Running for health: the market of fitness services is growing in Russia

The fitness services market is actively developing in Russia. According to a study by Fitness Data, it grew by 25.5% in the first quarter of 2025, reaching a turnover of 79.7 billion rubles against 63.5 billion in the same period last year. Izvestia found out what trends are observed in the market this year and what development awaits it in the future.

Market development

The fitness services market is developing rapidly in Russia. In 2023, it has noticeably revived after the pandemic, adding about 18% and reaching 214 billion rubles. During the year, Russians visited fitness clubs 372.7 million times - 29% more than a year earlier, which indicates the introduction of fitness into everyday life.

The next year, 2024, was a real breakthrough for the industry after seven years of smooth growth. The market turnover jumped by 23%, amounting to 263 billion rubles, and the number of visits and club occupancy continued to grow, even though prices for subscriptions and services increased by an average of 11%.

In the first quarter of 2025, the market grew by 25.5%, reaching a turnover of 79.7 billion rubles against 63.5 billion rubles for the same period in 2024, according to the results of the Fitness Data study (available to Izvestia). According to him, half of the increase is due to the opening of new facilities and an increase in the customer base, 12.5% is due to an increase in prices. At the same time, Moscow provided more than 50% of the total growth (+35.5%, +9.6 billion rubles), while the Republics of Tatarstan (+32%) and Bashkortostan (+31%) stood out among the regions. At the beginning of 2025, 44 new fitness clubs with an area of more than 500 square meters were opened in the capital.

"According to the results of the quarter of the year, all key indicators indicate positive dynamics: sales of club cards increased by 12.7%, the sale of additional services increased by 14.9%, and attendance increased by an average of 5.8% across the country," says Elena Silina, head of the National Fitness Community.

Subscription instead of subscription

In particular, the study highlights the successes of the DDX Fitness network. According to Fitness Data, the number of new clubs opened by the chain in the first quarter of the year exceeded the figures of all major market players together. As follows from the report (the data is confirmed by announcements of openings on websites and in Telegram channels of networks), Bright Fit was launched by 4 clubs, Spirit.Fitness — 3, Urbanfit — 2. The network has expanded its presence to 14 cities: Moscow (8 clubs), St. Petersburg (3), Kazan, Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk. The network's first club was launched in 2018. Today, there are more than 90 of them, with 23 clubs opening in the first quarter of 2025.

According to Ivan Sitnikov, CEO of DDX Fitness, the network's growth driver was the connection of recurring payments to the network. In this format, customers pay a small amount each month, rather than paying for an annual subscription right away. This approach appeared and became popular in the USA back in the late 90s, where the Planet Fitness and LA Fitness networks began using it.

DDX Fitness was one of the first to introduce this model in Russia, highlighting the advantages of the model: a low entry threshold for the amount of monthly payment, high conversion (35-50% of new customers) and an increase in customer lifetime value due to the convenience of automatic payments (LTV), which is especially important for regions.

In two years, the share of such subscriptions in the sales structure increased from 7% in 2023 to 12% in the first quarter of 2025, demonstrating the most significant increase among all formats. In Moscow, the trend is even more pronounced: here, subscriptions already occupy 20% of the market, which is almost twice the national average. Many market participants, seeing this example, also switch to recurring payments.

"The latest Fitness Data shows that the fitness penetration rate in Russia has reached 4.75%. We see a huge potential for market growth: within 10-15 years, it ranges from 15-20%. This is a 3-4-fold increase in the market. Accordingly, if we now estimate the market potential at 1,000 clubs, then, taking into account the growth, Russia will need more than 2,000 clubs in the future for 10-15 years," predicts Ivan Sitnikov.

As the company explained to Izvestia, DDX Fitness uses cluster analysis to accurately assess where it is more promising to open: mini-markets, population density, and transport accessibility are taken into account. This method revealed that Khoroshevo-Mnevniki and Solntsevo should become priority areas in Moscow: active construction is underway there, and most of the residents correspond to the parameters of the target audience.

Growth and key trends

The involvement of Russians in fitness is constantly growing: now it averages 4.85% (7.08 million people) in the country, and 16.5% (2.18 million) in Moscow. The capital is approaching the level of London (19.9%), and if the dynamics continue, it will equal it by 2029, analysts estimate. Investments in the fitness sector are also increasing: in the first quarter, investments amounted to about 7.1 billion rubles, which is an increase of 44% compared to last year.

However, not everyone still has comfortable access to classes.: Only 77% of urban residents have a fitness club within a 15-minute walk from home. For comparison, in the case of supermarkets, the figure reaches 98%.

As Maxim Borovikov, managing partner of the FitnessData research company, notes, today the fitness services market is showing mixed results: the overall growth figures are impressive, but there are certain imbalances in the regional component and in terms of player growth.

— More than half of all open clubs with an area of more than 500 sq. m. in the first quarter of 2025, one operator, DDX Fitness, opened (26 out of 46 open clubs). And half of the increase in absolute terms was provided by the metropolitan region, where the market grew by 35% at once, — says the interlocutor of Izvestia. — However, so far we see steady development, both due to price increases and due to the increase in those involved in fitness: at the end of the quarter, at least 130 thousand people who previously did not have club cards purchased club cards.

Speaking about market trends, the expert primarily names the recurrent model as the most promising and profitable for customers. The second trend was the boom of the studio format — the growth in the number of small mono-directional fitness studios. Statistics show that 17% of the studios opened in 2024 did not "live up" to 2025, but the situation is already better than in 2023, when the share of closures was 28-30%. According to Olga Kiselyova, President of AOFI, this indicates that "entrepreneurs are becoming more and more professional."

In particular, Maxim Borovikov explains, studio owners are abandoning the concept of monoformat, choosing a multi-format approach. They take into account the areas with the highest demand: stretching, yoga and others related to "soft fitness" in the regions, pilates, high heels and pylon sports in the capital and major cities.

The third, equally important trend in the market, experts call technologization. Artificial intelligence is actively used in fitness applications and CRM: it helps to create personal training programs, analyze customer behavior and, as a result, increase the average check. "The number of users of AI solutions is growing by 30-35% annually, and the introduction of technology helps to increase the average receipt by 10-15%," says Elena Silina.

According to her, current trends reflect a profound transformation of the industry: businesses are reviewing their work models, focusing on personalization, technology, and flexibility.

"However, the main challenge of 2025 is to grow the market by increasing prices, not the customer base. This requires a balance between the availability of services and the profitability of the business," sums up Silina.