How we take care of our skin can have a huge impact on our physical appearance and how we feel about it. So it’s little wonder that the skincare and anti ageing industries are so big.
But we wanted to know about trends in the skincare industry, how we feel about our own ageging and other facts and figures. So we polled the public, pulled together some desk research and proudly present our anti ageing and skincare statistics round up for 2024.
Skin Deep - the Fast Figures
For those who only want the top line numbers, here they are and you can find more information, context and sources within:
Over 40% of adults in the UK feel they look older than they are
This is heavily weighted towards women; over half of women feel they look older than their age, but just under a third of men feel this way
40% of men feel they look their age but just 23% of women feel this way
The UK skincare industry is worth over $4.1 billion as of 2024 with significant growth projected in the next 5 years
How Old Do We Look?
We worked with a market research company in August 2024 to survey a demographically representative sample of 1,000 adults in the UK to ask the following question:
How old do you feel you look in relation to your age?
I feel I look considerably younger than I am
I feel I look a little bit younger than I am
I feel I look around my age
I feel I look a little bit older than I am
I feel I look considerably older than I am
Prefer not to answer
Here’s how they answered:
How old do you feel you look in relation to your age? | |
Response | % of People Who Gave This Response |
I feel I look considerably younger than I am | 9.85% |
I feel I look a little bit younger than I am | 14.8% |
I feel I look around my age | 32.1% |
I feel I look a little bit older than I am | 23.55% |
I feel I look considerably older than I am | 18.5% |
Prefer not to say | 1.2% |
In all, our survey found that fewer than 1 in 10 believe themselves to look considerably younger than they are - but around double this number believe they look considerably older than they are.
Less than a third of the population feel they look around their actual age.
If we take both those who feel they look a little bit younger and considerably younger than they are, we can conclude that around a quarter (24.65%) of the adult population of the UK feels they look younger.
If we apply the same method to assess how many feel they look older than their age, this figure is a significantly larger 42%.
However, it is worth noting that there were considerable differences in the responses between men and women.
How old do you feel you look in relation to your age? | ||
Response | % of Men Who Gave This Response | % of Women Who Gave This Response |
I feel I look considerably younger than I am | 8.7% | 11% |
I feel I look a little bit younger than I am | 18.2% | 11.4% |
I feel I look around my age | 40.9% | 23.3% |
I feel I look a little bit older than I am | 18% | 29.1% |
I feel I look considerably older than I am | 14% | 23% |
Prefer not to say | 0.2% | 2.2% |
Men are likelier by far to feel they look around their age with over 40% stating this. On the other hand, fewer than a quarter of women feel they look their age.
Men are also likelier to feel they look younger than they are (either a little or considerably). This applies to over a quarter (26.9%) of men and 22.4% of women.
Interestingly, though, women were the likeliest to think they look considerably younger than they (11% vs mens’ 8.7%).
When it comes to believing they look older than their age though, women are significantly likelier to believe so.
Over half (52.1%) of women believe they look older than they are, whereas just 32% of men feel this.
So we can see women are the much likelier to feel they look older than their age.
Dr Naz comments;
“It’s not uncommon for women to feel more conscious of how they look than men do. And one of the things I think we all become more conscious of as we get older is things like fine lines and wrinkles. Our survey asked people how they feel and what we have to remember is that just because someone feels they look older than they are doesn’t mean they actually do!”
Skincare Industry Statistics
With such a large proportion of the population feeling they look older than they, it’s little wonder that the skincare industry is booming. Here are the figures:
The UK skincare market is worth $4.14 billion in 2024 (source)
It is expected to grow to $4.66 billion by 2029 according to the same study
The organic skincare market is amongst the fastest growing segments, with consumers becoming more aware of what is used in their cosmetics and skincare products
Anti Ageing Injections - the Statistics
From anti wrinkle injections to LED light therapy and plenty more too, clinical aesthetics procedures are improving in popularity. Anti wrinkle injections such as Botox are incredibly popular.
Here are some of the key figures relating to procedures like these.
According to data from kwfinder.com, the number of searches in Google UK for “botox,” was over 40,000 in July 2024
Searches for “anti wrinkle injections” average 3,100 in Google UK every month (based on an average of the past 12 months)
There are over 900,000 botox injections administered in the UK every single year
In 2022 there were over 3000 complains about procedures like these
So how do you make sure you get the best quality of work? Dr Naz comments;
“Use a medically qualified practitioner. When someone is injecting your face, my opinion is that person should have medical qualifications and plenty of experience in carrying out these procedures. Not only will a botch job look bad, but it can be a threat to your health as well.”
Anti Ageing in a Nutshell
Ultimately, we want to look our best. And as we age we become so conscious of the physical features on our faces which give it away - fine links and wrinkles, for example. So for those who want to look at young on the outside as they feel on the inside, products and procedures are a way to maintain youthful looking skin.
Where do we think the anti ageing industry will go from here? Well, let’s take the views of Dr Naz;
“I hope to see tighter regulation and requirements for practitioners over time because the reality is more and more people are having these procedures. So it’s vital we keep people safe. But ultimately I’m excited about the industry’s growth. Developments are consistently yielding more effective and safe way to maintain youthful looking skin. But I think it’s important that the industry continues to education people on the lifestyle influences on their skin too - stay hydrated, eat well and wear SPF!”
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