ISAPS 2022 Data: Liposuction Remains the Most Popular Plastic Surgery Procedure in the World

Liposuction is continuing its reign as the most popular surgical procedure across the globe, according to the newest statistics from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS).

The US also retained its title as the cosmetic surgery capital of the world in 2022, with surgeons performing 7.4 million procedures (22% of the procedures). Next up behind the U.S. were Brazil and Japan. The survey results were reported at the ISAPS Olympiad Athens World Congress 2023.

In 2022, there were more than 2.3 million liposuction procedures performed, a 21.1% increase over 2021, when it also topped the list of popular procedures.

The top five surgical procedures  in 2022 were:

• Liposuction
• Breast augmentation
• Eyelid surgery
• Abdominoplasty
• Breast lift 

Rhinoplasty fell from the Top 5 in 2002, the new survey showed.

Buttock Augmentation showed the biggest jump in surgical procedures with 820,762 performed in 2022, a 56.8% increase over 2021.

The most popular non-surgical procedures in 2022 were:

• Botulinum toxin injections
• Hyaluronic acid injections
• Hair removal
• Chemical peel 
• Non-surgical fat reduction

Chemical peel entered the top five in 2022, replacing non-surgical skin tightening. 

The Bigger Picture

The report shows a continuing rise in aesthetic surgery with a 41.3% increase over the last four years.  Both surgical and non-surgical procedures showed increases since the last survey (16.7% and 7.2% respectively), with a significant increase of 57.8% in non-surgical procedures in the last four years. 

There was an 11.2% overall increase in procedures performed by plastic surgeons in 2022, with more than 14.9 million surgical and 18.8 million non-surgical procedures performed worldwide, the survey showed.

Overall, body and extremities procedures increased by 25.3%. Face and head procedures remained the most popular in 2022, with just a slight increase of 4.3% due to a slight decrease in eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, and lip enhancement/perioral procedure. 

“Despite obvious cultural and social differences from county to country that make certain procedures more requested in some geographical areas and less in other parts of the world, the results of the survey show a significant global increase in all the surgical and non-surgical procedures aimed to improve the aesthetic appearance of the body,” says Dr. Gianluca Campiglio, Global Survey Editor and plastic surgeon in Italy in a news release. “I think this is largely due to the use of masks for much of 2022.”