The Seven Countries with the Most Cosmetic Surgeries

Statistics Suggest Growing International Interest

The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons has released their list of the seven countries that go under the knife, in terms of population percentage. The information gleaned from these statistics shed light on some interesting, and even some baffling, trends in plastic surgery around the world.

The seven countries, and their most popular surgeries, are as follows:

1. South Korea – Liposuction, nose jobs, and blepharoplasty

2. Greece – Breast Augmentation

3. Italy – Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox Dysport) and Liposuction

4. Brazil – Breast Implants and Liposuction

5. Columbia – Liposuction

6. USA – Liposuction, Breast Augmentation

7. Taiwan – Botox and other wrinkle treatments

These numbers are very intriguing to the plastic surgery industry. The biggest surprise is how far up Greece is on the list with a trusted breast enhancement surgeon in Baton Rouge, while Brazil is lower on the list than expected. Greece, a country in the midst of an economic downfall, spent a surprising amount of money on elective surgeries.

“A country’s economy and the access to disposable income usually plays a big part in the demand of plastic surgery unless the government pays for it,” says Dr. Malcolm Roth, president of the American Society for Plastic Surgeons.

Meanwhile, Brazil, a country whose government offers a number of tax deductions found it’s way lower on the list, to the surprise of the industry.

“Culturally speaking, Brazilians have no problem with plastic surgery,” says Roth. “If anything, it’s seen as a status symbol to have had it.”

But the winner for most surgeries per capita is South Korea. Trend Monitor estimates as many as one in five women have undergone some sort of procedure in Seoul. One of the top procedures is blepharoplasty, or double eyelid surgery. Over 44,000 such surgeries were performed in 2010.

“In Asia, it’s very common for patients to want more Western-looking eyes,” says Roth. “So that’s really no surprise there.”

These results and more are beginning to shed light on the effect globalization is having on the industry. More and more people in nations across the world are coming to accept plastic surgery.

“Because people are beginning to talk openly about it, we’ve seen over the last couple decades the demand for plastic surgery grow,” says Roth. “People are realizing that it’s more common than most people think and there doesn’t have to be a stigma around it.”