Mental Health

Plastic Surgery by the Numbers: Who Comes In First?

By Makini Brice | Update Date: Feb 05, 2013 02:51 PM EST

A new report issued recently by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons ranks the country, both by amount of procedures performed and types of procedures. Of course, the United States is number 1 for the second time in a row.

The report was compiled using data obtained from 996 plastic surgeons. Of these, 431 were from the United States and 172 were from Brazil. Study compilers assumed that other plastic surgeons in the same country performed about the same amount and types of procedures. Only board-certified cosmetic surgeons were used for the survey.

Representatives from the National Societies of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery provided totals for their country. In countries where such data could not be obtained, study compilers estimated the number based on the population size and the country's gross domestic product.

Leading the way is the United States, of course. Number #2 is Brazil - not altogether surprising for a country known for beautiful people and increasing disposable income. China, Japan, Mexico, Italy, South Korea, India, France and Colombia round out the top 10. The round-up has shuffled around slightly since last year, but still is comprised by members of the same teams.

However, while the United States, Brazil and China are at the top of the pack in terms in terms of total amount, they can only be expected, as all three countries are relatively wealthy and have a lot of people. The Economist points out that, per capita, South Korea, Greece and Italy poke and prod the most out of the list. In South Korea, there are nearly 14 procedures performed for every 1,000 people.

The types of preferred procedures vary by country as well. Lipoplasty is the top procedure performed in the world, a surgery in which a physician removes body fat from a selected area. However, in the United States, the most common plastic surgery procedure was breast augmentation.

However, non-surgical cosmetic procedures proved to be much more popular than surgical ones. There were over 8 million non-surgical procedures performed, compared to 6 million surgical ones. In fact, the most popular procedure - Botox toxin type A, or Botox, for short - was performed at a rate that outstripped lipoplasty by nearly 3 to 1.

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