15 Countries With Most Plastic Surgery Per Capita in the World

The question that plagues me is whether we should call the countries with most plastic surgery per capita in the world vain or self conscious.

The opinion of the masses on plastic surgery is quiet dispersed. Some defend themselves saying that if they have the resources, why shouldn’t they make themselves look as young and beautiful as possible? While others take a stronger, more steadfast outlook towards the situation. They believe that we should preserve what nature has granted us, maintain our uniqueness and let nature take its due course. Their point of view is: what use is beauty if it’s not natural? I admit that I lean more towards the latter opinion, but then I can’t help but wonder, maybe that is just so because I think a cosmetic procedure is not worth the noticable hole it will leave on my pocket. Maybe if I had the means necessary for such surgeries, I would give in to temptation. Due to this contemplation, I’m not one to judge plastic surgery enthusiasts, though I definitely don’t condone them either.

I mean in a world full of people obsessed with appearances; in a world where cosmetic products are too many to remember; in a world where you are judged by the selfies you post on Instagram; in a world where YouTube is teeming with beauty gurus and in a world where Alicia Keys is bashed for not wearing makeup, I can certainly understand the pull of plastic surgery even if I don’t agree with it. Everyone strives for Angelina Jolie’s pouty lips and Ryan Gosling’s perfect nose. So there is no doubt at all why worldwide plastic surgery rates are slowly increasing. According to statistics released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), the total procedures performed in the world in 2016 amounted to 23,626,909 while the corresponding number in 2015 was 21,696,671.

With the industry booming, we decided to identify the top plastic surgery countries 2016, which we did, using data released by ISAPS. It ranks countries based on the total number of cosmetic procedures performed by their citizens. However, since we were more interested in cosmetic surgery per capita, we took population statistics from the United Nations website and divided the total procedures over the population of the country to come up with the number of cosmetic procedures per 100,000 citizens. Please note that we took population figures of 2016 and not 2017, even though they were available. This was to match them better with the ISAPS statistics. Moreover, we used the medium variant population estimates for our calculations.

Surprisingly, the ranking changed quite a lot when converted from absolute numbers to per capita figures. It was also interesting to note how it differed from our previous list of countries with the highest plastic surgery rates in the world. South Korea, which is widely considered the plastic surgery capital of the world and was number one on our previous list, is nowhere to be seen in the 2016 statistics! This discovery shocked me more than I can say and is a mystery I have not been able to solve. Maybe the country is over its obsession with cosmetic surgery, though that seems pretty unbelievable once you read our piece on the most popular plastic surgeries in South Korea.

The country with the most plastic surgery 2016 (in absolute terms) has remained the same as in 2015, that is the United States of America. People like Cindy Jackson, who according to ABC News happens to be the person with the most plastic surgery in the world with record procedures of 52, will certainly find that fact easy to believe. In fact, even if we rewind a few years and ask ourselves: what country had the most plastic surgery in 2013? Still: USA. The nation is nothing if not consistent. Furthermore, according to the 10 Most Common Plastic Surgery Procedures in America, Botox remains the favorite of the nation. Breast procedures aren’t so far behind either, considering that the US is one of the best and cheapest countries for breast implants and augmentation.

The US isn’t number one on our list of countries with the most plastic surgery per capita though, whatever you may be thinking. So let’s get on with it and see who took the coveted first spot. Though let me warn you, some of the entries might definitely surprise you.

15. Venezuela

Procedures per 100,000 population: 775

Venezuela is known for having gorgeous women but maybe some of them owe their beauty to plastic surgeries as tweaking one’s appearance isn’t exactly uncommon in this South American nation. After Botox, liposuction happens to be the most popular procedure here.

14. France

Procedures per 100,000 population: 800

France is the center of fashion and romance, so this list of countries with most plastic surgery per capita in the world would be incomplete without it. The total number of procedures that occurred here amounted to 517,731 in 2016.

