The aesthetic industry remains strong, driven by aging populations throughout the world, as well as increased awareness of advanced procedures and improving technology that provides more significant benefits with reduced risk and downtime. Dynamic Asian economies coupled with a growing middle class will also support industry growth, although ongoing financial challenges in Europe will constrain greater global gains.
In 2011, total sales of aesthetic products covered in this report exceeded $4.9 billion, up from $4.5 billion in 2010. Through 2016, they are expected to expand by 13.5% per year to $9.3 billion. During this time, the emerging products segment will experience the greatest annual worldwide growth, at 91.2%, as exciting new products gain regulatory approval. The physician-dispensed eyelash segment will follow with 17.9% from a very low base as public awareness rises for this emerging new product. In the more established market segments, neurotoxins and skin tightening / body shaping devices will expand by 12.1% and 12.0% annual growth, respectively, as new products are introduced in both segments. Dermal fillers will also experience solid gains of 10.0% per year with expanding utilization, particularly of newer products containing lidocaine.
At 12.1% per year, North American growth will underperform the global market. Although North America represents the single largest regional market for aesthetic services, it is also the most mature. Virtually every application, therefore, will grow at a somewhat slower pace in this large market, as international economic growth particularly in Asia exceeds expected U.S. expansion. In Europe, the overall aesthetic market will rise by 13.1% per year to reach $2.3 billion in 2016, with greater gains constrained by ongoing economic challenges within the European Union. Through 2016, the overall Asian aesthetic market will rise by an impressive 18.1% per year. Greater revenue growth will be mitigated, however, by the availability of low cost Asian alternatives for many of the products profiled in this report. The small Latin American market for aesthetic products will expand by 13.9% per year, benefitting from improving economies and continued strong consumer spending on aesthetic products and treatments, particularly in the large and metropolitan cities of Brazil and Argentina.
