Data story · ASPS 2007–2024
Breast Lifts Are
Coming for the Crown
For 17 years, breast augmentation has been the king of breast procedures. But breast lifts have been steadily closing the gap — growing 47% while augmentation declined 12% from its peak. The supporting player became the real growth engine.
104K→154K
Lift volume
2007 → 2024
1:3.3→1:2.0
Lift-to-aug
ratio shift
−12%
Augmentation
from peak
The gap closed by 90,000 procedures: from 243,348 in 2007 to 152,580 in 2024. For seven years (2007–2013), augmentation consistently outnumbered lifts by about 3.3 to 1. After COVID compressed it further, it settled at 2.0 to 1 in 2023–2024.
Augmentation Breast lift
The lift-to-augmentation ratio is the clearest measure of convergence. It moved from 0.30 (1 lift for every 3.3 augmentations) in 2007 to 0.50 (1 lift for every 2 augmentations) by 2023. That's a 67% increase in the lift's relative position.
1:3.3 → 1:2.0 lift-to-augmentation
ratio, 2007 vs 2024
Augmentation is the only major breast procedure below its historical peak. The total breast procedure market expanded, and augmentation's share of that expanding pie keeps falling — from ~55% in 2007 to ~39% in 2024.
| Procedure | 2007 | 2024 | Change |
|---|
| Reconstruction | 57,102 | 162,579 | +185% |
| Reduction (cosmetic) | ~44,000 | 76,734 | +75% |
| Implant removal | 26,909 | 41,271 | +53% |
| Breast lift | 104,176 | 153,616 | +47% |
| Augmentation | 347,524 | 306,196 | −12% |
Augmentation Lift Reconstruction Reduction Removal
+4%
Augmentation recovery
2019 → 2022
Back to pre-COVID level
+30%
Lift recovery
2019 → 2022
Surged ABOVE pre-COVID
$830M
Lift market revenue
153K × ~$5,400 avg fee
Approaching augmentation
Augmentation recovered to approximately pre-COVID levels. Lifts surged 30% above their pre-COVID level. The pandemic didn't just delay lift demand — it amplified it. Women who postponed lifts in 2020 came back in 2022 along with new patients drawn in by the Zoom-era self-consciousness. (ASPS did not publish an annual statistics report for 2021.)
As the augmentation patient base aged dramatically (55+ went from 2% to 13%), demand for procedures that address gravity and sagging exploded. A 55-year-old seeking breast surgery is far more likely to need a lift than a 25-year-old. Young patients want volume. Older patients want position. As the average patient age rose, the procedure mix shifted toward lifts.
Augmentation's share of breast procedures
2007 vs 2024
The market used to have one megastar
Breast augmentation used to be the breast procedure. Now it's the biggest of several roughly comparable options — and the only one not growing. The market shifted from a solo act to an ensemble cast.
1
The lift is the real growth engine of breast surgery.
From 104K to 154K (+47%) while augmentation went from 348K to 306K (-12%). The gap closed by 90,000 procedures.
2
A true overtake is unlikely soon.
2024 lift growth was essentially 0% (+16 procedures). The post-COVID surge has been absorbed. The ratio will likely stabilize around 1.5–2.0 to 1.
3
Augmentation's declining kingdom is real.
Every other breast procedure grew dramatically around it. Augmentation's share of the expanding breast surgery pie dropped from 55% to 39%.
4
The revenue story favors lifts.
Lift patients skew older, higher-income, less price-sensitive, and more likely to add concurrent procedures. For practices, the economic calculus has shifted dramatically.