The meditation business is in an excitable state right now.
In 2017, the business of mindfulness became a billion dollar concern, according to Marketdata. Meditation apps like Calm and Headspace are raising big bucks in funding, with the companies being valued at $1 billion and $320 million, respectively.
And Americans are taking the time to unwind and focus, with nearly a third of all U.S. adults trying meditation. Of those, 69% liked the experience.
Furthermore, another 14% of U.S. adults say they haven’t tried it yet, but want to.
Age seems to play a role, with Gen Z overwhelmingly more likely to try and like meditation than older age groups. In fact, of those in this age cohort who have tried meditation, 8 out of 9 report liking it.
The trying and liking of meditation goes down the older Americans get, with the 55+ crowd bottoming out at 16%.
Overall, women are 25% more likely to have tried and liked meditation and are 78% more likely to want to try it. But the opposite is true when looking at Gen Z: men in this age bracket are more likely to have tried and liked meditation than women.
City dwellers are slightly more likely to have tried and liked meditation, and are also more likely to give it a go in the future.
With meditation making the leap from the 1970s-era “New Age” category to the more modern “wellness” bucket, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the more people pay attention to trends in medicine and healthcare, the more likely they are to have tried and liked meditation.
Meditation has clearly made the leap into the mainstream, and with younger generations being more apt to try it, it certainly seems like it’s about to become part of the fabric of life in America. And that means, it’s likely something people will spend money on.
