Yoga class participation has been measured from several angles: who practices, how studios operate, what students pay, and how teachers deliver classes. The figures below come from Yoga Alliance’s 2022 global study, its 2016 Yoga in America research, and Yoga Alliance Professionals’ 2020 online yoga survey. Because the studies cover different years, countries, and respondent groups, each statistic is identified by its measurement period and geography.
Contents
- Global yoga participation
- Who practices yoga
- Yoga participation in the United States
- Studio size and weekly class schedules
- Class pricing and studio revenue
- In-person and online yoga classes
Global yoga participation
Yoga Alliance’s Yoga in the World executive summary reported on fieldwork conducted in October 2022. The global study collected 11,020 completed responses across 10 countries: the United States, United Kingdom, China, Germany, India, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, and Chile. The supplied results below include country comparisons for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, China, India, the UAE, and Kenya.
The study’s practitioner figures and general-population figures are not interchangeable. Practitioner results describe people identified as yoga practitioners, while the comparison figures describe the general population in the same country. The reported age and education measures were:
| Country | Average practitioner age | Practitioner share with at least a college degree | General-population average age | General population with at least a college degree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 39 | 38% | 47 | 30% |
| United Kingdom | 33 | 70% | 37 | 15% |
| Germany | 33 | 45% | 31 | 24% |
| Brazil | 33 | 36% | 52 | 15% |
| China | 33 | 35% | 85 | 53% |
| India | 32 | 32% | 84 | 63% |
| UAE | 33 | 35% | 88 | 67% |
| Kenya | 29 | 29% | 67 | 44% |
The United States results place the average yoga practitioner at age 39, compared with a general-population average age of 47. In education terms, 38% of U.S. practitioners had at least a college degree, compared with 30% of the general population. In the United Kingdom, practitioners averaged 33 years old and 70% had at least a college degree; the corresponding general-population figures were an average age of 37 and 15% with at least a college degree.
Germany’s practitioners averaged 33, compared with 31 for the general population. At least a college degree was reported by 45% of practitioners and 24% of the general population. Brazil’s practitioners also averaged 33, while the general-population average age was 52; the education figures were 36% for practitioners and 15% for the general population.
The study reported an average practitioner age of 33 in China and 32 in India. The corresponding general-population age figures in the supplied study results were 85 for China and 84 for India. Practitioner education figures were 35% in China and 32% in India, compared with 53% and 63%, respectively, for the general populations. In the UAE, practitioners averaged 33 and 35% had at least a college degree, while the general-population figures were an average age of 88 and 67% with at least a college degree. Kenya had the youngest reported practitioner average among these countries at 29; 29% had at least a college degree, compared with a general-population average age of 67 and 44% with at least a college degree.
Who practices yoga
The 2016 Yoga Alliance Yoga in America study measured U.S. participation at a different point in time. It reported 36.7 million U.S. yoga practitioners in 2016, up from 15.8 million in 2008 and 20.4 million in 2012. The study described growth of more than 50% from 2008 to 2016.
For U.S. adults in 2016, 15% were active yoga practitioners, equal to 36.7 million people. Another 13%, or 31.8 million people, were lapsed practitioners, while 85%, or 208 million people, were non-practitioners. These categories are specific to the 2016 study and should not be combined with the 2022 international results.
The 2016 U.S. study also reported that more than 70% of yoga practitioners were women. Among current yoga teachers, 22% were not currently teaching and 68% were in yoga teacher training. More than 80% of teachers and trainees had taken a yoga class in the previous week as students, and more than 82% had practiced yoga on their own in the previous week.
Near-term intent was high in this teacher-and-trainee group: 85% were very likely to practice yoga in the next 12 months, while 15% were somewhat likely. Those figures describe likelihood reported in the 2016 U.S. study, not a later attendance measurement.
Yoga participation in the United States
The U.S. participation series shows how the 2016 Yoga Alliance figures were distributed across current, lapsed, and non-practitioners. The largest group was non-practitioners at 85% of U.S. adults, followed by active practitioners at 15% and lapsed practitioners at 13%. The associated counts reported by the study were 208 million non-practitioners, 36.7 million active practitioners, and 31.8 million lapsed practitioners.
The same research gives context on the people teaching and training to teach. More than 80% had attended a class during the prior week, and more than 82% had practiced independently during that week. The reported 85% who were very likely to practice during the following 12 months and 15% who were somewhat likely indicate strong stated intent within that respondent group.
