Fitness centres are popular again: one in six adults is a member. The outlook is good; in 2022, the industry created over 1,000 jobs.
Closures of fitness centres, cautious customers, restrictions on training – the coronavirus pandemic had a severe impact on the Swiss health and fitness industry. Now members are back in the centres and training more frequently again. The mood among providers is positive, and they are creating new jobs. This is the conclusion of the second comprehensive study on the key data of the Swiss fitness industry, presented by the industry association swiss active.
Together with the German University for Prevention and Health Management (DHfPG), swiss active has collected key data on the Swiss fitness industry for the second time. The result is a representative quantitative study that creates market transparency. The cut-off date was December 31, 2022, which means that the analysis includes comparative values over four years for the first time, in some cases going back to the time before the pandemic.
The result is encouraging for the industry in every respect: key parameters such as membership figures, check-ins and staff numbers are all pointing upwards. In 2022, the industry recorded an increase in members of 11.7%. This is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. A total of 1.16 million people are members of a fitness center; that is almost one in six adults.
The key data study also shows that more than every second center has increased membership fees as a result of rising energy and other costs. People in Switzerland are prepared to invest more in the “fitness” service and in their health.
Sarah Kobel, author of the study and Head of Market Research at the German University for Prevention and Health Management (DHfPG): “We are seeing a rethink in society and a shift in people’s value system. Health is experiencing an enormous increase in importance, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is also reflected in the health and fitness industry. The fact that people are willing to invest more in their health is an important realization that once again distinguishes the industry as an industry of the future.”
Training is also becoming more frequent again: Check-in numbers are rising significantly faster than membership figures. The frequency of training sessions per week rose from 0.87 to 1.24 times in 2022. “This is even more important to us than the pure membership figures,” says Reto Conrad, President of swiss active. “We interpret this to mean that our members feel safe and comfortable in the centers again, which naturally makes us very happy.”
The industry creates new jobs
In 2022, the fitness industry filled over 1000 new positions. The industry employs a total of 26,687 people. This reflects the confidence of employers: 75% of operators already rate their economic situation as good or rather good, and 99% expect it to improve over the next 12 months. Over 80% of the operators surveyed are even planning to expand the number of their centers in 2023.
Reto Conrad comments: “The 1000 newly created positions underline the potential and attractiveness of our industry with its wide variety of attractive job profiles. As an employer, we offer exciting career opportunities for apprentices, career changers and those with an academic degree.”
Boom in personal training and nutritional advice
Among the services offered by fitness centers, three strong trends stand out:
- Almost every second center today also relies on personal training (2021 approx. 33%)
- Functional training also increased significantly – from 76% to 87%.
- And finally, nutritional advice is also becoming more and more established: while this additional service was only offered by 16.5% of centers in the previous year, this figure has now risen to 37%.
“Digital training, on the other hand, is becoming less important, says study author Sarah Kobel. “The industry is increasingly focusing on its core offering again: high-quality on-site training in health and fitness centers. Against this backdrop, the trends in membership and check-in figures show that people in Switzerland want precisely this service – on-site fitness training – and are increasingly asking for it. Based on this development, it can be assumed that the demand for fitness services will increase.”
Just one of the key figures continues to decline: the number of centers fell for the third time in a row, but at 1.1%, this was significantly less than between the end of 2019 and the end of 2021, when the decline was still a good 6%. The decline is also an expression of the ongoing consolidation process in the sector. A similar trend can also be observed in other markets, such as Germany.
“After a difficult period, the fitness industry is looking to the future with confidence,” says Reto Conrad, President of swiss active. “Membership numbers are rising, people are exercising more again and more and more people are recognizing the importance of physical activity in health prevention. This benefits the entire industry, which is also becoming increasingly attractive as an employer.”
