This morning I went to Medici coffee to get a coffee before going for a walk in downtown Austin.
I recently listened to a podcast (How I Built This with Guy Raz) with the founder of Vuori, John Kudla. He discussed how in the early days of Vuori, no one could understand why men needed yoga clothes. The How I Built This episode with the founder of Lululemon revealed a similar sentiment — no stores could figure out why guys would want to buy yoga clothes.
The biggest take away from looking into the yoga industry this morning was the insane growth over the past decade.
The number of yoga and pilates studios in the U.S. has increased from ~32,000 in 2017 to ~48,000 in 2023. In 2012, there were just 22,340 yoga and pilates studios in the U.S.
At first I wasn’t sure if this was a big number or not. But for some context, there are around 13,500 McDonald’s locations in the United States. So there are a ton of yoga studios — three times as many as McDonald’s. Way more than I would have guessed.
We’re probably in a sort of boom right now where people see that you can make money opening yoga studios, so thousands of new locations have popped up recently. We’ll probably see this number contract over the next decade, but the fact that yoga is so widespread and available to most people in the United States is promising.
Women make up 72% of yoga practitioners in the U.S. while men account for just 28%.
I’m not sure why I found this statistic surprising. Every yoga class I’ve been to I’ve been one of very few men — and completely outnumbered by women. However, the U.S. has the second highest male participation rate in yoga behind only India. I wonder what this rate will look like in 5-10 years, and if yoga will continue is meteoric rise in popularity.
67% of yoga practitioners do yoga at home.
Once you have done enough yoga at a studio, I understand that you can take that and do it at home, but I’m surprised that such a large number are doing yoga in their homes. I personally prefer to led by an instructor at a studio, as it provides a sense of accountability and social connection.
The global yoga industry was worth $105.9 billion in 2022. This number is expected to reach $215 billion by 2025.
The yoga industry is slated to more than double over just three years! I think we’re still experiencing a rebound post-Covid thanks to studios reopening and people spending money on apparel and equipment that they otherwise wouldn’t have.
There are over 36 million Americans who do yoga, and the average amount they spend on yoga classes, workshops, and equipment over their lifetimes is $62,640.
$62,640 on YOGA?! No wonder the yoga industry is so big (and continues to grow). Yoga, like many fitness pursuits — including running, lifting weights, or competitive sports — can be totally addictive. Once you catch the bug, and you connect with a community of people who also enjoy yoga, you can completely overhaul your lifestyle to support and enhance your practice.
The online yoga market makes up 67% of the total number of people who do yoga.
It’s crazy that the vast majority of yoga practitioners are doing so online. I’ve never personally considered doing an online yoga program, but I see how it makes the practice more accessible and scalable to meet people’s needs.