What do Colombians get most done? This is the top list of cosmetic procedures performed in the country.

Last year, 38 million procedures were performed by plastic surgeons worldwide. According to the data, globally, in 2024, members of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) performed more than 17.4 million surgical procedures, and 20.5 million were non-surgical.

And while eyelid surgery was the most performed procedure globally for the first time, in Colombia, where the total number of procedures performed, both surgical and non-surgical, was 490,944, the story was different, as abdominoplasty led the ranking in the country.

These are some of the findings revealed in the Annual Global Survey on Aesthetic/Cosmetic Procedures report, which was released at the ISAPS Olympiad World Congress in Singapore.

According to the figures presented, in 2024, there was a 4.8% reduction in the total number of surgical and non-surgical procedures performed worldwide compared to the previous year. It is worth noting that despite this reduction, face and neck surgeries increased by 4.3%, while non-surgical procedures related to facial rejuvenation increased by 42%.

In Colombia, in 2024, the total number of procedures performed, both surgical and non-surgical, was 490,944. Of these, 321,408 were surgical and 169,536 were non-surgical. The most common surgery last year was liposuction, with 41,280 procedures (12.8%); followed by breast augmentation, with 33,984 (10.6%); then blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), with 28,032 cases (8.7%). In fourth place is buttock augmentation, with 27,360 (8.5%); and in fifth place is abdominoplasty, with 21,984 cases (6.8%).

“Colombia is in the top 10 countries with the most plastic surgery procedures performed worldwide. However, when comparing surgical and non-surgical procedures, the country ranks thirteenth. Liposculpture, followed by breast augmentation, are the most performed surgeries in the country,” confirmed Lina Triana, a plastic surgeon and member of the ISAPS board of directors.

On the other hand, botulinum toxin tops the list of non-surgical procedures performed in Colombia in 2024 with 65,472 cases, equivalent to 38.6%; hyaluronic acid is in second place, with 44,448 cases (26.2%). Hair removal is in third place, with 18,432 cases (10.9%). Polylactic acid (used to stimulate collagen production and improve skin appearance, especially in volume and facial rejuvenation treatments) is in fourth place, with 8,928 cases (5.3%), and finally, non-surgical fat reduction is in fifth place, with 7,584 cases (4.5%).

In terms of medical tourism, Colombia is the fourth country in the world, after Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey, with the highest proportion of patients from abroad. Thirty percent of the patients treated in Colombia are foreigners, mostly from the United States, Spain, and Canada.

According to the figures, our country ranks among the top ten for liposuction (8th after the United Arab Emirates) and breast augmentation (10th after Spain). "We continue to stand out as a strong country in Medical Tourism, after Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey. In Latin America, Colombia is the country with the most Medical Tourism; we are the number one choice," Triana points out.

“There's something a little different about these statistics: the number of facial procedures is starting to rise, with eyelid surgery being the surgery that has seen the greatest proportional increase worldwide. Other surgeries, such as buttock augmentation, which had been on the rise in previous years, didn't grow as much, while genital plastic surgery and vaginal tightening are procedures that, if we compare the last ten years of statistics, have seen the greatest exponential growth, but have also seen a plateau in terms of percentage increases compared to last year,” Triana added.

Eyelid surgery, for the first time, was the most common surgical procedure in 2024, replacing liposuction with 2.1 million, followed by liposuction, breast augmentation, scar revision, and rhinoplasty, next in that order. The most popular non-surgical procedures were botulinum toxin, hyaluronic acid (filler), hair removal, non-surgical skin tightening, and chemical peels.

Most facial and head procedures showed growth year-over-year, with over 7.4 million procedures and a 4.3% increase. The top procedures were eyelid surgery with over 2.1 million and a 13.4% increase, rhinoplasty with 1 million procedures and a 10% decrease, and fat grafting: face surgery with 0.9 million and a 19.2% increase. There were 3.9 million breast procedures (down 14.1%) and 6 million body and extremity procedures (down 14.8%).

Liposuction remains the most common surgical procedure for women, followed by eyelid surgery and breast augmentation. Eyelid surgery was once again the most popular surgical procedure among men, followed by gynecomastia and scar revision.

Most breast augmentations (54% of total), rhinoplasties (60.1%), and external genital surgeries (48.4%) were performed on people aged 18 to 34, while botulinum toxin injectables were most popular among those aged 35 to 50 (47% of total). Liposuction and nonsurgical fat reduction were fairly evenly distributed across both age groups.

Botulinum toxin remained the most common non-surgical procedure for both men and women and across all age groups, with 7.8 million procedures performed by plastic surgeons worldwide. In second place, hyaluronic acid procedures increased by 5.2% to 7.8 million.

Commenting on the global results, Dr. Amin Kalaaji, chair of the ISAPS Global Survey Committee and a plastic surgeon in Norway, said: “Our report now includes data on ‘Mommy Makeover’ and other combined procedures, scar revision, hand rejuvenation with fat grafting, buccal fat removal, inverted nipple correction, dimple creation, and other external genital surgeries.”

Once again, the U.S. performed the most procedures with over 6.1 million, followed by Brazil with 3.1 million (leading the number of surgical procedures) and Japan.

Environment and Health Journalist