Wellness is not just a feeling. It is one of the largest consumer markets on earth.
Behind the spa days, supplements, fitness apps, and wellness retreats sits an industry that now rivals the biggest sectors in the global economy.
The Global Wellness Institute has tracked this market since 2014, and its 2025 report puts a striking number on it.
The wellness economy is not only huge but also growing faster than the world economy as a whole.
TL;DR
- The global wellness economy reached $6.8 trillion in 2024, up from $6.3 trillion in 2023, and has doubled in size since 2013.
- It now represents about 6.1% of global GDP and is larger than sports, tourism, the green economy, or IT.
- The fastest-growing pieces are wellness real estate and mental wellness, while workplace wellness was the only sector to shrink.
Data are anchored to the Global Wellness Institute’s Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2025, released in November 2025.
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A market bigger than you think
At $6.8 trillion in 2024, the wellness economy is larger than several sectors people assume are giants.
It dwarfs the sports industry at $2.7 trillion and comes in above tourism at $5 trillion, the green economy at $5.1 trillion, and IT at $5.3 trillion.
It accounts for roughly 60% of global health spending.
It has doubled since 2013 and grew nearly 8% in a single year, from 2023 to 2024, outpacing overall global GDP growth.
The Institute projects it will reach $9.8 trillion by 2029.
What is growing and what is not
The market spans 11 sectors, and they are not moving in lockstep.
The two fastest-growing pieces are wellness real estate, expanding about 19.5% a year, and mental wellness, at about 12.4% a year, both from 2019 to 2024.
Steadier sectors like personal care and beauty, nutrition, physical activity, and traditional medicine grew around 5% a year.
The one outlier is workplace wellness, which actually shrank 1.5% from 2023 to 2024 as employers moved away from formal programs and remote work left many staff outside such benefits.
Why the US, UK, and Canada should care
North America is one of the largest and fastest-growing wellness markets, so this is a defining consumer trend in these economies.
But scale invites a hard question.
A $6.8 trillion market selling wellness raises the issue of who can actually afford to buy it, which is exactly where this hub goes next.
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ELI5
Wellness is not just about feeling good; it is a giant business.
In 2024, people spent $6.8 trillion on things like spas, fitness, supplements, and healthy homes, which is more than the whole world spends on sports or tourism.
The parts growing fastest are healthy real estate and mental wellness.
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