In plastic surgery practices across the globe, breast augmentation has long been the number one procedure requested by patients. But according to data just released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), there’s a new top dog: liposuction. In its annual global survey, ISAPS reported that there were just over 1.9 million liposuction procedures performed worldwide in 2021—a nearly 25% increase over the previous year—accounting for 15% of all types of plastic surgery. (Even celebs are opening up about their experiences with lipo more frequently.)
Meanwhile, breast augmentation fell to second place. There were approximately 1.7 million procedures performed, representing 13.1% of all surgeries but increasing only 3.8% since 2020.
So what gives? Dr. Gianluca Campiglio, a plastic surgeon in Milan, Italy, and the ISAPS Global Survey Editor, attributes the change to an increase in body contouring procedures in general coupled with rising concerns about breast implant–related health issues, including a type of cancer. “The lower increase in breast augmentation and related increase in implant removals also reflect our experience following publication of reports on BIA-ALCL in the preceding year,” he said in a press release. To that point, while breast implant removal accounted for only 2% of all cosmetic surgeries, it has increased nearly 50% since 2017—clearly indicative of a growing trend.
As far as stateside statistics go, liposuction also ousted breast augmentation from first place. However, the discrepancy wasn’t quite as great; liposuction accounted for 19.1% of all plastic surgery performed in the U.S. in 2021, while breast augmentations accounted for 19%.
It’s worth mentioning that there are many different types of liposuction, all of which come with different recovery times and price tags. For example, there’s the somewhat controversial high-definition liposuction (aka abdominal etching), different types of laser liposuction, and Strawberry Laser Lipo (which is actually in its own noninvasive category). The ISAPS report doesn’t detail the types of liposuction specifically, nor is it clear if the data accounts for the liposuction that’s often part of other procedures, such as mommy makeovers and Brazilian butt lifts.
Bottom line: both of these procedures continue to be extremely popular, although there is a difference in how quickly that popularity is growing. Whether liposuction will continue to outpace breast augmentation remains to be seen, but for now, it takes the top spot.
