Pinned to the ledger
Gym membership churn and revenue in the UK: published benchmarks and worked tables
Published UK figures put member churn at about 5% a month: The Gym Group's average tenure of 18.5 months in 2026 and a 2013 study of 342,759 member records work out at 5.4% and 5.3%. At 5%, a gym with 300 members charging £45 keeps 162 after a year without new joiners; one point less churn adds £6,608 that year.
What monthly churn do UK gyms report?
Churn is the share of members who leave in a month. Very few UK figures are published with a method behind them. These are the ones we could read on 12 November 2026, from the operator or the researcher who measured them. The last column turns each figure into the steady monthly rate that would give the same result, so they can be read side by side.
| Who measured it | What was measured | Published figure | Steady monthly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Gym Group, first half of 2026 | Average member tenure, across about 1,002,000 members of a low-cost chain | 18.5 months | 5.4% 1 ÷ 18.5 is 0.054, which is 5.4% |
| PureGym, UK, August 2026 | Average tenure, from an investor presentation | 20 months | 5.0% 1 ÷ 20 is 0.050, which is 5.0% |
| The White Report, 2013 (Dr Paul Bedford) | Share of members still there after 12 months, 2009 to 2012, 342,759 member records | 51.9% | 5.3% the monthly rate that leaves 51.9% after 12 months is 1 − (0.519 to the power 1/12), which is 5.3% |
| The White Report, 2013 (Dr Paul Bedford) | Members who cancel each month, for every 1,000 | 55.1 per 1,000 | 5.5% 55.1 ÷ 1,000 is 5.5% |
- The Gym Group reported an average member tenure of 18.5 months in the first half of 2026. Source: The Gym Group plc: 2026 interim results, 9 September 2026 (PDF) (checked 12 November 2026).
- PureGym's investor presentation of 27 August 2026 gives an average tenure of 20 months for its UK business. Source: PureGym: investor presentation, 27 August 2026 (PDF) (checked 12 November 2026).
- The White Report, drawn from 342,759 member records at UK clubs for 2009 to 2012, found that 51.9% of members kept their membership for 12 months. Its author, Dr Paul Bedford, set out the findings in Health Club Management: Dr Paul Bedford, "Attention, retention", Health Club Management, 2013 issue 9 (checked 12 November 2026), and Dr Paul Bedford, "Member insight", Health Club Handbook, 2015 (checked 12 November 2026).
The same 2013 study found 24.4% of members still there after 24 months and 10.4% after 48. A later study, TRP 10,000, followed members who answered a survey in 2013 for about two more years. Over that time 45% of them cancelled. Its author, Dr Melvyn Hillsdon of the University of Exeter, reported it in Dr Melvyn Hillsdon, "Retention: it all adds up", Health Club Management, 2015 issue 11 (checked 12 November 2026). That figure is not turned into a monthly rate here, because members were followed for different lengths of time.
Why do the churn figures disagree?
- They measure different things. An average tenure, a share still there after a year and a count of cancellations for every 1,000 members are three different measures. The steady monthly rate puts them on one scale, but it assumes the same share of members leaves every month, and they do not. In the White Report, fewer than half of the members still there after a year were still there a year later. New members leave fastest.
- They come from different years. The White Report covers 2009 to 2012. The Gym Group's and PureGym's figures are from 2026. We found no later multi-operator UK study of that size that we could read.
- They come from large operators. The two 2026 figures are from low-cost chains with hundreds of sites. We found no published churn figure for small independent gyms, boxing clubs or studios in the UK. If you run one, your own records are the only reliable benchmark.
- A figure called churn is not always a leaving rate. PureGym's presentation shows an "Underlying Churn" of less than 2.5% a month. Its footnote says this counts members in each month's base who are completely new to PureGym, leaving out anyone who has been a member before. It is not the share of members who leave, so it is not in the table above.
Read together, the published UK figures sit at about 5.0% to 5.5% a month. The worked tables below use five rates, from 2% to 6%, so a gym can find the row nearest its own.
What is the average gym membership price in the UK?