13. Japan

Procedures per 100,000 population: 891

Out of the 1.1 million cosmetic procedures that Japanese people undertook, 106,177 pertained to eyelid surgeries, which is almost 10%. It seems that Asians are not very fond of their unique monolids, as you will see in another Asian nation further on in our list of countries with most plastic surgery per capita in the world whose most popular surgical procedure is also, you guessed it, eyelid surgery.

12. Germany

Procedures per 100,000 population: 892

This European nation accounts for 3.1% of the procedures in the world with a total of 730,437 plastic surgeries, while the most popular surgical procedure here is eyelid surgery.

10. Australia

Procedures per 100,000 population: 933

The diverse nation of Australia comes in at the 11th spot on our list of countries with most plastic surgery per capita in the world. It had a total of 250,002 cosmetic procedures in the year 2016.

10. Turkey

Procedures per 100,000 population: 993

Turkey is a unique country; part of it being in Europe while the rest in Asia, it soaks up the impressing qualities of both the continents. However, when it comes to plastic surgery trends, Turkey is no different. It accounted for 3.3% of total plastic surgeries in the world.

9. Spain

Procedures per 100,000 population: 1,021

Spain, home to the breathtaking beauties that are Barcelona and Madrid, comes it at number 9 on our list of countries with most plastic surgery per capita in the world with its number of cosmetic procedures (473,074) counting for 2% of the global total.

8. Colombia

Procedures per 100,000 population: 1,038

Colombian citizens tend to lean towards liposuction as their favorite surgical procedure, while the most popular non-surgical one is: yes, Botox. Come to think of it, all the nations on our list have one thing in common: their most sought-after procedure continues to be Botox, taking into account both the surgical and non-surgical categories.

7. Brazil

Procedures per 100,000 population: 1,216

Brazil is the country where the most eyelid surgeries occurred in 2016. In all other surgical procedures, it was second only to America. Brazil’s total cosmetic procedures accounted for 10.7% of worldwide totals. It’s ironic that Brazil also happens to be number one on the list of 20 countries with the most beautiful women in the world.

6. USA

Procedures per 100,000 population: 1,309

The total number of cosmetic procedures that occurred in America in 2016 is a whopping 4,217,862, making it the leader in that respect. The country accounts for 17.9% of worldwide procedures and it is also top of the list for breast augmentation and liposuction. However, the huge population that this enormous nation holds has resulted in its per capita ranking to go down considerably, so maybe, just maybe, USA is not as vain as it is widely considered to be.

5. Lebanon

Procedures per 100,000 population: 1,328

The second Middle Eastern nation on our list of countries with most plastic surgery per capita in the world, Lebanon merely had 79,769 cosmetic procedures performed within it in 2016. However, its small population of approximately 6 million means that the per capita rate is extremely high.

4. Italy

Procedures per 100,000 population: 1,612

Italy and its capital are full of historic structures and sites, yet the population does not want to match that: it aspires to look as young as possible. Italy is number four in the world whether it comes to the number of plastic surgeries or their per capita rate.

3. Taiwan

Procedures per 100,000 population: 1,646

As Asian citizens tend to be, people of Taiwan are quite taken with eyelid surgery. Among surgical procedures, it is the one that occurred most frequently while Botox was the most popular among non-surgical procedures.

2. Belgium

Procedures per 100,000 population: 1,723

Belgium wouldn’t even be on this list of countries with most plastic surgery per capita in the world if we ranked countries by absolute digits of plastic surgery procedures, but taking into account its small population has landed it in the second spot. The number of procedures in Belgium was less than 200,000 in 2016.

1. Greece

Procedures per 100,000 population: 2,574

Maybe it is the supreme pressure to look like Greek gods and goddesses that has driven the beautiful nation’s citizens to flock outside cosmetic surgeons’ offices. Even though the number of procedures that occurred in Greece in 2016 was only 287,918, its per capita plastic surgery rate is considerably higher than any other nation. With that, we close off our list of the 15 countries with most plastic surgery per capita in the world.