Dr. SaltzDemand for cosmetic surgery continues to soar in the five countries with the highest number of nonsurgical and surgical cosmetic procedures — the U.S., followed by Brazil, Japan, Italy and Mexico — according to 2016 statistics released in June 2017 by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS).
Rounding out the top 10 countries, according to ISAPS: Russia comes in sixth, followed by India, Turkey, Germany and France.
Overall, cosmetic procedures increased 9% from 2015 to 2016, with the top five countries accounting for more than 40% of the world’s cosmetic procedures. The U.S. represents nearly 18% of the surgical and nonsurgical aesthetic procedures performed in 24 countries.
An estimated 6,600 plastic surgeons practice in the U.S., compared to 2,050 in Russia, ranked sixth, and 225 in the number 30 spot held by Denmark, according to the section of the report ranking countries by number of plastic surgeons.
The fastest growing procedure in 2016 was labiaplasty, with a 45% increase since 2015.
“The area of vaginal rejuvenation continues to expand with surgical (labiaplasty) and nonsurgical options (vaginal tightening) never seen before,” says ISAPS President Renato Saltz, M.D., of Saltz Plastic Surgery, Salt Lake City, Utah. “Patient satisfaction based on published studies appears to be very high.”
Worldwide demand for the lower body lift increased 29%. Demand for the upper body lift and breast augmentation using fat transfer both grew at a rate of 20% in the 12 months since the last statistical report. The buttock lift increased worldwide by 20% in 2016.
Related: A global consensus on the femail buttock
Breast augmentation continues to reign in popularity as the world’s most in-demand cosmetic procedure and representing nearly 16% of all surgical procedures. Although demand for breast augmentation, worldwide, fell 4% from 2015 to ’16 — due to decreased use of saline implants — silicone implant use rose 4%.
Dr. Saltz says that’s a key finding — that demand for breast augmentation worldwide is consistent with what physicians see in the U.S., where breast augmentation is the number one surgical procedure.
Following in worldwide popularity of cosmetic procedures were liposuction, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty and abdominoplasty.
The least popular surgical procedure in 2016: penile enlargement, according to the report.
Botulinum toxin topped nonsurgical procedure demand worldwide, with a 7% increase since 2015.
Dr. Saltz says the continued growth of nonsurgical procedures worldwide makes sense.
“Patients now benefit from nonsurgical technology and products that actually work and have predictable, safe results,” he says.
Nearly 14% of patients worldwide in 2016 were men, according to ISAPS.
The data in the ISAPS report was tabulated from responses to a questionnaire sent to an international database of about 35,000 plastic surgeons.
Disclosure: Dr. Saltz reports no related disclosures.
