Chapter 2: The Digitally Enabled UK Fitness Sector

The UK comprises the four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its population is estimated to be 67.1 million people in mid-2020 compared with 58.7 million people 20 years earlier. This represents a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 0.67% over 20 years. For comparison, the 28 countries that comprise the European Union (EU) saw their population growth of 0.28% over the same period.

The UK has the second-largest economy in Europe, which was valued at £1.9 trillion (€2.2 trillion) in 2020 (Office for National Statistics, 2021). Its economy had been growing steadily, before the Covid-19 pandemic, at a CAGR of just over 1% over the 20 years 2000 to 2020.