INTHEBLACK June 2025 - Magazine - Page 45
The amorphous global wellness
economy is booming, with
a market size reportedly
outstripping the sports
and green economies.
Uptake of wellness coincides
with health systems feeling
the weight of ageing
populations, while technology
is a big enabler.
Wellness businesses
and social media
influencers face rising
demand for scientific
or clinical proof points.
Wellness is a word that is almost impossible to avoid. It is attached
to a concept that is both necessary and alluring. But why is the
wellness sector booming ahead of so many other industries?
Words Deborah Tarrant
WELLNESS IS AN UNMISSABLE
force in the global economy. It is larger
in market size than the green economy, IT,
sports and pharmaceuticals, reports The
Global Wellness Institute (GWI). Measuring
it is complicated because it overlaps with
or encompasses 11 sectors: traditional and
complementary medicine; public health,
prevention and personalised medicine;
healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss;
physical activity; personal care and beauty;
mental wellness; wellness tourism; wellness
real estate; workplace wellness; thermal
and mineral springs, and spas.
The GWI calculated the global
wellness sector’s worth at US$6.3 trillion
in 2023, representing 6.03 per cent of global
GDP, with growth projections at
US$8.9 trillion to 2028.
The growth of the wellness sector
is powered by many drivers, including the
inexorable rise of digitisation and digital
health, and social media — particularly
Instagram — with its never-ending supply
of wellness influencers. However, at the
forefront of many minds is the global
pandemic, which effectively shut down parts
of the wellness sector before most bounced
back stronger than ever.
Add to this the quest for longevity
in ageing populations and the need to control
health spending, and the upshot is a highly
complex landscape.
THE AIM IS TRUE
Definitions of “wellness” vary. The GWI
describes it as “the active pursuit of activities,
choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of
holistic health,” while the key characteristic
of wellness is often its individualistic pursuit.
Whether sipping green juice, hitting
the gym, spending time in hyperbaric
chambers or booking the latest wellness
cruise, the motivation for embracing
wellness typically leans into the desire
for personal optimisation, prevention
or “being one’s best self ”. Regardless of
the why, the ideal result of wellness activities
is positive health outcomes, which is a good
thing for overstretched healthcare sectors.
Sabine Bennett, Deloitte Australia’s digital
health leader, finds her client conversations
increasingly shifting to illness prevention
and wellness.
“The traditional break–fix model
in a health system deeply grounded in
treating the unwell, is not sustainable,”
she points out. Among the system’s numerous
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