31 Yoga Statistics Studio Owners Need to Know

In the West, yoga has evolved into all sorts of subsets and trends. There’s hot yoga, hip hop yoga, goat yoga, and more.

But even amidst all the change, the classic benefits of stress reduction, injury prevention, and flexibility remain constant. This form of fitness is enormously popular because it has a major impact on health and a very low rate of injury, making it suitable for all ages.

In this guide to the ultimate yoga statistics, we dive into some insightful research to uncover who practices yoga and why.

Our Yoga statistics cover:

• Who practices yoga and where do they practice it?
• Where does yoga rank amidst other fitness trends?
• What are the common reasons people start yoga?
• What kind of health results are associated with yoga?
• What are some of the numbers behind the yoga industry?

Who practices yoga and where do they practice it?

The practice of yoga has been around for over 3,000 years and is practiced globally. Here are some more recent stats on who’s practicing yoga where:

1. The average age of yoga practitioners in the US is 39 (Yoga Alliance).
2. Females make up more than 75% of the people doing yoga in the US, UK, Germany, and Brazil (Yoga Alliance).
3. 4 million Americans practice yoga (Yoga Alliance).
4. Between 2016 and 2022 there was a 4.8% increase in people practicing yoga (Yoga Alliance).
5. There was a 1.8% decrease in yoga practitioners between 2022 and 2023 (Statista)
6. 85% of yoga practitioners practice yoga at home some of the time (doyou).
7. 6% use an online, streaming, or TV-based service for some of their yoga classes (doyou).
8. 1% of yoga practitioners who stream their guided practices use YouTube (doyou).
9. 47% of US yoga practitioners hold a college degree (Yoga Alliance).
10. Vermont, Massachusetts, and Colorado lead in searches for “yoga” while the southern and Midwest states show the least interest (Google Trends).
11. Globally, peak search interest in yoga occurred four years after the U.S. in January 2018 with Canada, Singapore, and Australia leading the pack. The U.S. is ranked 6th over the 20-year evaluation and drops to 12th when considering the past 5 years (Google Trends).

Where does yoga rank amidst other fitness trends?

Fitness trends highlight what’s popular and up-and-coming. Yoga’s stats within current trends include:

12. American College of Sports Medicine’s annual worldwide fitness trends report ranks yoga at 17 for 2024 (ASCM).
13. This makes 2024 the 14th consecutive year where yoga has ranked in the top 20 (ASCM).
14. Categorized as one of the top low impact workouts grants yoga a 7th place ranking in another top fitness trends of 2024 report (Origym).
15. And in another 2024 top fitness trends report, low impact workouts ranked 4th (Gymdesk).
16. Yoga popularity was also identified through its 2nd place ranking of the most popular exercise class in 2023 (which was based on average monthly search volume) (News Athletic).

What are the common reasons people start yoga?

Two large surveys were conducted in 2021 and 2022 which provide a solid statistical breakdown of the reasons why people decide to practice yoga. Those stats are:

17. Of the 11,020 respondents of a 2022 study the breakdown of common motivators to start yoga are (Yoga Alliance):

• 7% practice yoga for stress relief
• 1% practice for the health benefits of yoga
• 3% are focused on improving flexibility
• 7% noted general fitness and condition as an important factor
• 3% identified yoga with their personal development
• 3% connected yoga to their spiritual development
• 1% started yoga as part of their physical therapy
• 8% were considering weight loss

18. For the 2021 study involving 10,982 yoga practitioners the breakdown of the common motivators are (doyou):

• 9% identify flexibility as most important
• 9% selected strength
• 7% practice yoga for stress relief
• 2% noted relaxation
• 1% considered improving balance a top motivator
• 6% connected yoga to better focus
• 4% are trying to address chronic pain
• 9% use yoga as therapy
• 8% had other benefits in mind

What kind of health results are associated with yoga?

Like many other physical activities, regular practice of yoga is good for your health. There is substantial scientific research on yoga where you can learn a lot about all the benefits. Quantifiable yoga health statistics are limited, but some research has revealed:

19. In one study of 65 adults with depression, 8 weeks of a hot yoga regimen reduced depression symptoms by at least 50% for roughly 60% of the participants. The control group only saw a 6% of participants reach the same reduction of symptoms (Harvard).
20. 93% of yoga practitioners believe the physical benefits of yoga are very important, and 87% believe the mental benefits of yoga are very important (doyou).
21. 6% of people doing yoga have experienced a yoga related injury (doyou).
22. A study on a small group of women found that after 12 sessions of Hatha yoga the mean DASS-21 scores of stress, anxiety, and depression reduced by 1.4, 1.5, and 2.2 respectively (NCBI)
23. A New Zealand study found that 25% of all reported health conditions being addressed with yoga were mental health and musculoskeletal disorders (JPHC).
24. The injury rate of yoga is 0.60/1000 hours of practice which is quite low (NCBI).

What are some of the numbers behind the yoga industry?

Yoga industry statistics are good to know if you are running or thinking of running a studio. Here are some stats to keep you informed:

25. Yoga practitioners spent more than $21 billion on yoga in 2022 (Yoga Alliance).
26. That was a $1 billion increase on the yoga market size in 2016 (Yoga Alliance).
27. The online yoga market size was $10.89 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8% (FDS).
28. The yoga apparel market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 8.4% to a forecasted $40 billion in 2028 (Statista).
29. For 75% of yoga instructors, teaching yoga is their primary source of income (Yoga Journal).
30. The average yearly salary of yoga instructors in the U.S. is $69,965 (Yogi Times).
31. 25% of yoga practitioners attend events (doyou).

Yoga is a multi-billion-dollar industry that offers a ton of opportunities for small, local businesses. And with young women continuing to fall in love with yoga, it’ll keep on growing.

 

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