The non-profit Global Wellness Institute (GWI) today released its annual “Country Rankings” report, the only research that measures the wellness markets of 140 countries, the countries and regions growing fastest, and annual per capita wellness spend by country.
One striking finding is how the US market, which always ranks #1, is pulling further away from other mega wellness markets, with 8.3% annual growth from 2019 to 2023, compared to 4.9% for China, 5.9% for Germany, and 3.1% for Japan (when measured in Japan’s local currency). The now $2 trillion US market represents one-third (32%) of the entire global wellness economy, with American consumers now spending over $6,000 annually on wellness for the first time.
But the growth story is global. Every one of the top 25 wellness markets has surpassed its pre-pandemic value when measured in local currency. Large wellness markets with exceptionally strong growth since 2019 include Mexico, India, Poland, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, the UK and Indonesia, all of which are now worth over 130% of their 2019 market levels. The growth leaders from 2022 to 2023 are: Thailand (28.4%), Mexico (19.9%), Austria (16.2%), Poland (15.9%) and India ($15.9%).
“The United States continues to lead the global wellness economy, not only by its size and per capita spending, but also by its resilience and growth,” noted Katherine Johnston and Ophelia Yeung, GWI senior research fellows. “However, US healthcare spending continues to skyrocket while health outcomes are still among the worst compared to other wealthy countries. So, it is fair to ask if this massive consumer wellness market can spend its way to broad-based health and wellbeing.”
The report is a companion to GWI’s 2024 Global Wellness Economy Monitor, finding that the world wellness economy is worth $6.3 trillion and forecast to reach $9 trillion by 2028.
Top 15 National Wellness Markets
(Market size 2023 and average annual growth rate from 2019 to 2023)
- United States: $2 trillion—8.3%
- China: $870 billion—4.9%
- Germany: $310 billion—5.9%
- Japan: $255 billion—minus 3.2%
- UK: $230 billion—7.3%
- France: $195 billion—5.4%
- India: $148 billion—8.8%
- Canada: $144 billion—7.3%
- Italy: $131 billion––4.3%
- Australia: $127 billion––7.5%
- South Korea: $117 billion––3.6%
- Brazil: $111 billion––minus 0.5%
- Russia: $108 billion––3.3%
- Spain: $96 billion––5.2%
- Mexico: $93 billion––10.3%
The top ten largest markets represent 70% of the entire global wellness economy. It’s important to note that currency depreciation negatively affected the measurements of some major wellness economies, especially Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Russia, India and South Korea. The report explains how their wellness market performance is stronger when measured in their local currencies.
