OPPORTUNITIES AND IMPACTS OF WELLNESS FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Wellness is a massive and growing share of the world’s economy. Wellness spending is over half the size of global health expenditures, and it is a major force in the global consumer market. And yet, the growth of the wellness industry has largely been a private-sector phenomenon, off the radar of most government leaders, policymakers and economic developers.

Why should governments start paying attention to wellness? As an industry, wellness has numerous potential cross-cutting implications for development—not only in terms of economic development, competitiveness and growth, but also in the arenas of health, urban planning, environmental and cultural sustainability, workforce, equity and diversity, social and cultural affairs, and much more. More broadly, wellness provides a new lens through which development can bring wide-ranging benefits for people, society and the planet alongside traditional economic growth objectives.

The wellness industry and broader wellness movement offer numerous cross-cutting impacts and opportunities for development and growth in countries, regions and communities around the world.