The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) has released its 17th annual multi-specialty statistical data, indicating a 12% overall increase in cosmetic procedures performed in the US in 2013.

More than 11 million cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures were performed by board-certified plastic surgeons, dermatologists and otolaryngologists, totalling more than $12 billion for the first time since the recession began in 2008. Of that total, more than $7 billion was spent on surgical procedures and more than $5 billion on non-surgical procedures.

This year, liposuction replaced breast augmentation as the most frequently performed surgical procedure with a 16% increase and more than $1 billion was spent on the procedure nationwide.

The top five surgical procedures were:

  • Liposuction (363,912 procedures, up 16.3%)
  • Breast augmentation (313,327 procedures, down 5.2%)
  • Eyelid surgery (161,389 procedures, up 5.4%)
  • Tummy tuck (160,077 procedures, up 2.3%)
  • Nose surgery (147,966 procedures, up 2.9%).

‘The numbers do not come as a surprise,’ said Jack Fisher, MD, President of ASAPS. ‘Technological advances, less-invasive procedures, greater accessibility are making aesthetic procedures, surgical and non-surgical, far more attractive to the public at-large. Further, the rebounding economy is encouraging people to start investing in themselves once again.’

Women had more than 10.3 million cosmetic procedures, 90.6% of the total. The number of cosmetic procedures for women increased over 471% from 1997. The top five surgical procedures for women were: breast augmentation, liposuction, tummy tuck, breast lift and eyelid surgery.

Men had more than 1 million cosmetic procedures, 9.4% of the total. The number of cosmetic procedures for men increased over 273% from 1997. The top five surgical procedures for men were: liposuction, eyelid surgery, nose surgery, male breast reduction and ear surgery.

Botulinum Toxin (including Botox, Dysport and Xeomin) remained the most frequently performed non-invasive procedure with a 15.6% increase. Non-surgical procedures increased in 2013 by 13.1% with 9.5 million procedures.

The top five non-surgical procedures were:

  • Botulinum toxin (3,766,148 procedures, up 15.6%)
  • Hyaluronic acid (1,872,172 procedures, up 31.5%)
  • Hair removal (901,571 procedures, up 2%)
  • Microdermabrasion (479,865 procedures, down 3.8%)
  • Photorejuvenation (456,613 procedures, up 35.3%).

In 2013, more than $2.5 billion was spent on injectables alone. In addition, nearly $1.9 billion was spent on skin rejuvenation, a fast-growing sector of the aesthetic nonsurgical industry.

‘A significant increase in the number of both cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures suggests that people are once again investing in their appearance and perhaps have more disposable income to do so. Given the state of the economy and the competitiveness of the job market, we expect to see the numbers for anti-ageing procedures continue to increase,’ said Michael Edwards, MD, President-Elect of ASAPS.