Asia Aesthetic & Medical Tourism Statistics & Facts 2026

This page collects the latest verified numbers on aesthetic medicine and medical tourism in seven Asian markets: South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, China, and Indonesia. Every figure links to its original source, shows the year the data covers, and says what was counted. Where official sources disagree, we show the range instead of picking one number.

How to Cite This Page

You are welcome to quote any figure on this page. Please link to this page and, where possible, also to the original source we list beside each number.

Suggested citation: BeautsGO (beautsgo.beauty). “Asia Aesthetic & Medical Tourism Statistics & Facts 2026.” Updated 30 October 2026. https://beautsgo.beauty/blogs/asia-aesthetic-medical-tourism-statistics/

ISAPS asks that its survey data be credited to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Asia Medical Tourism by Country: The Headline Numbers

Each country measures medical tourism differently, so the figures below are not directly comparable. The “What is counted” column explains what each number means.

Latest headline medical tourism figure for seven Asian markets

Country	Latest Figure	What is Counted	Year	Source
South Korea	2,011,822 patients	Foreign patients without Korean health insurance, counted once per clinic	2025	MOHW
Malaysia	1.84 million travellers; about RM3.34 billion	Registered foreign healthcare travellers	2025	MHTC
Thailand	About 580,000 medical tourists (TAT estimate); about 3.07 million foreign patient visits (Kasikorn projection)	Tourists travelling for medical care vs all hospital visits by foreigners, including expats	2025 / 2024	TAT; Kasikorn Research
China	More than 800,000 visits to the Boao Lecheng medical zone	Visits to one pilot zone; about 1% came from overseas	2025	Lecheng Administration Bureau
Japan	1,424 medical stay visas	Visas only; most medical visitors enter visa-free or on tourist visas	2025	Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Singapore	No official figure since 2013 (S$832 million that year)	Medical tourism spending	2013	Singapore Tourism Board via IMTJ
Indonesia	About 1 to 2 million people go abroad for medical care each year (official statements)	Outbound patients; no published method	2023 to 2025	Presidential and ministerial statements

Global Aesthetic Procedure Statistics (ISAPS 2025)

Plastic surgeons performed an estimated 35,204,030 aesthetic procedures worldwide in 2025: 17.9 million surgical and 17.3 million non-surgical. That is 8.7% fewer than in 2024, but 9.2% more than in 2021, according to the ISAPS International Survey 2025, published on 29 September 2026.

Global Cosmetic Procedure Volume Trends

Surgical procedures were flat in 2025 (down 0.4% on a like-for-like basis), while non-surgical procedures fell 15.7%. Hyaluronic acid filler dropped 25.2%. The four-year trend is still upward: total procedures are 9.2% higher than in 2021. ISAPS notes that it surveyed 51 locations in 2025 and added new procedure types, which affects comparisons with earlier years.

Top Five Surgical and Non-Surgical Aesthetic Procedures Worldwide

Top five surgical and non-surgical aesthetic procedures worldwide, 2025

Rank	Surgical Procedure	Procedures	Non-Surgical Procedure	Procedures
1	Eyelid surgery	2,457,677 (+16.2%)	Botulinum toxin	7,333,647 (-7.0%)
2	Liposuction	1,849,828 (-11.4%)	Hyaluronic acid filler	4,737,957 (-25.2%)
3	Breast augmentation	1,622,639 (-2.2%)	Non-surgical skin tightening	1,528,552 (+23.3%)
4	Breast lift	1,143,862 (+48.1%)	Hair removal	1,150,365 (-22.6%)
5	Abdominoplasty	1,039,808 (+0.3%)	Chemical peel	659,942 (-19.5%)

Source: ISAPS International Survey 2025, pages 9 and 12. Percentages are change vs 2024. Rhinoplasty ranked sixth among surgical procedures with 1,015,685.

Top 10 Countries by Aesthetic Procedure Volume

The United States performed the most aesthetic procedures in 2025 (5.46 million), followed by Brazil (3.22 million) and China (2.84 million). Japan ranked fourth and South Korea fifth, with about 2 million each.

Top 10 countries by aesthetic procedures performed by plastic surgeons, 2025

Rank	Country	Total Procedures	Share of World
1	United States	5,461,476	15.5%
2	Brazil	3,216,665	9.1%
3	China	2,844,500	8.1%
4	Japan	2,047,901	5.8%
5	South Korea	1,966,442	5.6%
6	Germany	1,525,462	4.3%
7	Italy	1,477,556	4.2%
8	Mexico	1,469,794	4.2%
9	Turkiye	1,318,980	3.7%
10	India	1,061,480	3.0%

Source: ISAPS International Survey 2025, page 83. Asian countries in bold.

