The US, China, Germany, Japan and the UK have the top five largest wellness markets in the world, according to a new report by the US-based Global Wellness Institute (GWI). 

The Global Wellness Economy: 2026 Rankings Report was presented by Joanne Hopkins, research fellow, GWI at the Global Wellness Summit’ media event in New York, US recently.

The findings, based on GWI data from 218 countries between 2019-2024, show that the global wellness economy is concentrated in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. The top five wellness markets haven’t changed ranking since 2019 and the latest figures show they represent nearly 58 per cent of the global wellness economy.

The top 25 markets represent 86 per cent of the global wellness economy. The US alone accounted for almost 32 per cent in 2024 (worth US$2.1 trillion).

Hopkins said: “The US wellness economy is 2.3 times larger than China’s wellness market – which is the second largest in the world. It rebounded from the pandemic and has grown rapidly every year. It’s 46 per cent bigger than before the pandemic.”

Although the top 25 list has not changed dramatically, some countries made significant increases in their rankings:, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, Australia, Poland and the Netherlands.

Only three of the top 25 markets did not experience a pandemic-related decline in 2020 (Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands and Taiwan). Since 2020, most of the top 25 largest wellness markets have seen a continued growth trajectory.

Nine of the top 25 markets have seen the strongest growth trends, exceeding the global average of 6.2 per cent annual growth between 2019-2024. They are Saudi Arabia and India (with more than 11 per cent annual growth each); Mexico and Poland (with more than 9 per cent annual growth each); and the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, the US and Australia (all with annual growth between 7.5-8.5 per cent).

The top ten countries with the strongest five-year annual growth rates include the UAE (14.3 per cent); Saudi Arabia (12.2 per cent); India, Croatia and Cuba (between 10.5-11.5 per cent); and Romania, Mexico, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan and Poland (9-10 per cent).

Currency depreciation has affected the measurements of wellness economies in Asia, such as Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as Brazil and many European countries. The performance of these wellness economies is stronger when measured in their local currencies.

The four wellness sectors responsible for much of the wellness economy growth in the largest and fastest-growing markets include: wellness real estate; wellness tourism; personal care and beauty; and healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss.

Wealthy countries have the highest per capita spending on wellness (Iceland ($7,393), Switzerland ($6,375), the US ($6,293), Austria ($5,222) and Australia ($5,814). This metric is also high in countries that are highly dependent on tourism, such as Aruba ($6,363) and the Seychelles ($5,936). These countries all had per capita wellness spending that was greater than US$5,000 in 2024, compared to US$831 globally.

The top 25 wellness economy markets 

The percentages show the average annual growth rate between 2023-24

• US – $2.1 trillion – 6.6%
• China – $950 billion – 11.5%
• Germany – $281 billion – 8.1%
• Japan – $262 billion – 0.4%
• UK – $261 billion – 15%
• France – $211 billion – 8.4%
• India – $180 billion – 17.2%
• Canada – $159 billion – 6.2%
• Australia – $141 billion – 10.9%
• Italy – $141 billion – 4.9%
• Brazil – $125 billion – 2.6%
• South Korea – $119 billion – 2.2%
• Russia – $110 billion – 5.9%
• Spain – $106 billion – 8.8%
• Mexico – $98 billion – 5.1%
• Turkey – $73 billion – 18.2%
• Netherlands – $62 billion – 9%
• Switzerland – $58 billion – 7.7%
• Taiwan – $56 billion – 6.5%
• Indonesia – $56 billion – 9.8%
• Poland – $52 billion – 15.8%
• Austria – $48 billion – 8.6%
• Philippines – $47 billion – 7.3%
• Thailand – $43 billion – 10.1%
• Saudi Arabia – $42 billion – 8.3%
  

This report is a sister publication to the Global Wellness Economy Monitor, which was published by the GWI at the Global Wellness Summit in November, in Dubai, UAE. 

You can access both publications on the GWI’s website.