The German fitness industry has recovered strongly from the high losses in the corona pandemic. At the end of last year, the number of members was 10.3 million - an increase of one million or 10.8 percent compared to the previous year, said the employers' association of German fitness and health facilities (DSSV) on Wednesday in Hamburg. At the same time, the industry, which was hard hit by the corona lockdowns, more than doubled its sales in 2022 to 4.9 billion euros (plus 122.7 percent). This is due to the increased number of members, higher contributions, but also to the weak previous year, which was characterized by corona. The industry is "on the best way to reaching the pre-crisis level again".

Gyms had to close for months during the pandemic, later they could only open under strict conditions. As a result, they lost members en masse, and sales in the fitness industry, which had long been spoiled by success, collapsed. In times of need, some gyms continued to pay dues despite being forced to close, which angered members. Because of the crisis, some studio operators had to give up, especially since rising energy costs for saunas, for example, made things difficult for them after the relaxation of the Corona regulations. Last year, the number of fitness and health facilities fell by 3.6 percent to 9149, as the DSSV further announced.

After the long closures, there is now an acute lack of exercise and an enormous amount of catching up to do among people, the association explained with a view to the increased number of members. Despite the strong growth, the number of members in 2022 was still 1.4 million below the pre-crisis figure of 2019 (11.7 million).