The global wellness economy reached a record $6.8 trillion in 2024, roughly 6.1% of global GDP, and it is forecast to approach $10 trillion before the decade ends. This page collects the most cited wellness industry statistics with their sources and the context that headline numbers usually drop. It expands the wellness economy chapter of our full report, Holistic Health Statistics.
Key wellness industry statistics
- •The global wellness economy reached $6.8 trillion in 2024, about 6.1% of global GDP. Source: Global Wellness Institute, 2025 Global Wellness Economy Monitor
- •It is forecast to reach $9.8 trillion by 2029.
- •Traditional and complementary medicine is projected to be among the fastest growing wellness sectors, at 10.8% annual growth from 2024 to 2029. That is a forecast, not an observed figure.
- •North Americans spend more on wellness per person than anyone else: $6,029 per year as of 2024.
What the wellness economy actually includes
The $6.8 trillion figure describes the whole wellness economy as the Global Wellness Institute defines it, which is much broader than complementary health: it spans personal care and beauty, wellness tourism, physical activity, healthy eating, workplace wellness, wellness real estate, spas, and more, alongside traditional and complementary medicine. Writers regularly present the headline figure as if it described alternative medicine alone. It does not, and citing it that way overstates the sector by an order of magnitude.
Within that broader economy, the traditional and complementary medicine segment is the one most relevant to holistic health, and it is projected to be among the fastest growing sectors at 10.8% per year through 2029. For what individuals actually spend out of pocket on complementary health approaches, see our spending statistics chapter, where the best US figure is $30.2 billion per year.
Growth with a caveat
Forecasts deserve their label. The $9.8 trillion 2029 figure is a projection built on recent growth rates continuing, and the wellness economy has already shown it can swing: it contracted sharply in 2020 before recovering to new records. The observed numbers, $6.8 trillion in 2024 and $6,029 per capita in North America, are the ones to build arguments on; the forecasts describe direction, not certainty.
The demand these numbers describe is real, and it is part of why discovery in this space matters. Millions of people are looking for practitioners and practices every year, most of them with no reliable way to understand the evidence context of what they find. That gap between market size and information quality is the problem our full statistics report documents in detail.
About this data and how to cite it
Figures on this page come from the Global Wellness Institute's Global Wellness Economy Monitor, linked at the point of use, with survey years stated. You are welcome to cite this page with attribution:
Source: Gyfts, Wellness Industry Statistics (2026), gyfts.io/blog/wellness-industry-statistics