Patient Demographics by Gender and Age

Women received 85.2% of all aesthetic procedures in 2025 and 84.6% of botulinum toxin procedures. Eyelid surgery was the most common surgical procedure for both women and men. Most botulinum toxin patients (47%) were aged 35 to 50, while 57% of rhinoplasty patients were aged 18 to 34 (ISAPS 2025).

Share of Foreign Patients Estimated by Plastic Surgeons

Plastic surgeons worldwide estimated that a median of 10% of their patients came from another country (average 15.3%). In Asia, surgeons in Thailand (average 28.3%) and South Korea (average 24.0%) reported the highest shares of foreign patients.

Share of patients from other countries, as estimated by plastic surgeons, 2025

Country	Median	Average	Most-Cited Patient Origins
Thailand	10.0%	28.3%	Australia, US, China
South Korea	10.0%	24.0%	China, Japan, US
Vietnam	10.0%	19.2%	Australia, US, Cambodia
Singapore	10.0%	16.2%	Indonesia, China, Vietnam
Malaysia	10.0%	14.1%	Indonesia, Singapore, Australia
Japan	3.0%	9.0%	China, South Korea, Hong Kong
Indonesia	2.0%	8.2%	Malaysia, Australia, Singapore
China	1.0%	7.8%	Hong Kong, US, Canada

Source: ISAPS International Survey 2025, pages 110 and 111. These are surgeons’ own estimates. The gap between median and average suggests a smaller number of clinics serve many international patients.

Global Medical Tourism Market Size Estimates

Nobody knows the exact market size precisely. Four research firms estimated the 2025 global medical tourism market at between US$34.0 billion and US$172.0 billion. They also disagree on the largest region: two say Asia-Pacific, and one says Europe.

Published estimates of the global medical tourism market, 2025

Publisher	2025 Value	Forecast Growth	Asia-Pacific
Grand View Research	US$34.0 billion	14.1% a year to 2035	Not stated
Fortune Business Insights	US$38.2 billion	23.31% a year	US$5.82 billion (15.23%); Europe largest
Global Market Insights	US$76.1 billion	8.4% a year to 2035	US$33.7 billion, largest region
IMARC Group	US$172.0 billion	18.12% a year to 2034	Over 25.5%, largest region

Why the estimates differ: The reports are paywalled and do not publish matching definitions. Some count only medical and surgical fees; others add travel, hotels, and companions’ spending, or include expats and cross-border workers. Quote a single estimate with its publisher and year, and avoid averaging them.

South Korea Medical Tourism Statistics

South Korea treated 2,011,822 foreign patients in 2025, up 71.9% from 1.17 million in 2024 and more than three times the 610,000 recorded in 2023. Patients came from 201 countries, and 7.06 million foreign patients have been treated in total since records began in 2009 (MOHW, April 2026).

Foreign Patients in South Korea by Nationality

China overtook Japan as Korea’s largest source of foreign patients for the first time in 2025.

Foreign patients in South Korea by nationality, 2025

Nationality	Patients	Share	Change vs 2024
China	618,973	30.8%	+137.5%
Japan	600,009	29.8%	+36.0%
Taiwan	185,715	9.2%	+122.5%
United States	173,363	8.6%	+70.4%
Thailand	58,124	2.9%	+52.3%

Source: MOHW, as reported by Money Today, 24 April 2026.

Most Popular Medical Specialties for Foreign Patients in Korea

Dermatological care, not surgery, drives Korean medical tourism. Dermatology accounted for 62.9% of foreign patients in 2025 (about 1.31 million people), followed by plastic surgery at 11.2% (about 233,000). Small clinics treated 87.7% of foreign patients, and Seoul treated 87.2% (MOHW, 2026). In Seoul’s Gangnam district alone, 377,073 foreign patients were treated in 2024, about 32% of the national total (Gangnam-gu Office, 2025). Read more on why Korean clinics often start with skin and see aesthetic dermatology options.

