In the summer of 2009 the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) published the results of a survey of hair restoration practices around the world. The survey; published in the hair restoration journal Hair Transplant Forum International (July/August 2009, Volume 19, No. 4); looked at, “the volume of hair restoration procedures performed, patient demographics, surgical techniques, treatments used, and other practice dynamics,” to gauge the health of the industry.

Results of the survey showed that hair restoration procedures are increasing in popularity worldwide.

Here are some of the key findings broken into categories:

Around the World

1. Total worldwide hair restoration patients: up 26% from 2006 to 2008
2. Worldwide hair restoration surgical procedures: up 9% from 2006 to 2008
3. Worldwide hair restoration non-surgical procedures: up 34% from 2006 to 2008
4. Country with the most hair restoration procedures: USA
5. Region with biggest increase in number of procedures: Middle East

Women

1. Percentage of female hair restoration patients continues to increase: to 15.1% in 2008
2. Percentage of female non-surgical patients jumps in 2008: to 31.8% in 2008

Age

1. Most popular age range to have a hair transplant: ages 30 to 49
1. 59.6% of men were in that range
2. 54.9% of women were in that range
2. On average, male patients having surgical hair restoration were slightly younger than female patients

Non-Scalp Procedures

1. Eyebrow transplant the only non-scalp procedure to increase: 11,105 in 2008 (an increase of 43% over 2006)

Number and Type of Procedures

1. Number of procedures needed to achieve desired results drops: from 2.2 in 2004 to 1.4 in 2008
2. Majority of surgical procedures use hair transplant strip/linear harvesting technique: 88.5%
3. Use of trichophytic closure increases: to 48.9% in 2008

Read more on our Hair Transplant Statistics page.