Blog Article
Posted on May 7th, 2012 in
Plastic Surgeon
Cosmetic procedures continue to sell well in Europe despite the continent’s high unemployment and widespread austerity measures, according to the chief executive of Allergan. This
report from the
Financial Times reinforces recent statistics released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, which indicated that Greeks and Italians remain major cosmetic consumers despite their countries’ ailing economies.
According to David Pyott, Allergan’s chief executive, the US pharmaceutical giant has managed to generate double-digit growth in its European sales of breast implants since 2011. Pyott says that much of this success can be attributed to the aftershocks of the Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) breast implant scandal. After it was revealed that PIP’s breast implants contained industrial silicone, many European plastic surgeons switched to Allergan’s breast implants.
Botox sales have also been performing strongly, especially since the drug is increasingly being used for non-cosmetic purposes. Its ability to cure chronic migraines has generated a great deal of excitement in the medical community.
The
Times report comes after
statistics released by the ISAPS that indicate that Greece and Italy occupy the second and third spots worldwide in terms of percentage of population receiving cosmetic procedures. This may come as a surprise to many Americans who watch the economic situation in the region with unease. However, says Pyott, this trend is nothing unusual.
“In southern Europe, people spend a higher proportion of their income on appearance and lifestyle,” Pyott says. “They are happy to live in a modest apartment and look good facially and body-wise when they go out.”
In Italy,
Botox is the most popular non-surgical procedure, while
liposuction tops the list of cosmetic surgeries.
Breast augmentation surgery is the most popular cosmetic procedure in Greece. Based on the figures, only South Koreans pursue plastic surgery with greater frequency than Greeks or Italians.
