Memberships in Swiss gyms surpass pre-pandemic levels
Big business: lifting weights in a gym near Zurich.
Keystone / Gaetan Bally
On average, people in Switzerland worked out 1.3 times a week last year, according to an industry association study published on Tuesday.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
In total, over 1.3 million people – around 15% of the population – trained in one of the 1,348 gyms across the country last year, according to the study by Swiss Active.
While a fitness and health trend already existed before Covid-19, the pandemic – which meant a lack of exercise options – has since spurred an intensification of the pattern, according to the study. The number of gym subscriptions in 2023 was 13% higher than in the previous year and considerably above pre-pandemic levels.
The recovery is not yet evident in all gyms. But according to the association, over 80% said they had already returned to 2019 membership levels. “This puts Switzerland ahead of Germany and Austria, where around two-thirds of businesses achieved this in the year under review,” the report states.
As membership numbers rose, so did turnover, which increased by almost 18% to CHF1.2 billion ($1.34 billion). Higher prices are the likely factor behind the fact that turnover increased more than subscriptions: according to the report, almost one in two companies adjusted their fees last year.
On average, a subscription in Switzerland costs some CHF1,000, Swiss Active said. Fitness chains are slightly cheaper (CHF900), while subscriptions in individual studios (CHF1,120) and micro studios (CHF1,320) cost slightly more.
Adapted from French by DeepL/dos
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Multinational companies
Azeri fossil-fuel cash cow brings controversy to Switzerland
Beer sales in Switzerland watered down by bad weather
This content was published on
The past brewing year fell through in Switzerland, partly due to the bad weather. Beer sales shrank again. For the first time, per capita consumption fell below the 50 liter mark.
Compensation for Syrian after pregnant wife denied help on Swiss train
This content was published on
Switzerland’s Federal Court has partially upheld the appeal of a Syrian family being deported from Switzerland to Italy in 2014. The man now also receives compensation.
Swiss-EU negotiations: Cassis to meet Sefcovic in Bern
This content was published on
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis will meet the Vice-President of the EU Commission, Maros Sefcovic, in Bern on Wednesday.
Heavy snowfall in Switzerland causes traffic chaos and accidents
This content was published on
The heavy snowfall late on Thursday and during the night into Friday led to traffic chaos and many accidents in many regions of Switzerland.
Chimpanzee behaviours passed down through generations
This content was published on
Some of the complex behaviours of chimpanzees have been passed down and refined over generations. These include the combination of several tools for foraging.
More than 600,000 rounds of Swiss sniper ammunition reach Ukraine
This content was published on
Sniper ammunition from Swiss P Defence reached Ukraine via a Polish company in July 2023, reported SRF Investigativ on Thursday, citing official information.
Switzerland launches national digital inclusion alliance
This content was published on
The Swiss government launched the Swiss Digital Inclusion Alliance on Thursday with the goal of giving as many people as possible access to digital services.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.