Domestic Cosmetic Surgery Rates Among Korean Adults

About 1 in 10 Korean adults (10%) said they had undergone a cosmetic surgical procedure in the most recent Gallup Korea survey (2020). Among women it was 18%, and among men 2%. The highest rates were among women in their 30s (31%) and women aged 19 to 29 (25%)

Korean women aged 19 to 29 who said they had undergone cosmetic surgery

Survey Year	1994	2004	2015	2020
Share	5%	13%	31%	25%

The widely repeated “31% of Korean women in their 20s” comes from the 2015 survey. The 2020 survey had 1,500 respondents; each female age group is only about 120 people, so age-group figures have a wide margin of error. Gallup Korea has not published a newer survey on this question.

Status of Korea’s VAT Refund for Cosmetic Procedures

The VAT refund for foreigners’ cosmetic surgical procedures and dermatological procedures expired on 31 December 2025, and bills to revive it had not passed as of August 2026. In its final year, foreign patients claimed about 1.72 million refunds worth 196.4 billion KRW (DailyMedi, 2026). Budget for this when comparing plastic surgery prices in Korea.

Medical Tourism Spending in South Korea

Foreign patients who visited Korea in 2025 and their companions generated an estimated 12.5 trillion KRW in medical tourism spending and 3.3 trillion KRW in medical spending, according to a Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade analysis cited by MOHW. These are model estimates, not counted revenue.

Thailand Medical Tourism Statistics

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expected about 580,000 medical tourists in 2025, 1.74% of international arrivals, generating around 125 billion THB in health tourism revenue. Medical tourists spend about 107,662 THB per trip, 102% more than general tourists (TAT via The Nation, October 2025).

Thailand Medical Tourist Volume Estimates

Estimates range from about 500,000 to more than 3 million, depending on who is counted.

Thailand medical tourism estimates and what they count

Estimate	Figure	What It Counts	Source
Medical tourists	About 580,000 (2025)	International arrivals travelling for medical care	TAT
Real medical tourist inflow	0.5 to 1.5 million a year	Academic estimate excluding expats and migrant worker health checks	Thammasat economists, ISEAS 2025
Foreign patient visits	About 3.07 million (2024 projection)	All hospital visits by foreigners, including residents	Kasikorn Research

Thailand Medical Tourism Revenue

A 2024 Ministry of Public Health survey put private hospitals’ revenue from foreign patients at about 50 billion THB (The Nation, 2026). Kasikorn Research projected 57 billion THB for listed hospitals in 2024, with 51% coming from expats living in Thailand. TAT’s 125 billion THB figure is wider and includes wellness tourism. Thailand has more than 60 hospitals accredited by Joint Commission International.

International Patient Origins and Core Specialties in Thailand

Thai plastic surgeons most often cite Australia, the US, and China as their patients’ home countries (ISAPS 2025). TAT names Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Cambodia, and Bangladesh as key medical tourism markets. The government’s 2025 Medical Hub push focuses on cosmetic enhancement, gender-affirming surgery, fertility care, and dentistry. Plastic surgeons in Thailand performed an estimated 166,583 aesthetic procedures in 2025, led by eyelid surgery (ISAPS 2025). See hospitals in Bangkok and our guide on whether plastic surgery in Thailand is safe.

Malaysia Medical Tourism Statistics

Malaysia recorded 1.84 million healthcare travellers and about RM3.34 billion in revenue in 2025 (preliminary figures as of 31 March 2026), beating its RM3 billion target and setting a record. In 2024 it recorded 1.59 million travellers and RM2.72 billion (MHTC via Bernama, April 2026).

• Indonesia dominates: More than 970,000 Indonesian healthcare travellers spent RM2.2 billion in Malaysia in 2025, both up 23%. That is about 53% of travellers and two-thirds of revenue (our calculation from MHTC figures).
• Target: RM12 billion in healthcare travel revenue by 2030 (MHTC).
• 2026 campaign: 2026 is Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism (TTG Asia, 2025).
• Aesthetics: Plastic surgeons in Malaysia performed an estimated 38,235 procedures in 2025, with 14.1% of patients from abroad on average (ISAPS 2025).

MHTC counts registered foreign patients, which can include foreign residents, so the figure is not the same as “medical tourists”. See clinics and hospitals in Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore Medical Tourism Statistics

Singapore has not published an official medical tourism figure since 2013, when medical tourism spending was S$832 million, down from a peak of S$1.11 billion in 2012 (STB data via IMTJ). Recent figures that circulate online are market research estimates or recycled numbers from 2008 to 2013.

