ukactive (alongside Sport England, 4Global and Grant Thornton) have recently released their 2026 annual report.
Headlines include:
- A record 12.2 million people over the age of 16 (18% of the population) are now members of a health and fitness club in the UK.
- A total of 679 million visits to health and fitness clubs were recorded in 2025. A 10% increase on 2024. This figure is nearly double the number of visits recorded to GPs last year (383 million according to NHS data).
The report says the sector is maturing, diversifying and creating deeper value for its members, and goes on to cover useful content relating to:
- Income
- Ownership
- Social value
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Activity demand by settings
- Motivations (see visual)