Membership of fitness clubs in Germany falls by 11.6%

After more than 30 years of continuous growth, the German fitness industry suffers a pandemic-related setback in 2020. Contrary to the consistent increases of recent years, the number of members in 2020 shows a decline for the first time. While 11.66 million people were still members of a fitness and health facility in 2019, the figure for the crisis year 2020 is 10.31 million; a minus of -11.6 per cent. The number of facilities has decreased by 1.4 per cent to a total of 9,538.

The slump in turnover comes to 1.35 billion euros, which is a drop of 24.5 per cent compared to the previous year. Compared to the loss of 1.35 million members, the industry's turnover in 2020 falls disproportionately to EUR 4.16 billion (2019: EUR 5.51 billion) due to the closed months. As part of the industry has continued to collect membership fees during the closed periods, many members will have various benefits available to them after reopening in the form of vouchers or membership fee-free training months.

"For 2021, we are confidently observing a strengthening understanding among politicians of the health relevance of the fitness industry for the population. The pandemic has made people more aware than ever of the issue of health and our businesses have acquired the health expertise to be part of the solution through their qualifications and professionalism," comments Florian Kündgen, Deputy Managing Director of DSSV e. V., and adds: "This confirms our conviction that the fitness and health industry continues to be a market of the future."

Source: DSSV e. V., DHfPG, Deloitte
Picture: DSSV e. V., DHfPG, Deloitte

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