Although 10,000 steps per day can still be a suitable target for those who are more active, 7,000 steps per day might be a more realistic and achievable target for many
Walking around 7,000 steps a day could be enough to significantly reduce the risk of dying early and developing serious health conditions, according to a major new analysis published in the medical journal, The Lancet.
Drawing on 57 studies involving more than 160,000 adults worldwide, the research claims to provide the most comprehensive evidence to date that modest daily step counts are strongly linked to improved health outcomes.
“Based on our meta-analyses, compared with 2,000 steps per day, 7,000 steps per day was associated with a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality,” the authors of the study wrote. The same step count was associated with a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease incidence and meaningful reductions in the risks of type 2 diabetes (14%), dementia (38%), depression (22%), cancer (6%), and falls (28%).
This is the first large-scale study to examine not just death rates, but a broad set of health outcomes. “An inverse non-linear dose-response association was found, with inflection points at around 5,000-7,000 steps per day,” the study said, indicating that health gains tend to level off beyond this range for most conditions.
While walking more than 7,000 steps continued to provide additional benefits for some outcomes—particularly heart disease—the authors suggest that 7,000 steps may be a more realistic and impactful daily target for the general public than the commonly promoted 10,000-step goal. “Although 10,000 steps per day can still be a suitable target for those who are more active, 7,000 steps per day is associated with clinically important improvements in health outcomes and might be a more realistic and achievable target for many people,” the researchers concluded.
The study, titled ‘Daily steps and health outcomes in adults – a systematic review and dose response meta analysis’, also found that even relatively modest activity—such as 4,000 steps a day—was measurably better than very low step counts, such as 2,000 per day.
“Daily step volume is consistently associated with lower risks of major health outcomes. Although risk reductions occur even at lower step counts, they continue with increasing steps per day,” it said, while concluding that “approximately 7,000 steps per day was associated with risk reductions for all outcomes examined and might serve as a practical quantitative public health target”.
How was the study done?
The study team, led by researchers from Australia, the UK and the US, reviewed data from publications between 2014 and early 2025, with 31 studies included in meta-analyses. Step counts were recorded using devices, allowing for objective measurement across diverse populations. However, the authors noted that the “certainty of evidence varied across outcomes”, with stronger evidence for cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality, and lower certainty for outcomes such as cancer and dementia due to fewer studies and limitations in study design.
Still, the authors emphasised that step counts provide a straightforward and widely accessible way to encourage more physical activity. “Daily step count is a simple and easily communicated measure of physical activity,” they wrote, calling for public health policies to consider step-based targets as part of future guidelines. They also advised that results should be interpreted in light of limitations such as the age of participants and the potential for confounding variables.
