Leisure DB has released its State of the UK Swimming Industry Report 2025.

In the UK 82.8 per cent of the population live within two miles of a swimming pool – this is the same as in 2024.

There are 2,646 pools in the 1,603 public leisure centres.

The top 10 public sector operators are in terms of sites with pools are: GLL (142); Everyone Active (139); Freedom Leisure (73); Places Leisure (67); Parkwood Leisure (44); Serco Leisure (34); Fusion Lifestyle (26); Halo Leisure (16); High Life Highland (16) and Wiltshire Council (16).

In the private sector there are 1,611 pools across the 1,279 private clubs.

The top 10 private sector operators in terms of the number of sites with pools are Nuffield Health (109); David Lloyd Clubs (105); Bannatyne (66); Everlast Gyms (45); Village Gym (33); Virgin Active (30); YouFit (22); Spindles Health & Leisure (22); Livingwell (18) and Total Fitness (15).

According to operators interviewed for the report, there is a stabilisation at above pre-pandemic levels for both swimming lessons and casual swims. Pools are also increasingly becoming the heart of regeneration projects, such as Woolwich Waves, which is part of a £80m Greenwich revival scheme.

Lidos and outdoor pools are experiencing a revival with innovations such as open-air cinema, poolside restaurants, moonlight sessions, doggy swim sessions and even naked swim sessions at Shaftesbury Lido.

Despite it being a challenging economic situation, the change in the total number of pools since 2019 is not statistically significant – a 0.4 per cent decrease to 4,257 from 4,559.

The total number of UK sites with a pool is now 2,882, this is a decrease of 14 pools since 2024, marking a slowdown in the rate of closures. In 2019, there were a total 4,559 pools.

Swimming contributes £2.4 billion of social value to the UK economy each year, primarily in NHS savings through the prevention of 80,000 cases of ill health. Swimming as an activity that everyone can do, regardless of their health or ability is something Swim England wants to push. It is now running a Water Wellbeing accreditation scheme – a kitemark for pools to obtain to give health professionals the confidence to signpost people to them.

“Among people with a long-term health condition or disability, participation in swimming is far higher than participation in other forms of physical activity. Among individuals with up to three health conditions, swimming participation sits just below 20 per cent,” says Swim England CEO, Alex Salmon.

Interviewed for the publication, Mosaic co-founder, Dave Courteen, emphasised how members increasingly use pools to relax and unwind: “If we want to broaden the relevance and appeal of our pools, let’s embrace the fact that they can also be wonderful spaces for the relaxation and mental wellbeing that people are increasingly seeking.”

The versatility and effectiveness of swimming as a physical activity, as well as its universal appeal led us to tip it as a trend in this year’s Foresight in the HCM Handbook.

Read the report for free here