Fitness app statistics span several related but different measures: app installation, current use, mobile-health adoption, perceived value and physical-activity outcomes. The figures below keep each study’s population, geography and measurement period explicit because most evidence is cross-sectional and self-reported.
Key Fitness App Statistics
The most useful headline figures across the studies are:
- In the survey period reported in a 2018 paper, 24.26% of mobile-device owners in a German cohort currently had a fitness app installed on a smartphone or tablet.
- In that same German cohort and period, 23.41% of mobile-device owners had previously installed a fitness app but did not currently have one installed.
- In the 2018-paper survey period, 52.33% of German mobile-device owners had never installed a fitness app.
- In the German adoption-stage model, 25.66% of mobile-device owners were currently using a fitness app during the survey period reported in the 2018 paper.
- Among current German fitness-app installers in that study, 36.7% used an app several times a week during the reported survey period.
- Among those current German installers, 24.7% used a fitness app at least once a day during the reported survey period.
- In a national descriptive survey period, 47.9% of 679 Saudi adults reported using at least one mobile health application.
- During the same Saudi survey, 47.4% of mobile-health-app users reported having more than three such apps on their phones.
- In the first quarter of 2021, more than 50,000 health apps were available in the global Google Play catalog, a broader category than fitness apps alone.
- In a physical-activity-app survey, 41.0% of 207 respondents used their app daily during the previous six months.
- In that survey, 48.3% used physical-activity apps multiple times per week during the previous six months.
- In the physical-activity-app survey period, 58.0% strongly agreed that app use increased their desire to be healthy.
- In the same survey, 56.0% strongly agreed that app use increased their desire to be physically active.
- In the Saudi national survey period, 68.6% of mobile-health-app users cited promoting health status as a motivation.
- In a COVID-19 confinement survey, 58.3% of 569 respondents were physical-activity eHealth users.
- In that confinement survey, 55.7% of eHealth users said they started during confinement.
- eHealth users in the confinement survey averaged 6,202.76 total physical-activity MET-minutes per week, based on self-reported IPAQ data.
- 80% of eHealth users were classified as active versus 63% of non-users under that study’s WHO-based criteria.
Contents
- Key Fitness App Statistics
- Fitness App Adoption, Installation and Market Reach
- Fitness App Usage, Frequency and Retention
- Fitness App User Demographics and Adoption Stages
- Fitness App Features, Motivations and Perceived Value
- Fitness App Physical-Activity Data and Measured Outcomes
Fitness App Adoption, Installation and Market Reach
The German adoption study separates device access from actual fitness-app installation. Among its cohort, 84.95% owned a smartphone, 40.89% owned a tablet and 87.98% owned at least one mobile device capable of running apps during the survey period reported in the 2018 paper.
Among German mobile-device owners, 24.26% currently had a fitness app installed, while 23.41% had installed one previously but did not currently have one. Another 52.33% had never installed a fitness app, and current installation should not be treated as active use.
| German cohort measure | Share | Definition and period |
|---|---|---|
| Smartphone ownership | 84.95% | Participants; survey period reported in 2018 paper |
| Tablet ownership | 40.89% | Participants; survey period reported in 2018 paper |
| At least one app-capable mobile device | 87.98% | Participants; survey period reported in 2018 paper |
| Current fitness-app installation | 24.26% | Mobile-device owners; same reported survey period |
| Previously installed, not currently installed | 23.41% | Mobile-device owners; same reported survey period |
| Never installed a fitness app | 52.33% | Mobile-device owners; same reported survey period |
Source: Describing the Process of Adopting Nutrition and Fitness Apps: Behavior Stage Model Approach. The study used a community cohort, not a national estimate, and the installation history was self-reported.
A separate national descriptive survey found that 47.9% of 679 Saudi adults reported using at least one mobile health application. This broader mobile-health-app measure includes more than fitness apps, so it should not be directly equated with the German fitness-app installation figures.
Among Saudi mobile-health-app users, 47.4% reported having more than three mobile health applications on their phones, and 74.8% said they downloaded the apps themselves. More than 50,000 health apps were available in Google Play in Q1 2021, but that catalog estimate covers health apps generally rather than fitness apps alone.
Source: Prevalence and Determinants of Mobile Health Applications Usage: A National Descriptive Study. The Saudi survey was electronic, self-administered and cross-sectional.
Fitness App Usage, Frequency and Retention
Installation does not describe engagement consistently. In the German study, current fitness-app installers were asked about frequency: 36.7% used an app several times a week and 24.7% used one at least once a day, with the daily-use figure reported as 63 of 255 current installers.
The adoption-stage model also distinguishes intent, current use and disengagement among 1,029 German mobile-device owners:
- 29.25% were unengaged and had never thought about using a fitness app during the reported survey period.
- 9.23% had decided to use a fitness app but had not yet acted.
- 20.80% had decided not to use a fitness app.
- 25.66% were currently using a fitness app.
- 15.06% had previously used a fitness app but had disengaged.
These are behavior-stage categories, not a forecast of national adoption. Disengagement means previous use without current use; the study did not establish why people stopped.
