The $2 trillion Global Wellness Market Gets a Millennial and Gen Z Glow-Up
To millennials and Gen Zers, wellness has become a daily, personalized practice rather than a set of occasional activities or purchases.
As this shift takes hold, it’s influencing the direction of the $2 trillion global wellness industry, which is expanding beyond its core categories. Even though younger demographics may be pushing the industry forward, older consumers, too, are becoming more interested in an expanding definition of wellness.
In our fourth year fielding our Future of Wellness research, which focuses on six dimensions of wellness—health, sleep, nutrition, fitness, appearance, and mindfulness—we surveyed more than 9,000 consumers across China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Two big ideas stood out in this year’s research: Younger consumers are conceptualizing wellness in new ways, and wellness is showing up in new places.
Our latest findings reveal the ways in which younger consumers are redefining the landscape, the five consumer segments that make up today’s wellness customer base, and six subcategories poised to grow.
Younger generations are spending disproportionately on wellness
Wellness is more important to consumers than ever. In the United States alone, we estimate that it represents more than $500 billion in annual spend, growing at 4 to 5 percent each year. (Despite macroeconomic volatility through the first half of 2025, we believe the wellness category is resilient. See the sidebar, “How resilient is the wellness space?”) Meanwhile, 84 percent of US consumers say wellness is a “top” or “important” priority (in the United Kingdom, that figure is 79 percent, while it soars to 94 percent in China).
Younger generations especially are increasingly prioritizing wellness. Nearly 30 percent of Gen Zers (people born between 1997 and 2012) and millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) in the United States report prioritizing wellness “a lot more” compared with one year ago, versus up to 23 percent of older generations. This may be due to several factors: Younger generations self-report higher levels of burnout and worse overall health compared with older people but are also more exposed to health-related content on social media (where they are more likely to be influenced to make a wellness-related purchase than older generations are).
The burgeoning prioritization of wellness is translating into dollars spent. While Gen Zers and millennials make up just over a third (36 percent) of the adult population in the United States, they drive more than 41 percent of annual wellness spend. Compare that with consumers aged 58 and older: These consumers make up 35 percent of the population but only 28 percent of wellness spending. To be sure, older consumers still represent a meaningful opportunity for wellness players, especially in advanced markets with aging populations. Gen Zers and millennials are not a homogenous group; there are nuanced differences in their perspectives on wellness. For example, although both groups rank sleep and health as their top two wellness priorities (but in a different order), Gen Zers give “better appearance” the number three slot, whereas millennials care more about mindfulness (Exhibit 1).
Together, Gen Z and millennials’ wellness needs diverge from those of Gen Xers and baby boomers. For example, younger consumers place higher importance on sexual health and skin and hair care than older generations do (Exhibit 2).
Despite the wellness sector’s growth over the past several years, consumers report that some of their wellness needs—including cognitive health, mindfulness and mental health, and longevity—remain unmet. Younger consumers, particularly Gen Z, report feeling these gaps more strongly than other age groups, especially when it comes to mental, cognitive, heart, and gut health.
There are a number of reasons for these gaps. In the United States, younger consumers self-report feeling “almost always stressed” at a higher rate than other generations (40 percent of Gen Z versus 23 percent overall), which may contribute to higher levels of dissatisfaction with existing mental health solutions. A mismatch in product marketing and positioning could also contribute to the need gaps: Heart health and cognitive solutions may be targeted toward older consumers, even though younger generations also have unmet needs in these areas. Social media exposure could also magnify the importance of some subcategories, such as gut health.
There are also differences in how younger and older consumers spend across wellness categories. While purchase rates for essential consumer health categories (such as oral care, cough and cold medication, and personal hygiene) are similar across demographics, younger consumers tend to purchase across a wider range of discretionary products (Exhibit 3), including health-tracking devices, massage tools, IV drips, and beauty and mindfulness apps. They are more open to experimentation and interested in testing digital solutions. Older generations, for their part, overindex on a smaller subset of health products such as vitamins, analgesics, and eye care but underindex on most discretionary categories. This could be because older consumers may be less familiar with newer wellness offerings.
A common question arises when analyzing Gen Z spending habits: Will Gen Z’s preferences shift to resemble those of older generations over time, or will they redefine norms for all consumers as they grow older?
A look at spending across wellness categories offers some clues. Gen Zers and millennials purchase more types of wellness products and services per year than older adults. Some are connected to specific life stages (such as infant care and menstrual products), so spending on these products will decrease as Gen Zers and millennials age. But consumers in all age groups are also spending heavily on other products and services—such as health-tracking devices, wellness retreats, and energy drinks—that are not tied to particular life stages, indicating a broader cultural shift in how people think about wellness.