A 3E COACH report · data checked 2026-10-16
Personal training in numbers, 2026
We collected the published figures on coaching work in Lithuania, the Baltics and Europe: how many people work in sport, how many of them are self-employed, what training costs and how many people train in gyms. Every number has a source, and anything we worked out ourselves is marked.
The short version
- Almost 1.8 million people work in sport in the EU, and the number is growing: 8.9 % more in 2025 than in 2024.
- People working in sport are far more often self-employed than other workers (22.4 % against 13.7 %) and work part-time (40.8 % against 18.8 %).
- In Lithuania a personal training hour costs €20–35, about €26 on average; a training programme costs about €46 on average.
Key figures
1.80 M
people employed in sport in the EU in 2025 (1.65 M in 2024)
Eurostat
1.01 M
people in sport and fitness occupations in the EU in 2024
EOSE
22.4 %
of EU sport workers are self-employed; 13.7 % across the whole economy
EOSE
40.8 %
of EU sport workers work part-time; 18.8 % across the whole economy
EOSE
75.5 M
gym members in Europe in 2025 (+5.8 %)
EuropeActive / Deloitte
€39.1 bn
revenue of Europe's gyms in 2025 (+9.1 %)
EuropeActive / Deloitte
10.4 k
people employed in sport in Lithuania in 2025 (6.6 k in 2023)
Eurostat
1,009
“other sports activities” (NACE 93.19) enterprises in Lithuania in 2024
Eurostat
€26
average price of a personal training hour in Lithuania (range €20–35)
paslaugos.lt
€46
average price of a training programme in Lithuania (range €25–70)
paslaugos.lt
Europe: more people work in sport, and more people train
According to Eurostat, 1.55 million people worked in sport in the EU in 2023, 1.65 million in 2024 and 1.80 million in 2025. The figure counts everyone in a sport occupation in any sector, plus everyone working in the sport sector.
Europe's gyms had 75.5 million members in 2025 and took €39.1 billion across 67,515 clubs. The largest markets by members are Germany (12.4 million), the United Kingdom (12.2 million) and Spain (7.1 million). Gym members are 9.3 % of Europe's population and 11 % of people over 15.
| Employed in sport, thousand | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU (27) | 1,551.6 | 1,651.5 | 1,797.9 |
| Lithuania | 6.6 | 8.1 | 10.4 |
| Latvia | 4.9 | 4.5 | 5.4 |
| Estonia | 6.8 | 7.2 | 5.2 |
| Sweden | 71.2 | 79.8 | 84.9 |
| Denmark | 37.7 | 42.1 | 40.3 |
| Norway | 32.3 | 35.8 | 30.0 |
Lithuania: many small sport businesses
In 2024 Lithuania had 1,481 enterprises in sport activities (NACE 93.1), including 37 fitness facilities (93.13) and 1,009 “other sports activities” enterprises (93.19), up from 858 in 2023.
Our own reading: “other sports activities” enterprises employed about one person each in 2024. Much of Lithuania's sport services come from very small, often one-person, businesses — and coaches working on an individual activity certificate may not appear in enterprise statistics at all.
What a coach costs in Lithuania
2026 prices for personal trainers on the services directory paslaugos.lt (48 providers listed):
| Service | Price range | Average price |
|---|---|---|
| Personal trainer | €20–35 / h | €26 / h |
| Personal training session | €20–35 / h | €25 / h |
| Consultation | €15–40 / h | €27 / h |
| Group training | €12–40 / h | €21 / h |
| Training programme | €25–70 | €46 |
| Nutrition plan | €30–80 | €48 |
What this means for a coach
Our own calculation: a coach who runs 20 personal sessions a week at the average €26 earns about €2,250 a month before tax and costs (20 × €26 × 4.33 weeks). Working in person only, the way to earn more is a higher price or more hours.
That is why more coaches train some clients online: an online client does not take an hour in the gym, and their programme and progress are on their phone. How many clients fit in your week, and what to charge, you can work out with our calculators.
Work it out for yourself
Type your own numbers and see what you earn, how many clients fit in your week and what to charge.
Sources and method
| Source | What is counted | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Eurostat, sprt_emp_sex | Employment in sport (EU Labour Force Survey), thousand people | 2023–2025 |
| Eurostat, sbs_ovw_act | Number of enterprises by activity (NACE 93.1, 93.13, 93.19), Lithuania | 2023–2024 |
| EOSE, Sport Employment Statistics in Europe | Sport and fitness occupations, self-employed and part-time shares, EU | 2024 (published 2025-10-20) |
| EuropeActive and Deloitte, European Health & Fitness Market Report | Gym members, revenue and clubs in Europe | 2025 (published 2026-04) |
| paslaugos.lt | Personal trainer prices in Lithuania, 48 providers listed | 2026 prices |
Limitations
- No country publishes a separate count of personal trainers: Eurostat's employment in sport also covers club coaches, instructors, athletes and everyone working in the sport sector.
- Labour Force Survey figures for small countries, Lithuania among them, rest on a small sample and can move between years; Eurostat's series has a break in 2021.
- paslaugos.lt prices reflect the coaches who list their services there, not the whole market.
- This report publishes no data from the 3E COACH platform.
How to cite
3E COACH (2026). Personal training in numbers, 2026. Data checked 2026-10-16. https://3ecoach.eu/research/personal-training-2026
Questions
- How many personal trainers are there in Lithuania?
- Nobody publishes an exact count. Eurostat puts employment in sport in Lithuania at 10,400 people in 2025, but that includes club coaches and other sport workers. On the directory paslaugos.lt, 48 providers list personal training.
- What does a personal training session cost in Lithuania in 2026?
- According to paslaugos.lt, €20–35 an hour, about €25–26 on average.
- How many people in Europe are gym members?
- 75.5 million at the end of 2025, or 9.3 % of the population (EuropeActive and Deloitte).
- Can I use these figures in my own article?
- Yes. Cite the original source from the “Sources and method” table and, if you like, this report — the citation is given above.
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