MIAMI—The Global Wellness Institute (GWI), a nonprofit research and educational resource for the world wellness industry, released the second white paper in its “Understanding Wellness” series. The white papers are designed to serve as primers for policymakers, businesspeople, researchers and students on how wellness has become a major force around the world and the ways it will evolve in the future.
This second paper, “Opportunities and Impacts of the Wellness Economy for Regional Development,” outlines the ways a growing wellness industry can facilitate development and growth in countries, regions and communities around the world.
“The wellness economy is now a $4.2 trillion global industry, yet the growth has been largely a private sector phenomenon and off the radar of most government leaders, policymakers and economic developers,” explained Ophelia Yeung, GWI Senior Researcher and coauthor of the series.
“We think it’s time governments around the world start paying more attention to this crucial sector, not only because it enables economic development, competitiveness and growth, but because it has massive implications in the arenas of health, urban planning, environmental and cultural sustainability, workforce equity and diversity, social and cultural affairs, and much more,” said Katherine Johnston, GWI senior researcher and coauthor of the series.
Wellness is now over half the size of global health expenditures, which were estimated at $7.3 trillion in 2015*. As an industry, wellness is a major force in the global economy—close in size to the information and communications technology (ICT) industry and larger than the sports, pharmaceuticals, and travel and tourism industries.
Expect in-depth, digestible analysis on the following topics:
Wellness is an economic growth driver.
- Employment creation and small business development;
- Promotion of locally sourced, produced and branded products; and
- Women’s empowerment and benefits to families
Wellness improves public health.
- Mitigating rising healthcare costs;
- Improving health equity by engaging wellness workers in the community;
- Addressing the growing mental health epidemic; and
- Harnessing indigenous wellness knowledge, traditions and modalities.
Wellness supports the protection of natural and cultural assets.
- Environmental protection;
- Preserve and celebrate local culture and heritage; and
- Mitigate tourism-related challenges.
Wellness supports workforce development and worker welfare.
- Developing new models and solutions for businesses and workers.
For more information, contact Beth McGroarty: beth.mcgroarty@globalwellnessinstitute.org.
