Psychiatrists giving facelifts? Cosmetic surgery in the UK needs some work doing

A nation's looks reflect its genetics, diet, fashion, cultural history - and, these days, the state of its plastic surgery business.

- Martha Gill

In Britain, for example, surgeons performing breast enlargements are the busiest; in Germany, liposuction is preferred; in Peru, nose jobs; and in Belgium, eyelid tightening. But a quirk in the British rulebook means a rising number of citizens are also sporting a troubling new look: botched.

Why? It starts with rampant demand. In this, Britain is no outlier. In 2024, close to 38m cosmetic interventions were performed around the world - including facelifts and nonsurgical procedures such as lip fillers - an astonishing rise of 40% since 2020.

In the UK, this market is valued at £3.2bn a year, and cosmetic surgery clinics have more than tripled in number since 2010: there are now an estimated 700.

It is a long-lived trend. In 1978, the New York Times announced cosmetic surgery has "long been considered the prerogative of celebrities, jet setters and tycoons". But, it goes on, "the people who sit in front of the television set, rather than appear on it, have lately been having their faces lifted... their noses straightened, their sagging jowls and crepey necks smoothed", explaining a jump in demand.

Half a century on, that holds - and cosmetic procedures are getting ever more affordable.

Social media has raised the financial and social rewards for looking good and simultaneously squeezed the life cycle of cosmetic trends. "Instant body trends are emerging," says Nora Nugent, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS). A new look might now appear every couple of years.