Africa’s top gym selfie cities revealed

But first, let me take a selfie! With many of us returning to the gym to tick off our New Year’s resolutions, it’s been revealed that Cape Town is surprisingly NOT the gym selfie capital of Africa.

With over three million Instagram posts under #gymselfie alone, taking a selfie is just as much a part of going to the gym as working out is.

New research by SportsShoes.com has analysed Instagram data for gym-related hashtags to unveil where in the world posts the most selfies at the gym.

The company created a unique #gymselfie score for over 500 global cities by analysing the number of gym-related hashtags and population sizes, to assess which places are taking the most photos in the gym per capita.

Africa’s gym selfie hotspots

In Africa, Cairo, Egypt boasts the most Instagram uploads from the gym per person, with 48,139 posts under the city’s gym-related hashtags compared to its population of over 21.3 million.

Surprisingly, gym bunnies from Cape Town in South Africa didn’t take the top spot. Instead, Cape Town only just made the top 10, holding position nine with 957 hashtags compared to its population of 4.7 million. Durban also beat out the Mother City in sixth place.

The Africa top three were rounded off by Abuja, Nigeria in second place with 5,399 posts under the city’s gym-related hashtags made by its 3.46 million residents, and Lagos, Nigeria which took the third spot in the rankings thanks to gym-goers snapping 12,759 workout gains compared to its population of 14.8 million.

Surprisingly, no cities from African countries made the top 25 global gym selfie hotspots, however, the city of Cairo saw the eighth-highest amount of hashtags globally.

Global gym selfie hotspots

Based in the shimmering Costa del Sol and a hotspot for fitness influencers and celebrities to sunbathe at famous beach bars by day and party in clubs by night, Spain’s Marbella took the top spot for gym posts per person globally.

Dubai ranked second globally thanks to over 800 luxury gyms, which provide the perfect backdrop for a staggering 198,200 Instagram posts. Not only are residents of Dubai regularly updating their feed with weights, cardio and hot yoga sessions, but people travel from all over the world to luxuriate in the glamour of Dubai’s fitness lifestyle.

The faithful gym selfie proved extremely popular with UK based fitness fanatics, with eight of the top 25 spots for gym selfies being held by British cities.

Norwich ranked third globally, and took the top spot for British cities, whilst Wigan, Leeds and Warrington placed fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. They were followed by Australia and the USA.