There is no single published average price. What can be read is two operators' own figures and two industry reports' totals. The industry figures below are each report's total divided by its member count, so they are a revenue for each member, not a price list.
| Source | What it is | A month |
|---|---|---|
| The Gym Group | Average headline price of a Standard membership, June 2026 | £26.91 |
| The Gym Group | Average revenue for each member each month, first half of 2026 | £22.14 |
| PureGym | Average revenue for each member each month, three months to 30 June 2026, across all its gyms including those outside the UK | £26.95 |
| State of the UK Fitness Industry Report 2026 (Leisure DB, now Evolve) | Market value divided by members: £7.29 billion ÷ 12.1 million members is £602.48 a year, and ÷ 12 is £50.21 a month | £50.21 |
| UK Health and Fitness Market Report 2026 (ukactive, with Grant Thornton) | Total income divided by members: £6.5 billion ÷ 12.2 million members is £532.79 a year, and ÷ 12 is £44.40 a month | £44.40 |
- The Gym Group's average revenue for each member each month in the first half of 2026 was £22.14, and its average headline price for a Standard membership in June 2026 was £26.91. Source: The Gym Group plc: 2026 interim results, 9 September 2026 (PDF) (checked 12 November 2026).
- As reported by Leisure Opportunities, the State of the UK Fitness Industry Report 2026 gives 12.1 million members and a market value of £7.29 billion, and the UK Health and Fitness Market Report 2026 gives 12.2 million members and total income of £6.5 billion. Sources: Leisure Opportunities: report of the State of the UK Fitness Industry Report 2026 (checked 12 November 2026), and Leisure Opportunities: report of the UK Health and Fitness Market Report 2026 (checked 12 November 2026).
The two industry figures differ because the reports are made differently. Leisure Opportunities says Grant Thornton uses live spending data, while Leisure DB estimates spend from published membership charges. Both totals are for the whole market, so they may include spending other than membership fees; the reports as reported do not say. We read the industry figures in the trade press because neither report could be read at source: the Leisure DB report asks a reader to register before it shows a page (Leisure DB (Evolve): State of the UK Fitness Industry Report 2026, as published online (checked 12 November 2026)), and ukactive's page refused an automated read (ukactive: UK Health and Fitness Market Report 2026 (checked 12 November 2026)).
The low-cost chains' own figures are about half the market average. A low-cost gym, a mid-market club and a boutique studio are different businesses, so the worked tables below use three prices: £30, £45 and £70 a month, the same three as the Direct Debit and card fees guide. We found no published average price for independent gyms in the UK.
How many members does a gym keep after a year?
The table starts with 100, 300 or 1,000 members, lets the same share leave every month and adds nobody. Under each figure is the number of new members needed every month, and in a year, to stay the same size instead.
| Monthly churn | Share left | Starting with 100 members | Starting with 300 members | Starting with 1,000 members |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 78.5% | 78 left To stay at 100: 2 new a month, 24 a year | 235 left To stay at 300: 6 new a month, 72 a year | 785 left To stay at 1,000: 20 new a month, 240 a year |
| 3% | 69.4% | 69 left To stay at 100: 3 new a month, 36 a year | 208 left To stay at 300: 9 new a month, 108 a year | 694 left To stay at 1,000: 30 new a month, 360 a year |
| 4% | 61.3% | 61 left To stay at 100: 4 new a month, 48 a year | 184 left To stay at 300: 12 new a month, 144 a year | 613 left To stay at 1,000: 40 new a month, 480 a year |
| 5% | 54.0% | 54 left To stay at 100: 5 new a month, 60 a year | 162 left To stay at 300: 15 new a month, 180 a year | 540 left To stay at 1,000: 50 new a month, 600 a year |
| 6% | 47.6% | 48 left To stay at 100: 6 new a month, 72 a year | 143 left To stay at 300: 18 new a month, 216 a year | 476 left To stay at 1,000: 60 new a month, 720 a year |
The working for 300 members at 5%: 0.95 multiplied by itself 12 times is 0.5404, and 300 × 0.5404 is 162.1, so 162 members are left. New members needed to stand still are the starting number multiplied by the monthly rate.
How much revenue does churn cost in the first year?
Each table takes one membership price. Every member pays once at the start of each month they are a member, the same share cancels at the end of every month, and nobody joins. The first figure in each cell is what the gym collects over 12 months. Under it is what one point less churn adds to that year: the figure at the rate one row up, minus this one. The last row is the year if nobody left.
