2020 Hair Restoration Industry Statistics To Consider

Hair restoration is a growing market that continues to attract a larger customer base each year. Concurrently, methods of hair restoration have become better, more versatile, and more lucrative for treatment providers. The total market for hair restoration treatments has increased 16% since 2016 and it is now a $4.9 billion industry. Last year alone, over 700,000 procedures were performed worldwide. 

Below, we take a closer look at the current hair restoration market and its future growth potential, as well as how your clinic can tap into these realities and turn them into revenue. 

Hair Restoration Procedures: The Current Market

Each year, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery conducts a comprehensive review of the market, which gives a general overview of how many procedures are performed, and of what type. This information can be useful to clinics that offer or are thinking of offering hair restoration surgery, because it highlights consumer needs, and important information clinics can use to market the treatment successfully.

Last year, the majority of hair transplant procedures targeted the scalp area. This accounted for 85% of procedures performed on men, and 82% of those for women. Other areas of the body, which have been showing a steady increase in procedures performed, accounted for 15% of procedures performed on men, targeting facial hair such as the mustache and beard, and the eyebrows. For women, 18% of procedures targeted non-scalp areas of the body, with eyebrows being the most common non-scalp target area. Scar repair continues to account for a considerable portion of procedures performed, for patients who have undergone a “botched” hair transplant, typically from an unlicensed provider.

Reasons patients sought treatment were because of genetic hair loss, reconstructive needs,

post-plastic surgery needs, transgender needs, or other reasons. Most patients (77%) sought treatment due to genetic hair loss,’ followed by ‘dermatologic, metabolic/hormonal, nutritional or medication-induced hair loss’ (9%), ‘repair of previous black market hair transplant’ (4%), or reconstructive needs (4%). Other reasons mentioned included repair of previous non-blackmarket hair transplant, and post-tattoo or burn treatments.

Motivations for seeking hair restoration among patients were most commonly ‘social/dating’ (37%), followed by ‘career/professional’ (34%). Gratifyingly, patient satisfaction ratings after a hair restoration treatment were high. Almost all (95.2%) indicated the positive impact of the procedure on their lives was high (4 or 5 out of 5).

Hair Restoration Procedures: Customer Demographics 

When marketing your clinic’s hair restoration offerings, it’s important to keep customer demographics in mind for the best return on investment. Put your advertising budget to best use by focusing on the following: 

Last year, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, more men than women underwent hair restoration procedures. On average, 84% of procedures were performed on men, while just 16% were performed on women. This was also reflected in non-surgical hair restoration procedures, which were performed on 60% men, versus 40% women. In terms of age, over half of male and female patients fell between the ages of 30 to 49 years old. On average, male patients tended to be slightly younger than female patients, which aligns with the date that 25% of men will experience some form of thinning or balding before the age of 31. 

Additionally, the average age of patients seeking hair restoration surgery for the first time is getting younger every year. First-time patients were most likely to be between 26 to 35 years old (45%) or 36 to 45 years old (42%), and a smaller percentage were 20-25 years old (4%) or 46-60 years old (8%).

Hair Restoration Procedures: Modalities

When members were asked which methods they used to accomplish male and female hair restoration procedures, the most common method was Follicular Unit Extraction harvesting (66%), followed by strip/linear harvesting (29%), and combination strip and FUE performed during the same surgical session (4%). Of those using FUE, providers overwhelmingly favored motorized FUE and using the robotically-assisted FUE technique. This reflects the growing popularity and superiority of non-manual FUE, and particularly FUE devices augmented with advanced technology. Venus Concept offers two state-of-the-art hair restoration devices: NeoGraft^® and ARTAS iX™.  

With the assistance of NeoGraft^®, the treatment provider extracts individual hair follicles from the back or sides of the head using a specialized handpiece with automated suction and then implants them in the area where more hair growth is desired. The newly implanted hair follicles continue the natural hair growth cycle and results improve each week, with full realization at 9-12 months post-procedure. ARTAS iX™ uses a similar process, except in this case using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to design the ideal extraction and placement of the hair follicles. The device’s machine vision, robotic precision, and speed work to protect existing hair and maintains a natural appearance for the newly implanted hair. The innovative system leverages state-of-the-art technology to enable accurate and efficient harvesting, recipient site-making, and implantation functionality in one device, using image-guided robotics for precise and repeatable results. 

Both of our hair restoration devices eliminate the problems of manual FUE and FUT with highly advanced alternatives. An automated FUE hair transplant can often be done in a shorter amount of time than a manual FUE procedure, reducing the cost of FUE hair restoration for the provider. In addition, our devices use robotics and pneumatic motors to extract follicles. This eliminates the need for handling the grafts with forceps. In the hands of an experienced technician, the risk of damage to the transplant area is very low, and uptake of transplanted follicles is very high. Both procedures are minimally invasive, comfortable for the patient, leave no linear scarring, and require minimal recovery time or aftercare.  

With both devices, we offer full business support with VERO Hair™, a comprehensive solution for growing your hair restoration business. This partnership includes both of our automated and advanced robotic FUE technologies as well as extensive post-sales support tools, including clinical training, marketing, and business development programs, giving you the competitive edge in expanding in the hair restoration market. 

Hair Restoration Procedures: Looking Forward

It’s an exciting time for hair restoration, and as interest continues to grow among consumers, the technology will only continue to improve. Advances to look forward to including tissue-engineered hair follicles (hair cloning), stem cell and other breakthrough therapies, and further refinements to FUE and robotically-assisted hair transplantation devices like NeoGraft^® and ARTAS iX™ 

Thanks to its continued growth and ongoing advances in technology, there’s never been a better time to offer hair restoration at your clinic. Adding hair restoration to your clinic’s list of services is a robust way to expand your clientele, boost your clinic’s profile, and increase revenue. Speak to one of our experts today to see how we can support your success.