UK health and fitness wearable tech users to double in 2015 as interest sparks

Of the 6.7 million current users of the tech, almost 90 per cent said they used a free app. A further half were reliant solely on unpaid software however 88 per cent said they would consider purchasing a health app in the future.

Around 79 per cent of the paying market claimed to use a wearable device to track data, while 28 per cent of respondents admitted they only use a smartphone app and seven per cent used both.

With tech glasses such as Google Glass slowly gaining prominence and entering the market, 15 per cent said they would consider such a purchase in 2015.

From a fashion perspective, 12 per cent of wearable users would purchase smart jewellery with a further 22 per cent expressing an interest in smart clothing. Another fifth said intelligent shoes would catch their attention.

Rioch Brewer, senior statistician at Kantar, said: “The health and fitness wearables market is still in its infancy, and brands targeting younger audiences as well as those in the sport and leisure categories are leading the way.

“These figures are set to increase as brands innovate in this space as a means of attempting to engage with consumers and extend the overall brand experience. It is also interesting to see that consumers are happy to pay for apps and devices, which opens up additional opportunities for manufacturers and developers.”

The firm currently estimates that the UK has spent somewhere between £225m and £375m in the health and fitness wearable tech market to date.

Earlier this year, a report from CCS Insights predicted that smartwatches will out-number tablets in the UK by 2018.