• by Les Luchter , February 17, 2025

Annual spending on wellness in the U.S. has reached $2 trillion, reports the nonprofit Global Wellness Institute (GWI), up from $1.8 trillion a year earlier, and far ahead of the number two market, China, whose spending has now reached $870 billion. The U.S. represents a third of global wellness spending, which has now reached $6.3 trillion, GWI says.

And the U.S. lead is widening.

“The U.S. market, which always ranks #1, is pulling further away from other mega wellness markets,” reports GWI, “with 8.3% annual growth from 2019 to 2023, compared to 4.9% for China.”

GWI defines wellness as “the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health,” and the wellness economy as “industries that enable consumers to incorporate wellness activities and lifestyles into their daily lives.”

GWI divides that economy into 11 sectors:  spas; thermal/mineral springs; wellness tourism; workplace wellness; wellness real estate; physical activity; mental wellness; personal care & beauty; healthy eating, nutrition, & weight loss; public health, prevention, & personalized medicine; and traditional & complementary medicine.

Yet, while healthcare spending in the U.S. continues to “skyrocket…health outcomes are still among the worst compared to other wealthy countries,” write GWI senior research fellows Katherine Johnston and Ophelia Yeung, “So, it is fair to ask if this massive consumer wellness market can spend its way to broad-based health and wellbeing.”

Perhaps some industry trends can point to an answer, announced by GWI parent, the Global Wellness Summit (GWS), in its annual “The Future of Wellness” report.

The split of the wellness market into two parts, hardcore and softcore, which GWS first enunciated by a year ago, has now intensified, according to the report.

The hardcore market is defined as “hyper-medical, high-tech, even more expensive” and the softcore market as “low-pressure, simpler, less expensive… where emotional and social wellbeing matter most.”

One key new trend is definitely softcore. GWS dubs it “Analog Wellness,”saying that “with the online world’s manipulations, disinformation campaigns, and general brain and culture ‘rotting’ having suddenly gone too far, we predict 2025 is the year more people aggressively both log off and ‘analog on’: seizing retro, pre-digital tech, hobbies and experiences.”   GWS predicts that this trend “will shake up everything from travel to government policy to home design.”

Other softcore trends include” Sauna Reimagined,”described as a “boom in, and reinvention of one of the most lo-fi, ancient and social types of wellness,” and “Wellness on the Line,” consisting of creative experiences on cruises and rail journeys “powered by the hunger for slower, more mindful travel.”

On the hardcore side, GWS notes an “Augmented Biology”trend, “detailing how a new fusion of body and machine …is pushing the potential of people’s brains and bodies to superhuman levels.”

Other GWS-spotlighted trends include:

“Teen Wellness,”with the industry“finally getting serious about their wellbeing, given the skyrocketing teen mental health crisis.”

“Longevity Redefines Work,” described as “radical changes that are coming to work and workplaces as the number of younger workers decreases and the over-65 workforce explodes, and how the wellness industry will be a key player in helping employees work longer and better.”

“The Middle East’s Wellness Ambitions,” which GWS says is “something most people might have thought impossible: the emergence of the region as a wellness leader.”