Global Insights:
Operator Snapshot
In 2025, the global fitness industry was broadly in a period of profitable expansion. The 244 operators representing nearly 27,000 fitness facilities that contributed to HFA’s 2026 Global Survey reported strong revenue and membership growth while maintaining healthy margins. Fielded predominantly during the second quarter of 2026, the survey collected confidential operating and financial results for calendar year 2025. Because operators could provide as much or as little information as they were comfortable sharing, response levels vary by measure. The findings should be read as benchmarks for participating operators rather than estimates of the total global market.
Across responding operators, median revenue increased 10.7% in 2025 compared with 2024. Growth was broad across company sizes, with median gains ranging from 10.6% to 12.5% across three annual revenue bands.
This revenue performance stood out against a subdued economic backdrop. The World Bank estimates that the global economy grew by 2.9% in real terms in 2025, while global inflation averaged 3.3%. HFA’s revenue measure is nominal and reflects operators across a diverse group of markets, so it is not directly comparable with real GDP. Even so, the difference suggests that general price increases alone do not explain the reported growth. The fitness results also exceeded the latest available growth estimate for the broader wellness economy. The Global Wellness Institute reported that global wellness spending increased 7.9% in 2024 and projected annual growth of 7.6% through 2029. Although these measures cover different periods and use different methods, they place the performance of participating fitness operators within one of the faster-growing areas of global consumer spending.
Revenue growth was accompanied by continued expansion of the member base. Median net membership growth reached 6.9%, while operators retained about two-thirds of their members. Revenue grew faster than membership, suggesting that pricing and product mix complemented gains in customer volume. The combination of revenue and membership growth shows that operators increased both the size and economic value of their customer base.
The median EBITDA margin was 22.1%, and the median pre-tax earnings margin was 12.0%. Recurring membership revenue remained the industry’s financial foundation, accounting for an average of 76.2% of revenue, while non-dues sources provided meaningful diversification.
The results also identify characteristics associated with stronger profitability. The high-profit cohort, defined as the top half of respondents ranked by EBITDA as a percentage of revenue, included 55 operators. Within this group, median revenue growth reached 12.7%, and the median EBITDA margin was 31.0%. Their median payroll ratio was 32.4% of revenue, compared with 36.4% among all respondents. Net membership growth in the high-profit cohort was 5.6%, slightly below the overall median. This pattern associates stronger financial performance more closely with operating efficiency than with exceptional membership growth alone.
Scale and independence offered different advantages. Multi-site operators reported median revenue growth of 12.2%, compared with 8.6% among single-site businesses. Their median payroll ratio was also lower, at 35.5% compared with 39.2%. Multi-site operators reported slightly higher net membership growth, while single-site operators had lower acquisition costs. Scale can support growth and efficiency, while independent operators retain important advantages in loyalty and customer economics.
The upcoming 2026 Fitness Industry Benchmarking Report provides a deeper examination of these results, with detailed benchmarks by company size, club type, number of locations, profitability, facility type, and geography.