80+ Digital Wellness Industry Statistics 2021 [Research Review]

Looking at the market size of health and industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly influenced people's perspectives on their health. One of the segments that have seen tremendous growth in the last few years, especially since the start of the global pandemic, is the digital health market segment.

To highlight some of the top digital health industry statistics, we have collected data from over 30 sources that include topics such as health apps, wearable technology, telehealth, and more.

Digital health market industry statistics

• In 2020, the global digital health industry was valued at $141.9 billion and will reach $426.9 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.4% during the forecast period
• Social media influencers have affected the health and wellness purchases of consumers by:
• 45 to 55% in China and Brazil
• 10 to 15% in the US, Europe, and Japan
• According to a study on the U.S. digital health market, from 2011 to 2018, digital health companies focused on:
• management of chronic diseases - 73.2%
• prevention of diseases 23.8%
• detection - 13%
• Furthermore, based on investment, companies that focused on
• disease management received $12.8 billion on total investment
• singular disease prevention $4.7 billion
• singular disease detection $1.5 billion

According to a survey released by Pew Research in 2013:

• 77% of people who were seeking health information started with using search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo
• 72% of internet users looked up health information online in 2012
• 13% of internet users did their research in sites that specialises in health information such as WebMD
• 2% used Wikipedia or general sites to look up medical information
• 1% used Facebook or other social networking sites to get health information
• According to 26% of health seekers, they have been asked to pay for access to information they want but
• 83% looked for information somewhere else
• 13% gave up on their search
• 2% paid

Factors that drive the growth of digital health and wellness market include:

• Increasing use of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile platforms
• Rapidly moving healthcare IT infrastructure in industrialised nations
• Favourable government initiatives in U.S. and European region
• Rising demand for remote patient monitoring

Mobile health market

• By the end of 2021, the global mobile health (mHealth) market is projected to reach $310.4 billion
• In 2019, the mHealth industry was valued at $40.6 billion:
• Mobile apps dominate the mHealth segment at 53% market share
• Remote monitoring held 18.9% of the mHealth market
• The global mHealth market is expected to experience a growth rate of 28.8% between 2019 to 2027, with:
• North America expecting to reach $32.9 billion by 2023 
• Asia Pacific projected to see a 29.8% growth during the forecast period
• Europe growing at a CAGR of 28.90%
• According to surveys conducted in 2020,
• 14% of respondents used phone or video to do remote appointments with their health practitioners
• users of Mindbody app revealed that 40% have never worked out in physical studios

The mobile health and wellness app market

• The global mobile health app market is estimated at $40.05 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a rate of 17.7% annually, and reaching a valuation of $149.3 billion by 2028
• By 2022, it is expected that usage of mobile health apps would reach 84 million 
• In 2020:
• Usage of health apps grew by 25% during the pandemic
• Medical apps are the most used at 70.7% and expected to keep growing by 18.1% post-pandemic
• There were 47,140 health apps in the Google Play Store alone
• 93% of physicians believe that health apps can help patients improve their health
• In 2017, there are about 325,000 mHealth apps
• 80,000 mHealth app publishers
• 3.7 billion annual mHealth app downloads

Mobile health app usage in the U.S. 

• From 2019 to 2020, the use of health and fitness apps in the U.S. increased from 68.7 million to 87.4 million, or about 27.2%
• 86.3 million Americans are expected to be using one or more health or fitness apps
• In the U.S., health and fitness app usage increased by 27.2% from 68.7 million to 87.4 million
• North America brought in 38% of the mobile health app revenue
• Pre-pandemic, 68.7 million Americans had at least one health app installed on their smartphone and them at least once a month
• There's an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 mental health-related apps on the market, says the American Psychological Association
  • The most used apps are Headspace and Calm, which have 90% active users

Mobile health app download and spending 

According to Sensor Tower, mHealth app downloads was at 238 million globally in April 2020 and reached 1.2 billion by the end of the year

• The majority of the mHealth app downloads came from
• EMEA - 36%
• Asia - 35%
• In terms of spending, from March 2020, the average monthly spending on mHealth apps reached $100 million
• Global spending on wellness apps was at $1.1 billion in the first 10 months of 2020, and is projected to hit $1.6 billion by the end of 2021
• The highest spenders on mobile health apps are
• North America - 53%
• EMEA - 30% 

Augmented and virtual reality healthcare market

• By 2028, Grand View Research predicts that the augmented and virtual reality market will reach $9.5 billion, growing at a CAGR of 27.2% from 2021 to 2028
• Contributing factors to the growth of AR and VR use in healthcare include:
• Training
• Simulation
• Surgeries
• Diagnostics

mHealth survey

According to a survey from Accenture: 

• 83% of patients trust that their health provider will keep their medical information secure but only 54% trust that technology companies who provide the digital experience would keep their data private
• 23% of patients would be more active in managing their health if the digital health tool is reliable and secure
• Only 11% of healthcare providers recommended using digital tools to their patients to manage their health
• 52% of healthcare consumers said that a bad digital experience turns them off digital health tools
• 26% will change their current healthcare provider for a high-quality digital service
• 57% of people surveyed are open to using remote monitoring for health issues using at-home devices

The survey also shared that: 

• 54% of people are more open to receiving virtual healthcare services from traditional healthcare providers, but the number drops to 
• 27% if the provider is a tech company like Microsoft or Google
• 25% if the provider is a retail brand like Walmart, BestBuy, or Amazon
• 21% if the provider is a medical startup

 Digital health management

• In a survey of people who have epilepsy
• 90% want a mobile app that will help them manage seizures
• 75% want to be able to listen to music that can reduce the occurrence of seizures
• For asthmatic people who used inhalers with sensors:
• 79% of study participants were happy with the product
• 20% were somewhat satisfied
• 72% stated that they will keep using them
• 93% were happy about the reports they got from using the sensor-laden inhaler
• 90% found the information useful in helping them manage their asthma

Wearable device market

• In 2019, the global wearable device market was valued at $29.8 billion and is expected to grow 26.4% annually, reaching a value of $195.6 billion by 2027
• North America's market segment was valued at $11.7 million during the same period
• From 2017 to 2021, Americans who use wearable devices increased from 9% to 33%
• In 2024, it is projected that 72.6 million U.S. adults will be using wearable technology
• More than 80% of consumers are willing to wear fitness technology
• 75% of smart wearable device users state that these help them engage with their health
• From $21.3 billion in 2021, the wearable medical device market will grow at an annual rate of 26.8%, reaching $111.9 billion by 2028
• In 2019, Apple Watch accounted for 40% of the overall wearable market
• According to Scripps Research Translational Institute, Fitbit can predict Covid-19 72% of the time
• Of the owners of wearable devices:
• 70% believe the technology can increase their lifespan
• 63% think the device can help them achieve a healthy body weight
• 62% wish that using the device will help reduce the cost of insurance premiums
• In 2020, the smartwatch and fitness tracker market was valued at $24 billion
• Selling over 193 million units of wearable devices were sold
• 60% of the consumers bought smartwatches and fitness trackers from Apple, Samsung, Garmin, Fitbit, and Amazfit
• By 2025, about 1.2 billion wearable devices are expected to be in use, with the segment expecting:
• 400 million wearable device sales per year
• Wearable device sales to reach 258 million, with 40% of the devices having cellular connectivity

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Use of content

• If you wish to learn more about the digital wellness industry, you can send your questions to Nick Rizzo at nick@runrepeat.com. He’s also available for interviews.
• Feel free to use data found in this article on any online publication. We only request that you link back to this original source.

References