UK-based health club chains Virgin Active and David Lloyd Leisure are leading the charge of Europe’s fitness sector, with 2013 revenues that place them first and second respectively among the continent’s top gym operators.

This was one of the main findings from yesterday’s report on current trends in the European health and fitness market published by EuropeActive, formerly known as the European Health & Fitness Association, in cooperation with Deloitte.

Virgin Active, part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, was named as the market leader in Europe, generating total revenues of £437m ($735m, €532m) in 2013, followed by David Lloyd Leisure with £327m ($550m, €398m).

In terms of membership, Germany-based budget operator McFit led the rankings as 1.2 million people exercised in its 200 clubs. The report predicts budget gyms to be the biggest drivers of growth in 2014, identifying country’s such as Turkey and Poland to lead expansion with expected growth rates of around 20 per cent.

Europeactive aims to almost double Europe’s health club members by 2025 and reiterated the importance of a unified sector in improving wellbeing across the continent.

“At the end of 2013, a total of 46 million members exercise in one of the 46,500 clubs throughout Europe. We are very confident that this number will increase further in the future,” said Herman Rutgers, board member of EuropeActive and co-author of the report.

“Until 2025 we are aiming to achieve a total of 80 million members with our plan for getting Europe more active.”