How many steps a day: what's behind the 10,000 figure

Where the 10,000 figure comes from

The origin of the figure isn't entirely clear, but it isn't a study: most likely it comes from the brand name of a pedometer that a Japanese company sold in 1965, the Manpo-kei, which in Japanese means “10,000-step meter.”² The authors of the largest meta-analysis on steps and mortality sum it up this way: the goal isn't based on evidence but on a marketing campaign in Japan.¹

Official recommendations don't talk about steps either. The WHO asks adults for 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate activity, or 75 to 150 of vigorous activity, and notes that some activity is better than none;⁵ its guidelines don't set a number of steps. In 2022 there was no public health guideline recommending an evidence-based number of steps,¹ and the figures in circulation varied widely.⁴ How much activity the guidelines recommend, of what types and how to start we review in the guide on exercise for aging with independence.

What studies of steps and health show

The most cited analysis pooled 15 cohort studies from Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, with 47,471 adults with an average age of 65. Each person wore a step counter for a week and was then followed for a median of 7.1 years. In each study, participants were divided into four groups by the steps they took, each group's mortality was compared with that of the group taking the fewest steps, and the results were then combined.¹

Notice the shape: the first step up, from about 3,500 to about 5,800 steps, is associated with most of the difference; the following ones, with much less per added step. According to the authors, that steep initial slope suggests that increasing steps could be beneficial above all for people who take few.¹ In one of those 15 studies, published separately, with 16,741 women aged 62 or older, those who took about 4,400 steps a day had 41% lower mortality than those who took about 2,700, and risk stopped falling at around 7,500 steps.²

The 2025 analysis didn't stop at mortality. Compared with 2,000 steps a day, 7,000 were also associated with less cardiovascular disease, dementia, depressive symptoms and falls, with moderate certainty for the first three outcomes and very low certainty for falls. Its authors conclude that 10,000 steps can still be a valid goal for people who are already more active, and that 7,000 may be a more realistic goal for some people.³

Why the figure changes with age

In the 2022 meta-analysis, age changed the point beyond which risk stopped falling: about 6,000–8,000 steps a day in people over 60 and about 8,000–10,000 in younger people. There were no clear differences between women and men: in both, the lowest risk appeared at around 7,000–9,000 steps.¹

The authors suggest explanations, without having tested them: with age people take fewer steps, aerobic capacity declines and walking takes more effort, so the same number of steps may mean more relative effort for an older person.¹ Indeed, in that analysis people under 60 took a median of 7,803 steps a day, and those over 60, 5,649.¹

Does walking fast matter?

A review of controlled studies, on a treadmill, track or hallway, placed at around 100 steps per minute the pace at which walking usually becomes moderate activity, with differences between people.⁴ To recognize that intensity without counting anything, you can use the talk test while you move.

What isn't clear is whether pace adds anything to the total number of steps. In the 2022 meta-analysis, walking faster was associated with lower mortality, but once total steps were taken into account the results were mixed: the pace of the 30 minutes with the most steps in the day, added up even if they weren't consecutive, remained associated, and time spent walking at 100 steps per minute or more did not. The authors consider their results inconclusive.¹ Among the older women in that study, most pace measures were no longer associated with mortality once total steps were taken into account.²

Part of the problem is that people who walk faster usually take more steps too, and separating one from the other in daily life is difficult.¹ The guidelines, for their part, don't count steps but minutes of moderate or vigorous activity, and walking at a brisk pace counts toward them.⁵

What these numbers don't tell you

• They're associations. All the studies are observational: they can't rule out that people in poorer health walk less, rather than the other way around. When deaths in the first two years were excluded, the association weakened, although it held.¹
• A single week. Steps were measured once, over a few days. A week of recording usually stays fairly stable over two or three years, but the analysis doesn't capture later changes.¹²
• Other devices. Most studies used research counters worn on the hip. A consumer device, such as a wrist-worn watch, can give figures that differ by 20% or more,¹ so for your watch the thresholds are only a rough guide. When the counter gets it most wrong we explain in why your watch counts steps better than calories.
• Groups, not individuals. A point on the curve describes groups of thousands of people; it doesn't tell you how many steps you need or predict what will happen to you if you change them.

More than now, rather than a round number

From the shape of the curves you can infer a practical idea, which isn't a study finding: if you take few steps, a jump of a few thousand is associated with much more difference than going from 9,000 to 11,000. The WHO points the same way: if you don't reach the recommended amount, even some activity helps, and it's a good idea to start small and build up.⁵ In the programs studied, people usually gained on the order of 2,000 to 2,500 steps a day.⁴

• Look at your weekly average, not one day's number: for that average to be reliable you need at least three days of recording.
• Compare yourself with yourself. If you're starting from a low average, a goal of a few hundred or a thousand more steps a day is easier to sustain than jumping to 10,000; this is an inference, not a figure that has been studied.
• You don't need a long walk: short bouts count too.
• If you already take 8,000 or 10,000, these studies give no reason to cut back: in the 2022 analysis, high figures weren't associated with greater risk.¹

If new symptoms appear as you increase your activity, the WHO recommends seeing a health professional.⁵