Following three years of disruption with COVID-19-related restrictions, 2023 marked the first year of clear trading and this was reflected in all key European market indicators: revenues increased by 14 per cent; memberships by 8 per cent and there was a 1 per cent increase in clubs.

Revenues of European brick-and-mortar operators amounted to €31.8 billion, exceeding pre-pandemic record levels for the first time. The two-digit percentage upswing in revenues was impacted by expansions, more memberships and price increases. Most fitness club operators surveyed for the report said they had upped their prices compared to 2022.

By the end of 2023, the European market counted approximately 65,000 clubs and around 67.6 million memberships. The surpassing of pre-pandemic membership levels was primarily driven by the market expansion of large operators and a rebound effect in some countries. However, some countries, such as Germany, were still lagging behind pre-pandemic membership and revenue levels.

The big hitters
The top 20 fitness operators in terms of revenues generated €6.3 billion: a 19 per cent increase and were largely able to exceed pre-pandemic levels. Basic-Fit has the most memberships (3.8 million), followed by RSG Group (2 million) and PureGym (1.9 million at the time of the report, but has since reached 2 million). These three chains accounted for around 44 per cent of the top 20 members.

In total, the Top 20 fitness operators by membership recorded 17.4 million members by the end of 2023, an increase of about 13 per cent compared with the previous year. The club network of the 20 largest operators grew by 7 per cent to 6,155 clubs. As a result, the top 20 operators outperformed the aggregated European market across all three KPIs.

Consumer behaviour
In 2023, the three key fitness settings – at-home, outdoor and in a fitness club – remain complementary environments for consumers who exercise at least once a week. However, the proportion of multi-setting users has decreased slightly, driven by a noticeable shift away from home fitness towards club-based exercise.

When choosing a health club, the most important factors are price and value for money, followed by quality of equipment, location and opening hours.

Social factors such as community, recommendation or socially/ecologically sustainable practices play a less important role in the selection process. For people who do not exercise regularly (or at all), it is mainly intrinsic reasons, such as motivation or lack of time that prevents them from exercising more frequently.

Mergers and acquisitions
In 2023, a total of 12 merger and acquisition deals (with a minimum of four clubs and at least 50 per cent of targets’ shares) were recorded across Europe’s brick-and-mortar fitness companies, with 142 clubs changing hands. This is around six deals less than the 10 year average (18 deals), but only one less than 2022.

The top three transactions by deal volume (number of transferred clubs) were the acquisition of the Swiss fitness chain NonStop Gym (31 clwubs) by the financial investor Invision AG; the sale of Actic Group’s 22 clubs in the German-speaking countries to the German fitness operator, ACISO Holding, and the acquisition of 17 Aktiv Trening by the Norwegian company, Norsk Treningshelse AS.

Considering the last five years, the number of deals and deal volume markedly varied, due to increased interest and the influence of individual market participants.

In the last five years, the number of transferred clubs has mainly been driven by a small number of highly relevant deals. In fact, the three largest transactions have accounted for approximately 50 to 70 per cent of the total clubs transferred in the said time period.

Deal volume greatly peaked in 2020, heavily impacted by the acquisitions of 240 Fitness World clubs by PureGym and 240 Keepcool clubs bought by the holding company Group3S.

During the last two years, M&A activities of four companies headquartered in Poland (Benefit Systems, Medicover) and Germany (BestFit Group, LifeFit Group) made up 40 per cent of the deal quantity in this period (10 of 25 deals)

Looking ahead
In 2023, the brick-and-mortar fitness sector continued to grow and exceeded pre-pandemic levels on an aggregated European level. However, European fitness operators faced inflationary pressure, resulting in increased membership prices for consumers.

In addition, interest rate rises noticeably impacted M&A deal quantity and volume. In light of the continuous growth of the market and a required future development that would be fairly in line with pre-pandemic growth, EuropeActive continues to target 100 million members by 2030.

The 184-page report European Health & Fitness Market Report 2024 can be ordered at https://www2.deloitte.com/de/de/pages/consumer-business/articles/report-european-health-fitness.html

As well as shedding light on overall market trends and developments, this year’s report details information on sustainability regulation in the European Union and comprehensive analyses on the development of merger and acquisition activities by brick-and-mortar fitness operators during the last five years.

There are also insights on equipment suppliers, intermediaries, analyses of consumers’ fitness activity and behaviour. For the latter, EuropeActive commissioned Deloitte to conduct an extensive consumer research, comprising 10,840 consumers from 19 European countries.