| Monthly churn | For 100 members | For 300 members | For 1,000 members |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | £32,292 One point less churn adds £1,792 | £96,877 One point less churn adds £5,376 | £322,925 One point less churn adds £17,920 |
| 3% | £30,616 One point less churn adds £1,677 | £91,847 One point less churn adds £5,030 | £306,158 One point less churn adds £16,767 |
| 4% | £29,047 One point less churn adds £1,569 | £87,140 One point less churn adds £4,707 | £290,468 One point less churn adds £15,690 |
| 5% | £27,578 One point less churn adds £1,468 | £82,735 One point less churn adds £4,405 | £275,784 One point less churn adds £14,684 |
| 6% | £26,204 One point less churn adds £1,374 | £78,612 One point less churn adds £4,123 | £262,040 One point less churn adds £13,744 |
| Nobody leaves | £36,000 | £108,000 | £360,000 |
| Monthly churn | For 100 members | For 300 members | For 1,000 members |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | £48,439 One point less churn adds £2,688 | £145,316 One point less churn adds £8,064 | £484,387 One point less churn adds £26,881 |
| 3% | £45,924 One point less churn adds £2,515 | £137,771 One point less churn adds £7,545 | £459,236 One point less churn adds £25,151 |
| 4% | £43,570 One point less churn adds £2,353 | £130,710 One point less churn adds £7,060 | £435,702 One point less churn adds £23,535 |
| 5% | £41,368 One point less churn adds £2,203 | £124,103 One point less churn adds £6,608 | £413,676 One point less churn adds £22,026 |
| 6% | £39,306 One point less churn adds £2,062 | £117,918 One point less churn adds £6,185 | £393,060 One point less churn adds £20,616 |
| Nobody leaves | £54,000 | £162,000 | £540,000 |
| Monthly churn | For 100 members | For 300 members | For 1,000 members |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | £75,349 One point less churn adds £4,181 | £226,047 One point less churn adds £12,544 | £753,491 One point less churn adds £41,814 |
| 3% | £71,437 One point less churn adds £3,912 | £214,310 One point less churn adds £11,737 | £714,368 One point less churn adds £39,124 |
| 4% | £67,776 One point less churn adds £3,661 | £203,327 One point less churn adds £10,983 | £677,758 One point less churn adds £36,610 |
| 5% | £64,350 One point less churn adds £3,426 | £193,049 One point less churn adds £10,279 | £643,496 One point less churn adds £34,262 |
| 6% | £61,143 One point less churn adds £3,207 | £183,428 One point less churn adds £9,621 | £611,426 One point less churn adds £32,070 |
| Nobody leaves | £84,000 | £252,000 | £840,000 |
The working for 300 members at £45 and 5%: in month 1 all 300 members pay £45, which is £13,500; each month after that 95% of the month before are still paying, so the 12 months add up to £13,500 × (1 − 0.5404) ÷ 0.05, which is £124,103. Against the £162,000 those members would pay if nobody left, churn costs £37,897 in the first year. Revenue is rounded to the pound only at the end.
What is one member worth over their membership?
If the same share leaves every month, a member makes one payment divided by the monthly rate on average: 20 payments at 5%. Multiplying by the price gives what a member is worth to the gym before costs. Under each figure is what one point less churn adds to it.
| Monthly churn | Monthly payments | £30 a month | £45 a month | £70 a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 50 | £1,500 One point less churn adds £1,500 | £2,250 One point less churn adds £2,250 | £3,500 One point less churn adds £3,500 |
| 3% | 33.3 | £1,000 One point less churn adds £500 | £1,500 One point less churn adds £750 | £2,333 One point less churn adds £1,167 |
| 4% | 25 | £750 One point less churn adds £250 | £1,125 One point less churn adds £375 | £1,750 One point less churn adds £583 |
| 5% | 20 | £600 One point less churn adds £150 | £900 One point less churn adds £225 | £1,400 One point less churn adds £350 |
| 6% | 16.7 | £500 One point less churn adds £100 | £750 One point less churn adds £150 | £1,167 One point less churn adds £233 |
The working at £45 and 5%: a member makes 1 ÷ 0.05 = 20 monthly payments on average, and 20 × £45 is £900. The average tenures in the first table are the same sum the other way round.
What do failed payments cost a gym?
A payment that fails and is never recovered is a month's fee lost, and often a member lost too. The table shows the revenue lost in a month for each 1% of members whose payment is never recovered.
| Membership price | For 100 members | For 300 members | For 1,000 members |
|---|---|---|---|
| £30 a month | £30 Of £3,000 due | £90 Of £9,000 due | £300 Of £30,000 due |
| £45 a month | £45 Of £4,500 due | £135 Of £13,500 due | £450 Of £45,000 due |
| £70 a month | £70 Of £7,000 due | £210 Of £21,000 due | £700 Of £70,000 due |
The Gym Group's interim results for 2026 say: "Changes to our payments management have also improved our overall card payment success rate by 6%; this reduces the risk of failed payments creating unintended churn triggers." It does not publish the rate itself. What collection costs, and what Stripe says about retrying a failed Direct Debit, are in the Direct Debit and card fees guide.
