The number of people with a gym membership in Europe increased by 1 million (or 2 per cent) during 2021 – up from 55.2 million in 2020 to 56.3 million by year-end 2021.

Membership growth was driven mainly by the 20 largest European health club operators, which saw their membership numbers increase by 0.7 million (or 6 per cent) to 13.1 million when compared to 2020. The top three European fitness brands, by membership numbers, in December 2021 were Basic-Fit (2.2 million members), RSG / McFit (1.691 million) and PureGym Group (1.635 million).

The encouraging recovery in membership numbers comes despite club companies losing more than 40 per cent of their operational days during 2021.

Further signs of recovery are seen in the way the total number of fitness clubs grew slightly, from 63,059 in 2020 to 63,173 in 2021 – an increase of 0.2 per cent.

As a result of the lengthy lockdowns, revenues across the European health club sector fell by 11.3 per cent to €17.1bn, compared to €19.3bn in 2020.

The figures come from the 2022 European Health & Fitness Market Report, compiled by Deloitte on behalf of Europe Active, which was published today (6 April) during the European Health & Fitness Forum (EHFF) in Cologne, Germany.

Europe Active CEO Andreas Paulsen said: "The European Health & Fitness Market Report has become the gold standard for market research in the fitness and physical activity sector.

"Especially at this challenging and transformative time for our sector, we need reliable data to factually evidence the impact of COVID-19 on our sector. This is even more important when it comes to evidencing our sector’s positive and essential impact on communities across Europe.

"I would like to profoundly thank Europe Active Ambassador Herman Rutgers, our partners at Deloitte, our data-collection partners across the Continent, as well as our generous sponsors, for this great and important accomplishment at a very challenging time.

"We are confident of reaching our ambition of getting 100 million members by 2030".

HCM editor, Liz Terry said: "As the fitness industry gathers again at EHFF for the first time in three years, after the most challenging times, it's extremely heartening to see how resilient the sector has proven to be throughout the pandemic.

"When we gather again next year at EHFF 2023, I hope the lean operating processes, digital integration, fine-tuned marketing and customer-centric focus operators have honed in response to COVID-19, will have powered the industry through the impacts of the war in Ukraine and accompanying disruptions to energy markets."

The European Health and Fitness Forum is the conference of Europe Active, held in partnership with FIBO the day before the opening if the FIBO trade show in Koln, Germany.