What do you know about breast augmentation and plastic surgery trends and statistics?

POLYTECH Health & Aesthetics GmbH 2023-05-10

How does the post-pandemic aesthetic surgery market look like? What plastic surgery procedures are most in demand?

In this blog post we will review some of the latest plastic surgery statistics provided by different associations and see what choices women made worldwide, when choosing breast augmentation and other plastic surgery procedures.

 

Where do we look for information on plastic and cosmetic surgery statistics and trends?

Several plastic surgery associations conduct annual surveys, collecting responses from plastic surgeons in different countries.2

The most recent data published by the American ASAPS 1 and the international ISAPS 2 societies, surveyed the statistics from 2021. The 2022 data is yet to be published.

 

Latest statistics on Breast Augmentation

  • With more than 1.6 million procedures performed worldwide in 2021, breast augmentation continues to be one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures (second only to Liposuction), and the #1 most popular procedure for women. 2
  • 90% of the breast augmentation procedures were performed on women between the ages of 19 and 49 years old. 2
  • The total breast surgery procedures in 2021 increased by 14.6%. 2
  • The top 5 countries for breast augmentation surgeries are the US, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Germany. 2
  • For breast augmentation with implants, more than 88% of the procedures used silicone breast implants, only 2% used saline breast implants. 2
  • More than 50% of the surgeries utilised fat transfer technologies. 2 In the US, fat transfer in breast procedures increased by 117% (2021 vs 2020). 1

 

Latest statistics on Buttock Augmentation

  • Buttock augmentation is the #9 most common plastic surgery procedure worldwide, with more than 500,000 procedures performed in 2021, representing a 30% increase (2020 vs. 2021). The numbers are even higher when including buttock lift surgeries. 2
  • More than 50% of the worldwide buttock augmentation procedures are performed in only 4 countries: Brazil, Mexico, USA, and Colombia. Outside the US the procedure is significantly less popular, representing only 5% of the global procedures. The most popular country for buttock augmentation outside the Americas is Turkey, which performs more than 40% of the similar procedures outside the Americas. 2
  • In countries such as Colombia and Mexico approximately 50% of the plastic surgeons perform buttock augmentation with implants, whereas in Europe, only 10% of the plastic surgeons (on average, in the countries surveyed) choose to perform this procedure. 2

 

What happened to medical tourism post-pandemic?

Approximately 17% of the plastic surgery procedures in 2021 were performed on patients from other countries (on average, worldwide). The leading countries for plastic surgery medical tourism are Turkey, Colombia, Mexico, and Thailand. 2

 

What can statistics tell us about plastic surgeons around the world?

Although women are the more frequent consumer for plastic surgery procedures (representing 86% of the procedures worldwide), only 20% of plastic surgeons are women. The leading countries worldwide for women surgeons are Italy (with 26% women plastic surgeons) and Spain (with 24% women plastic surgeons).

 

What is the forecast for 2023 plastic surgery trends?

In a forecast article by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, surgeons predict a return to a less prominent and a more natural look, with smaller implants used. 3

The key phrase in a trend-article by NewBeauty is also “natural look”. Women choose smaller implants for their breast augmentation surgery or even choose to replace larger implants with smaller ones. In addition, women are more aware of smaller implants as an option, and opt in for “mini breast augmentation”, when previously they avoided the procedure altogether. 4

The term “natural look” refers to implant choice that considers the individual characteristics and body type of each patient. For this individualised approach, having a broad variety of implant choice is key.

At POLYTECH we offer more than 2,000 breast and body-contouring implant options for greater personal choice, preferences, and medical needs.

 

Breast Augmentation

 

#1 most popular
procedure for women 2

Buttock Augmentation

 

#9 most common
plastic surgery procedure worldwide 2

1.6m breast augmentations
in 20212

 

90% between ages
of 19 and 49 years old 2

~50% of plastic surgeons

 

in Colombia and Mexico
perform buttock augmentation with implants 2

What to read next?

 

Sources:

1. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery National Databank STATISTICS 2020–2021 https://cdn.theaestheticsociety.org/media/statistics/2021-TheAestheticSocietyStatistics.pdf

2. ISAPS INTERNATIONAL SURVEY ON AESTHETIC/COSMETIC PROCEDURES performed in 2021 https://www.isaps.org/media/vdpdanke/isaps-global-survey_2021.pdf 

3. Plastic surgery trends for 2023, according to plastic surgeons https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/articles/plastic-surgery-trends-for-2023-according-to-plastic-surgeons 

4. Why Smaller Breasts Are Big In 2023 https://www.newbeauty.com/smaller-breasts-trending-2023/