Who’s Practicing Yoga

Data from Statista’s Global Consumer Survey shows that despite the potential health benefits to all, yoga continues to be more commonly practiced by women. The survey also reveals the extent to which the gender gap varies country to country.

As our chart shows, Yoga remains a more commonly practiced sport among women in all countries, with the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain, reflecting a roughly 30 percent to 10 percent split of women to men who at least occasionally participate in sport or exercise. South Korea stands out for having the biggest discrepancy between genders, with a particularly high share of women enjoying the sport, at 43 percent. India, where the ancient practice originated, has the largest share of people doing yoga overall, with 31 percent of the country’s female respondents that do sport saying they practiced it between April 2022 and March 2023, versus 22 percent of men. When looking at the data from the rest of the world, this is particularly high for men.

According to the 2016 Yoga in America study, yoga is becoming more popular, with the share of U.S. yoga practitioners jumping from 17.8 percent in 2012 to 28 percent in 2016. The yoga industry was estimated to have hit $37.46 billion worldwide in 2019, with projections expecting it to hit $66.23 billion by 2027, according to Zippia.