Source: Describing the Process of Adopting Nutrition and Fitness Apps: Behavior Stage Model Approach.
A physical-activity-app survey provides a separate six-month usage snapshot. Of 207 respondents, 41.0% reported daily use, 48.3% reported use multiple times per week and 60.9% reported using only one physical-activity app in the previous six months.
Source: How Do Apps Work? An Analysis of Physical Activity App Users’ Perceptions of Behavior Change Mechanisms. This was a convenience/sample-specific survey, so its frequency distribution is not a population estimate.
Fitness App User Demographics and Adoption Stages
Demographic results differ sharply by sample and should be read as descriptions of study respondents. In the physical-activity-app survey, 45.9% of respondents were aged 26–34, 82.1% reported being White, 94.2% reported being non-Hispanic or Latino, 51.2% were female and 63.8% had a four-year degree or some college without graduation.
The German adoption-stage study reported different mean ages across stages. Unengaged participants had a mean age of 45.31 years, those who had decided to act had a mean age of 37.14 years, current users had a mean age of 34.76 years and disengaged users had a mean age of 33.74 years.
| Adoption-stage group | Mean age | Measurement detail |
|---|---|---|
| Unengaged | 45.31 years | SD 16.61; German mobile-device owners |
| Decided to act | 37.14 years | SD 15.64; German mobile-device owners |
| Current users | 34.76 years | SD 13.95; German mobile-device owners |
| Disengaged users | 33.74 years | SD 13.52; German mobile-device owners |
The age figures describe stage-specific cohort means rather than evidence that age alone causes adoption or disengagement. The German community cohort may also have health-interest and representativeness bias.
Sources: How Do Apps Work? An Analysis of Physical Activity App Users’ Perceptions of Behavior Change Mechanisms and Describing the Process of Adopting Nutrition and Fitness Apps: Behavior Stage Model Approach.
Fitness App Features, Motivations and Perceived Value
Perceived motivation is more commonly measured than a controlled behavioral effect. In the physical-activity-app survey, 58.0% strongly agreed that app use increased their desire to be healthy and 56.0% strongly agreed that it increased their desire to be physically active.
Other perceived effects were less common:
- 21.7% strongly agreed that apps increased their belief that important people wanted them to be active.
- 22.2% strongly agreed that apps increased their knowledge of diseases caused by inactivity.
- 24.6% strongly agreed that apps increased their belief that inactivity leads to disease.
These percentages measure respondents’ perceptions, not independently measured causal changes in motivation, knowledge or activity.
The Saudi national mobile-health survey measured motivations and perceived advantages, with respondents able to select multiple answers. Promoting health status was cited by 68.6% of users, weight loss by 33.2% and practicing physical exercise by 24.9%.
| Reported motivation or advantage | Share of Saudi MHA users | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Promoting health status | 68.6% | Motivation; national descriptive survey period |
| Weight loss | 33.2% | Motivation; national descriptive survey period |
| Practicing physical exercise | 24.9% | Motivation; national descriptive survey period |
| Saving time | 64% | Perceived advantage; national descriptive survey period |
| Following health status at any time | 48.9% | Perceived advantage; national descriptive survey period |
Because multiple motivations and advantages could be selected, these percentages are not mutually exclusive and should not be added together. Saving time and being able to follow health status at any time are perceived advantages, not measured time savings or clinical outcomes.
Source: Prevalence and Determinants of Mobile Health Applications Usage: A National Descriptive Study.
Fitness App Physical-Activity Data and Measured Outcomes
A COVID-19 confinement survey examined broader physical-activity eHealth rather than fitness apps alone. Of 569 respondents, 58.3% were physical-activity eHealth users; users had a mean age of 29.88 years, compared with 35.37 years among non-users.
Among eHealth users, 55.7% said they started during confinement. Applications accounted for 42% of the eHealth modalities used, while internet videos accounted for 39%; respondents could report multiple tools, and internet videos are not fitness apps specifically.
| Confinement-survey measure | eHealth users | Non-users or wider context |
|---|---|---|
| Mean uses per week | 3.77; SD 2.12 | — |
| Vigorous-activity MET-minutes/week | 3,799.17; SD 3,415.61 | 2,343.42; SD 2,849.54 |
| Total physical-activity MET-minutes/week | 6,202.76; SD 4,750.03 | — |
| Classified as active under study criteria | 80% | 63% |
The activity measures came from self-reported IPAQ data, and the comparison is cross-sectional. The higher activity values among eHealth users therefore show an association in this survey, not proof that an app or other eHealth tool caused the difference.
The study’s WHO-based classification placed 80% of eHealth users in the active group versus 63% of non-users. This classification and the MET-minute estimates belong to the confinement-survey sample and should not be generalized to all fitness-app users.
Across these sources, “fitness app,” “physical-activity app,” “eHealth” and “mobile health application” are not interchangeable definitions. The evidence is mostly cross-sectional and self-reported, so adoption, usage, perceived benefits and activity outcomes should remain tied to the original study populations and periods.