Practitioner Spending Grows to Nearly $6 Billion a Year no comments
The latest “Yoga in America” study, just released by Yoga Journal shows that Americans spend $5.7 billion a year on yoga classes and products, including
equipment, clothing, vacations and media (DVDs, videos, books and magazines). This figure represents an increase of 87 percent compared to the previous study in 2004 — almost double of what was previously spent.
Data for this survey were collected by the Harris Interactive Service Bureau on behalf of Yoga Journal. The poll surveyed 5,050 respondents, a statistically representative sample of the total U.S. population. Yoga Journal commissioned RRC Associates, a research firm in Boulder, Colo., to perform the data analysis.
The 2008 study indicates that 6.9 percent of U.S. adults, or 15.8 million people, practice yoga. (In the previous study, that number was 16.5 million). Of current non-practitioners, nearly 8 percent, or 18.3 million Americans, say they are very or extremely interested in yoga, triple the number from the 2004 study. And 4.1 percent of non-practitioners, or about 9.4 million people, say they will definitely try yoga within the next year.
The 2008 study also indicated that almost half (49.4 percent) of current practitioners started practicing yoga to improve their overall health. In the 2003 study, that number was 5.6 percent. And they are continuing to practice for the same reason. According to the 2008 study, 52 percent are motivated to practice yoga to improve their overall health. In 2003, that number was 5.2 percent.
One significant trend to emerge from the study is the use of yoga as medical therapy. According to the study, 6.1 percent, or nearly 14 million Americans, say that a doctor or therapist has recommended yoga to them. In addition, nearly half (45 percent) of all adults agree that yoga would be a beneficial if they were undergoing treatment for a medical condition.
The growth in the yoga market is reflected in the growth of Yoga Journal. The magazine saw an increase of 5.8 percent in paid circulation, and an increase of 9.2 percent in paid subscriptions, in the period from July through December 2007, over the same period in the previous year, while the first two issues of 2008 were record issues in terms of ad revenue and ad pages. The magazine is also a top-selling health and fitness
title at Barnes & Noble nationwide as well as at Whole Foods.
For more information, visit yogajournal.com.