The beauty-obsessed US top the list, but compared to population size, the most surgeries per person are happening in some surprising countries.
The countries with the most plastic surgery operations have been revealed by a report from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery that looked at the worldwide numbers for plastic surgery operations in 2010.
[Related story: Pippa's bum causes surge in surgery]
[Related story: Modern etiquette - talking about plastic surgery]
It found that while countries renowned for their love of beautifying procedures such as Brazil and the US top the list, when you look at the amount of surgeries compared to the population, the statistics are quite different.
The tiny country of South Korea was the most prolific, contributing a whopping 3.8 per cent of the total number of plastic surgery operations worldwide in 2010. According to the Economist, in 2009, one fifth of South Korean women had had some sort of cosmetic operation. The most popular operation was a double eyelid surgery, which promises a more ‘Western’ appearance.
Given the economic climate, other surprise entrants into the top five were Greece and Italy. The most common operation in Greece was breast implants, but Greek plastic surgeons reported a notable number of penile enhancements as well.
Unsurprisingly, Brazil was in at number five, with a huge number of tummy tucks, breast implants and liposuction.
“Culturally speaking, Brazilians have no problem with plastic surgery,” said American Society of Plastic Surgeons President, Dr. Malcolm Roth. "If anything, it's seen as a status symbol to have had it."
The UK ranked 15th overall, contributing 1.4% of plastic surgery operations worldwide.The most popular procedures over here in the UK are breast implants, liposuction and, unexpectedly, blepharoplasty, which is the modification of the eyelids.
Of the non-surgical cosmetic procedures included in the study, our favourite is botox and fillers, with over 35,000 of each procedure having been performed in 2010. Recent news also suggests the ‘chin job’ is one of the fastest growing cosmetic surgery procedures.
It remains to be seen if the PIP scare this year will have put women off breast implants in the future.