These measures answer different questions. Active-practitioner share describes participation status among U.S. adults. Weekly class attendance describes behavior among yoga teachers and trainees. The percentage of women describes the practitioner population. Keeping those denominators separate is important when interpreting yoga class statistics.
Studio size and weekly class schedules
The 2016 U.S. studio-owner study measured both the number of classes offered and the number of students served each week. The most common reported schedule was 1 to 15 classes per week, offered by 47% of owners. Another 27% offered 16 to 30 classes, 20% offered 31 to 50, 5% offered 51 to 75, and 1% offered more than 75 classes per week.
Weekly student volume had a different distribution. A majority of studios, 51%, served 1 to 15 students per week. The study reported 18% serving 16 to 30 students, 19% serving 31 to 50, 11% serving 51 to 100, and 1% serving more than 100 students per week.
| U.S. studio-owner measure, 2016 | Reported share |
|---|---|
| Offered 1–15 classes per week | 47% |
| Offered 16–30 classes per week | 27% |
| Offered 31–50 classes per week | 20% |
| Offered 51–75 classes per week | 5% |
| Offered more than 75 classes per week | 1% |
| Served 1–15 students per week | 51% |
| Served 16–30 students per week | 18% |
| Served 31–50 students per week | 19% |
| Served 51–100 students per week | 11% |
| Served more than 100 students per week | 1% |
Studio format also varied. In the 2016 study, 62% of studio owners said their space was dedicated entirely to yoga. Nearly 40% served between 100 and 500 students per week, a separate reported measure from the student-volume categories above. This distinction matters because the study included multiple studio-owner questions with different response descriptions.
Class pricing and studio revenue
The 2016 Yoga Alliance research reported that a single U.S. yoga class usually cost between $10 and $25. In the studio-owner study, 12% of students paid less than $10 for a single class, 42% paid $10 to $25, 25% paid $25 to $50, and 8% paid more than $50.
Studios offered several pass structures. Individual class passes were sold by 92% of owners, multi-class passes by 84%, and monthly unlimited passes by 84%. Unlimited class passes for a flat fee were allowed by 63% of owners. Annual unlimited passes were less common, reported by 8% of owners.
Studio revenue was not limited to class fees. In the 2016 study, 56% of owners said their studio had income from sources other than yoga classes. Among those studios, 72% earned additional revenue from other fitness or exercise classes, 66% from other wellness or health services, 52% from selling yoga apparel, equipment, or accessories, and 35% from renting space to other organizations.
The study also reported selected financial measures. Overhead costs represented about half of studio owners’ income, 22% reported studio income above $100,000 in the previous year, 16% of studio income was spent on rent, 17% on teachers, and 11% on marketing and advertising. These are study-reported shares and amounts from 2016, not current operating benchmarks.
In-person and online yoga classes
Yoga Alliance Professionals’ 2020 online yoga survey captured teacher preferences and online delivery practices. In that survey, 70.7% of teachers preferred to carry classes out in person, while 29.3% did not prefer in-person delivery. Thirty-six percent said students did not like online classes or that online classes were unsuitable. Other cited reasons for not switching included money not being worth it at 5%, difficulty with online platforms at 5%, family or work commitments, confidence, or other personal reasons at 12%, and weak internet connection at 3%.
Online teaching still included substantial live interaction. Sixty-nine percent of teachers asked students to keep their cameras on. Ninety percent offered verbal cues or adjustments, and 70% were able to demonstrate while watching students online. Zoom was selected as the most popular platform by 90.6% of respondents, compared with 4.5% for Facebook Live.
The survey reported a strong preference for live instruction: 95% of yoga teachers preferred live classes over prerecorded classes. At the same time, 99% said student feedback on online classes was predominantly positive. These two results can coexist: teachers may prefer live classes, while students’ reported feedback on online classes remains predominantly positive.
Pricing was also included in the 2020 online survey. Sixty percent of respondents selected one of the midrange price bands for class cost. The supplied result does not specify the exact boundaries of those bands, so no narrower price range is assigned here.
Together, the 2020 figures describe a particular period of online teaching and should be read separately from the 2016 studio pricing and attendance results. The earlier research describes U.S. studio operations, while the online survey describes teachers’ preferences, delivery methods, platforms, and feedback during 2020.