Surprising Facts About the Big Business of Yoga

It’s a billion-dollar business with millions of participants. It short, it’s a worldwide phenomenon with extraordinary economic impact.

Surprising Facts About the Big Business of Yoga

If you’ve been paying even a little attention to changing fitness trends, you’ve heard about yoga. Between pictures of bodies bending in mind-boggling ways and celebrities raving about the benefits, perhaps your curiosity has been piqued. You certainly wouldn’t be alone.

Yoga’s popularity is for real.

An ancient practice that’s been developed over thousands of years, Yoga itself is an immersive physical, spiritual and mental study — a mind-body approach to improving your overall lifestyle. Part of the study of yoga — arguably the most popular part — is “hatha” yoga, the physical practice of bending your body into “asanas,” or various postures that improve your strength and flexibility. Though in the past it may have been considered an out-of-the-mainstream exercise practice, it’s gained popularity across the world.

How Yoga Compares to Other Exercise Options

The goal of the physical practice of yoga isn’t exclusively to improve the overall mind-body connection through physical exertion and breathwork. For many people, though, it’s an effective, body-positive exercise option that can either stand alone or complement another training routine. And, likely because it at least attempts to promote an accepting and open culture no matter your physical abilities, there’s far more interest in yoga than other popular exercise options beyond walking and running (see graph).

Of course, yoga’s not without its controversies. It’s gotten plenty of pushback in western culture. Even early adopters in ancient times had their issues. It’s by no means perfect. Like any form of exercise, over exerting yourself or trying to practice without proper alignment or instruction can be just as dangerous for your body and health as any other form of intense physical activity.

Still, the overall benefits of yoga are generally considered positive. So here are some of most basic facts about yoga — and its economic impact — that may surprise you.

It’s a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry

In 2013, a Huffington Post story called yoga a $27 billion industry. A 2016 study by Yoga Journal and the Yoga Alliance reported it’s a $16.8 billion industry. Statista concludes that yoga’s 2015 revenue in the U.S. alone was $9.09 billion, and it’s estimated to rise to $11.56 billion by 2020.

So, while the exact billion-dollar number seems difficult to lock down, the conclusion is real: Between classes people pay to attend, and the equipment and accessories practitioners buy, yoga has become a big business.

Yoga’s More Lucrative and More Popular Than CrossFit

To put yoga in perspective let’s compare it to CrossFit, another fitness craze that has sharply risen in popularity in recent years. CrossFit’s an estimated $4 billion industry.

On Google, people search for yoga far more often, too (see graph).

About 36 Percent of the World’s Population Practices Yoga

According to a United Nations news report, an estimated 2 billion people worldwide practice yoga. Earth’s overall current population is currently more than 7.5 billion.

To be fair, the number of yoga practitioners is somewhat contested, with other sources claiming the worldwide number of yoga practitioners is closer to 300 million. Either way, it’s a pretty impressive number.

Yoga vs. Tinder

More people regularly practice yoga than use Tinder daily. Tinder users are estimated at 50 million.

34 Percent of Americans Expressed Interest Practicing Yoga

According to the 2016 study by Yoga Journal and the Yoga Alliance, 34 percent of Americans reported that they’re “somewhat or very likely to practice yoga in the next 12 months.”

The same survey pinpointed the actual number of U.S. yoga practitioners at 36.7 million.

It’s Been in America for Longer Than You Think

It took a few thousand years, but the first yoga practitioner to make it to the United States, Swami Vivekenanda, came over in 1894. He published a book, “Raja Yoga,” out of New York in 1896.

There was a resurgence in the 1920s, thanks to another famous yoga teacher, Paramahansa Yogananda. He spoke, taught and published the classic book “Autobiography of the Yogi,” which remains popular to this day with more than four million copies sold since its 1947 publication.

Yoga Studios Are Booming

There are more than 6,000 yoga studios in the United States. Some of them are homegrown while others are becoming increasingly corporate.

Yoga’s a Popular Amazon Search, Too

Through 2018, “yoga mat” ranked No. 58 on the list of most popular Amazon searches, with around 769,000 people looking for it. Just below it, at No. 59 with 767,000 searches, was “gaming chair.”

So more people were looking for a comfortable way to move than a comfortable way to sit down for hours. Though, to be fair, the more sedentary Nintendo Switch topped the Amazon list with more than four million searches.

Instagram Loves Yoga

A quick Instagram search for #yoga yields more than 61 million results, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Being a yoga lifestyle brand or influencer is growing business, with the top nine yoga-themed influencers by Heepsy’s account each having more than 1 million (and some more than 2 million) followers.

Teaching Yoga Is a Popular Job or Side Hustle

According to a CNN story being a yoga teacher is one of the best jobs in America based on the income, growth potential and overall stress levels (in this case, a general lack thereof).

Through December of 2015, 52,746 teachers had graduated from the more than 18,000 Yoga Alliance-registered schools.

There Are Many Ways to Practice

Yoga is being incorporated into other popular workouts in many creative ways. To name a few: yogalates, power, kundalini, hot, Iyengar, vinyasa, bikram, Yin and trauma.

Yoga, it seems, can be modified to fit almost any lifestyle or fitness goal.

Class Costs Vary

The average cost of a yoga class in the United States ranges from $12-$16, depending on where you live. Many gym memberships include group yoga classes.

Some yoga studios offer class packages and monthly memberships that can reduce that overall cost in exchange for a one-time fee. The trick is, of course, getting to classes to make that membership cost worth it.

You Can Do It With Online Instruction

You don’t need to be a member of or even physically attend a more traditional yoga studio in order to practice regularly. Between free YouTube videos, yoga DVDs, online yoga communities, tutorials for yoga to jumpstart your workday and tons of yoga apps, there are myriad of ways to get involved in the yoga community without belonging to an actual physical community.