2. The Role of Technology in Monitoring Health

Explore how people are using technology to monitor their health and wellness, and what consumers are willing to pay for.

34% of people use their smartphone to monitor their health or diet.

The use of smartphones for monitoring health and/or diet is highest among Millennials (44%) and females (37%), globally. Regionally, people in India (51%) and China (48%) monitor their health most frequently using smartphones, while people in the US and UK utilise this technology the least (27%).

30% of people use their smartphone for exercise, meditation or other wellness activities.

Similar to monitoring health and diet, more Millennials (41%) and females (34%) are using their smartphone for exercise, meditation and other wellness activities.

89% of people who use health-tech to monitor their health or fitness have wellness goals.

For those who have wellness goals, here's where they say they are in their fitness journey today.

40% of people use a smartwatch to monitor their health, while 53% use only their smartphone.

People who wear smartwatches are actively monitoring their calorie burn 17% more than those who use their smartphone only, and 10% more than people who use other wearable technology.

Of those who say they are actively monitoring their health and/or their exercise, people who wear smartwatches report to actively monitoring all health activity at higher rates than those who use other wearable technology or smartphones only.This includes categories encompassing exercise, sleep, vitals and mood.

78% of consumers who monitor their health believe the social and community components of health and fitness apps make it easier to practice healthy habits.

This agreement drops with age (from 81% of Gen-Z and Millennials to 72% of Boomers), but universally felt the same between men (77%) and women (79%). Globally, 79% of this community wish there were more free fitness, health and wellness apps available to them.

30% of this community are not willing to pay for fitness, health or wellness apps.

Boomers feel the strongest about not paying for these apps, and more Millennials are paying for them already today than any other generation.

Of those who pay for health-related apps, 63% hold paid-for subscriptions to fitness and exercise apps.

Globally, the top four paid-for categories are fitness and exercise (63%), life coaching (35%), diet and nutrition (31%), and meditation and mindfulness (28%).