Corporate employers in the US investing in wellness plan to spend an average of US$594 (£357, €432) per employee on wellness incentives within their health care programmes for 2014, according to new research from the National Business Group on Health.

The survey – the latest in a series dating back to 2009 – analysed the growth of corporate health improvement programs, which are designed to help employers manage their corporate health care costs by creating a healthier workforce.

This results mark an increase of 15 per cent from the average of 2013’s average of US$521 (£313, €379) and is more than double the average of US$260 (£156, €189) reported five years ago. The largest increase was among companies with fewer than 5,000 employees, where the per employee average climbed to US$595 (£357, €433), one-third higher than the average of US$444 (£267, €322) per employee in 2013.

The most popular wellness programmes are focused on lifestyle management, such as physical activity programmes, weight management programs and stress management, while other popular health improvement options include care management programmes, lifestyle-management services, health-risk management services and environmental enhancements.

The survey also found that 95 per cent of companies plan to offer some kind of health improvement programme for their employees, and the percentage of companies offering incentives to participate in these initiatives has increased from 57 per cent in 2009 to 74 per cent in 2014.

Data for the survey was collected online in November and December of 2013 by the National Business Group on Health in conjunction with Fidelity Investments. Responses were taken from a national sample of 151 companies from numerous industries including transportation, health care, technology, entertainment, consumer products, retail and energy. The sizes of the companies spanned from fewer than 2,000 employees to more than 50,000.

National Business Group on Health has a growing membership which includes the likes of American Express, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Boeing and Disney to name a few.