Do members who pay by Direct Debit stay longer than members who pay by card?
We found no published UK figure that answers this with a method behind it: not for the share of gym membership payments that fail by each method, and not for how long members stay by each method. Pay.UK's Bacs statistics count Direct Debits, 5,029,499 thousand of them in 2025, but the page we read gives no figure for unpaid ones (Pay.UK: Bacs Payment System statistics (checked 12 November 2026)). Payment providers publish their own claims about this. This guide does not use them: it takes figures only from an operator's own results or a researcher's own study.
Do contracts and visits change churn?
- Contract length. In the White Report, 48% of members on one-month agreements completed 12 months, against 65% of those on a 12-month contract. In his 2015 article the author puts the higher 12-month retention of private clubs down to their selling more 12-month contracts, and says the gap disappears around month 18, because most of those contracts switch to monthly terms when they end. The Gym Group says fixed-term options now make up 10% of its membership base.
- Visits. In TRP 10,000, each month a member visited at least once cut the chance of cancelling by 20% against members who did not visit, and by 27% in the first six months of membership.
A contract term has to be fair under consumer law.
Does ZXN Fitness track churn for a gym?
Yes. The owner's screen at 09:00 shows who joined, who left and who has not been in for fourteen days, each figure opening into the members behind it, and the 20:00 emails go to the lapsed members by themselves. This guide is about published figures and arithmetic, not our software.
How was this guide made, and what are its sources?
On 12 November 2026 we opened each page below once, from a UK connection, with no login and no form filled in, and kept a dated copy of the text it showed. Every published figure on this page is copied from that copy. Every other figure is arithmetic on those figures or on the worked prices, sizes and churn rates, and the working is shown above.
- The Gym Group plc: 2026 interim results, 9 September 2026 (PDF) (checked 12 November 2026)
- PureGym: investor presentation, 27 August 2026 (PDF) (checked 12 November 2026)
- Dr Paul Bedford, "Attention, retention", Health Club Management, 2013 issue 9 (checked 12 November 2026)
- Dr Paul Bedford, "Member insight", Health Club Handbook, 2015 (checked 12 November 2026)
- Dr Melvyn Hillsdon, "Retention: it all adds up", Health Club Management, 2015 issue 11 (checked 12 November 2026)
- Leisure Opportunities: report of the State of the UK Fitness Industry Report 2026 (checked 12 November 2026)
- Leisure Opportunities: report of the UK Health and Fitness Market Report 2026 (checked 12 November 2026)
- Leisure DB (Evolve): State of the UK Fitness Industry Report 2026, as published online (checked 12 November 2026)
- ukactive: UK Health and Fitness Market Report 2026 (checked 12 November 2026): refused an automated read
- Pay.UK: Bacs Payment System statistics (checked 12 November 2026)
- The measurer's own words first. An operator's own results, or the researcher's own write-up of their study. Where a report cannot be read without registering, we use the trade press report of it and say so.
- UK only. Studies from other countries measure different markets and are left out.
- Nothing blended. Where sources disagree, each is shown with what it measured. No average of them is given.
- Scenarios, not forecasts. The worked tables assume the same share leaves every month, every member pays at the start of each month and nobody joins. Real churn is higher in the first months.
- No costs. Revenue is what members pay, before payment fees, VAT and running costs.
What are the limits of this guide?
- The published UK figures come from two low-cost chains and from studies of 2009 to 2015. None describes a small independent gym.
- The industry totals were read in the trade press, not in the reports themselves.
- A steady monthly rate is a simplification. Members leave fastest in their first months.
- It leaves out joining fees, frozen memberships, discounts, price rises and members who rejoin.
Check the source before you rely on any figure here. Each source link shows the date we read it.
What has changed, and when?
The sources are read again at least every three months. Each edition is listed here, newest first, with what changed.
- : First edition. Benchmarks read from ten sources on 12 November 2026; worked tables at three prices, three sizes and five monthly churn rates.
How do you report an error?
If a figure is wrong or out of date, tell us by the route on the contact page, with the address of the page that shows the right figure. We will read it again and correct this page, and the change will be listed above.