The European health and fitness market continued to grow strongly in 2018, according to an annual study conducted by EuropeActive, the European association that represents the sector in Brussels, in cooperation with Deloitte. The total number of fitness club members increased by 3.5 percent to 62.2 million. Throughout Europe, 9.4 percent of the people aged 15+ have a fitness club card, indicating that fitness is a major category in terms of sports participation.
Germany continued to lead the ranking for the number of club members with growth of 4.5 percent to a total of 11.1 million people, ahead of the U.K. (9.9 million, +1.9%), France (5.96 million, +4.4%), Italy (5.46 million, +2.6%) and Spain (5.33 million, +2.5%). In terms of market penetration, Sweden is first: 21.6 percent of the total population go to fitness clubs, closely followed by Norway (21.4%), Denmark (18.6%) and Switzerland (18.6%).
In 2018, a total turnover of €27.2 billion was achieved in the European fitness market. In terms of average monthly gross membership fees, the Swiss pay by far the most in Europe with a monthly fee of €64.20, followed by the U.K., Ireland, Austria and Germany.
The most significant opportunities for growth can be seen in Southern and Eastern Europe, where the market is still relatively small. A major trend is a shift toward small and medium-sized facilities that are opening close to where people live and work, making fitness more accessible for all. According to Martin Rutgers, a member of the EuropeActive board, the industry's goal of 80 million fitness club members by 2025 seems realistic.
Among the fitness club operators in Europe, the McFit Global Group continues to lead the pack. With 1.95 million members, it remained ahead of Basic-Fit (1.84 million) in the European ranking for last year, when it recorded the highest absolute growth, with 316,000 more members than in the previous year. It was followed by Pure Gym (1.01 million members), The Gym Group (0.72 million) and Clever Fit (0.72 million).
The report was presented at the 6th European Health & Fitness Forum (EHFF), organized by EuroActive as usual the day before the Fibo trade show, held from April 4 to 7. The conference was attended by more than 500 international delegates.
In tune with the positive development of the fitness market in Europe, Fibo itself was also able to report an increase in the number of visitors from the general public and the trade, consolidating its role as the No. 1 international fitness trade show. It welcomed a total of 145,000 visitors, 2,000 more than in the previous year, including more than 84,000 trade visitors from all over the world. The 1,105 exhibitors came from 49 countries to Cologne, occupying every bit of the 160,000 square meters of exhibition space.
