8th May 2017
The 2017 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report reveals that the UK health and fitness industry is continuing to grow. This growth is being primarily driven from the private sector, which has more clubs, more members and a greater market value than ever before.
There are now over 9.7 million fitness members in the UK which has boosted the penetration rate to an all-time high of 14.9%. 1 in every 7 people in the UK is a member of a gym.
The 2017 report highlights that the industry has experienced another year of impressive growth over the twelve month period to the end of March 2017, with increases of 4.6% in the number of fitness facilities, 5.1% in the number of members and 6.3% in market value. But the devil is in the detail as clear variations are seen between the performance of the public and private sectors in the key metrics over the last 12 months.
The low cost market has continued to be the main driving force behind the private sector growth over the last 12 months. There are now over 500 low cost clubs which account for 15% of the market value and an impressive 35% of membership in the private sector.
The UK’s leading operators, in both the public and the private sectors (by number of clubs and members), remain the same as last year: Pure Gym and GLL, with 176 and 167 gyms, respectively. Will either break the 200 mark over the next 12 months?
Commentating on the figures, David Minton, Director of LeisureDB said: “It may be premature to call the period to 2020 “the golden age of fitness” but further growth will only be limited to the imagination of those pushing the boundaries. The signs are there that the industry is likely to hit several milestones in the next 12 months. The number of gyms is on course to go over 7,000 for the first time, total membership to exceed 10 million, market value to reach £5 billion and the penetration rate should easily surpass 15%”.
Summary of Key Facts
There are now 6,728 fitness facilities in the UK, up from 6,435 last year.
Total industry membership is up 5.1% to 9.7 million.
Total market value is estimated at £4.7 billion, up 6.3% on 2016.
The UK penetration rate is 14.9%, compared to 14.3% in the previous year.
272 new public and private fitness facilities have opened in the last 12 months, up from 224 in 2016.
Notes
The State of the UK Fitness Industry Report is compiled from the most comprehensive review of the UK fitness industry, involving individual contact with all sites. The reporting period is the 12 months to 31st March 2017. The audit and resulting figures are compiled by independent leisure market analysts, LeisureDB, who have been monitoring the performance of the fitness industry for over 30 years. Further details of the report can be found here 2017 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report.