Wellness real estate market reached $438bn. in 2023 and is forecast to more than double to $913bn. by 2028

22.05.2024 - 12:01 / traveldailynews.com / Theodore Koumelis

New Global Wellness Institute report reveals a sector that has seen uninterrupted momentum before, during and after the pandemic—with a powerful 18% annual growth rate since 2019.

MIAMI, FL – The non-profit Global Wellness Institute (GWI), leading research organization for the global wellness industry, released a report filled with new data and insights on the global wellness real estate market. GWI defines the sector as homes and buildings that are proactively designed and built to support the holistic health of their residents. The report finds that wellness real estate has been by far the fastest-growing market in the 11-sector wellness economy in recent years, surging from $225 billion in 2019 to $438 billion in 2023. To put that 18.1% recent growth rate in perspective, the annual growth rate for overall global construction was only 5.1%.

With the pandemic dramatically accelerating the understanding among consumers and the building industry about the critical role that external environments play in our physical and mental health, the GWI forecasts that the market will grow 15.8% annually from 2023 to 2028, when it will approach the trillion-dollar mark ($913 billion). The report includes regional and country data, finding that the US ($181 billion), China ($73 billion), and the UK ($29 billion) remain the three biggest national markets. GWI researchers also detail the biggest drivers and opportunities—as well as the biggest challenges – for wellness real estate in the future. The report was released today at the Global Wellness Summit’s third-annual Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium in Manhattan.

“As long-time industry researchers, we’re not at all surprised by this finding,” noted Katherine Johnston and Ophelia Yeung, GWI’s senior research fellows. “More than any other wellness sector, wellness real estate embodies the multidimensionality of wellness. When done right, it has the greatest potential within the wellness economy to improve our holistic wellbeing and that of entire communities. As more people realize that their biggest investment—their home—is the next frontier of health, the demand for wellness real estate will only continue to grow.”

Wellness real estate has been the growth leader in the wellness industry since the GWI started measuring it in 2017. During the pandemic year (2019-2020), it was one of the few wellness sectors that continued to grow rapidly (21.6% growth), even as overall construction output and global GDP shrank (-0.8% and -2.6%, respectively). Over the last couple of years, global construction growth has slowed considerably, from 16.7% in 2020-2021 to only 1.9% in 2022-2023. But between 2022 and 2023, wellness real estate grew an impressive 13.4%.

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