders. This project was made possible by the generous support of
The full report is now available and can be ordered through EuropeActive’s Knowledge Centre using the following link: https://europeactive.blackboxpublishers.com/en/publications