• Foreign patients made up about 15% of patients at IHH Healthcare’s Singapore hospitals at the end of 2023, down from 20% in 2019, as the mix shifted to complex care (The Straits Times, 2024).
• Indonesia was Singapore’s second-largest visitor market in 2025, with 2.4 million arrivals (Singapore Tourism Board, 2026).
• Plastic surgeons in Singapore performed an estimated 31,913 aesthetic procedures in 2025; on average 16.2% of patients came from abroad, mainly Indonesia, China, and Vietnam (ISAPS 2025).

Japan Aesthetic and Medical Tourism Statistics

Japan performed 2,047,901 aesthetic procedures by plastic surgeons in 2025, the fourth most in the world, and 79% of them were non-surgical (ISAPS 2025; share is our calculation). Japan had the second-highest number of non-surgical procedures after the US and ranked first worldwide for hair removal and chemical peels. Eyelid surgery made up 52% of surgical procedures.

• Medical visas: Japan issued 1,424 medical stay visas in 2025, down from 1,603 in 2024. China (828) and Vietnam (462) accounted for about 9 in 10 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs via e-Stat). This understates medical travel, because most visitors from Korea, Taiwan, the US, and Europe enter visa-free.
• Market size: Japan’s aesthetic medicine market reached 644 billion yen in 2025, up 2.1%, measured by clinic revenue (Yano Research Institute, 2026).
• Surgeons: Japan has an estimated 4,128 plastic surgeons, the fourth most in the world (ISAPS 2025).

See clinics in Tokyo.

China Aesthetic and Medical Tourism Statistics

China performed 2,844,500 aesthetic procedures by plastic surgeons in 2025, third in the world after the US and Brazil, and more eyelid surgical procedures than any other country (306,000, or 12.5% of the world total) (ISAPS 2025). China also has an estimated 5,000 plastic surgeons, the third most worldwide.

• Outbound: Mainland Chinese were the largest group of foreign patients in South Korea in 2025 (618,973, up 137.5%) and received 828 of Japan’s 1,424 medical stay visas.
• Inbound: Hainan’s Boao Lecheng medical tourism pilot zone recorded more than 800,000 medical tourism visits in 2025, up 93.38% (Lecheng Administration Bureau, 2026). Only about 1% came from overseas (The Paper, 2026), so the zone mainly serves Chinese patients.
• Market forecast: Deloitte and Allergan Aesthetics forecast that China’s medical aesthetics consumer market will exceed 600 billion RMB by 2030 (Deloitte China, 2026).

Indonesia: Asia’s Largest Outbound Medical Tourism Market

Indonesia is mainly a source of medical tourists, not a destination. Officials have said that 1 to 2 million Indonesians go abroad for medical care each year, costing the country about US$10 billion to US$11.5 billion. None of these statements came with a published method.

Official statements on Indonesians seeking medical care abroad

Date	Speaker	People	Money
March 2023	President Joko Widodo	About 2 million a year	Rp165 trillion
June 2023	President Joko Widodo	Not stated	US$11.5 billion a year
April 2024	President Joko Widodo	About 1 million	Rp180 trillion
June 2025	Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin	Nearly 2 million	About US$10 billion

The most reliable destination-side figure is from Malaysia: more than 970,000 Indonesian healthcare travellers in 2025. To keep patients at home, Indonesia opened its first health special economic zone, KEK Sanur, with Bali International Hospital on 25 June 2025 (Cabinet Secretariat, 2025). Plastic surgeons in Indonesia performed an estimated 103,860 aesthetic procedures in 2025 (ISAPS 2025). See clinics in Jakarta.

Asia’s Biggest Medical Travel Corridors

Largest measured patient flows between Asian markets, 2025

From	To	Patients	Source
Indonesia	Malaysia	More than 970,000	MHTC
China	South Korea	618,973	MOHW
Japan	South Korea	600,009	MOHW
Taiwan	South Korea	185,715	MOHW
United States	South Korea	173,363	MOHW
Thailand	South Korea	58,124	MOHW

Only flows that a government agency has counted are listed. Korea and Malaysia publish the most detailed data in the region.

Wellness Tourism in Asia

Asia-Pacific wellness tourism spending grew 31.2% in 2024 to US$215.0 billion, the fastest growth of any region. The region made more wellness trips than any other (562.7 million) but spent the least per trip (US$382, against a world average of US$721) (Global Wellness Institute, 2025).

By wellness tourism spending, China ranks 2nd in the world (US$70.7 billion), Japan 6th (US$27.7 billion), India 7th, Thailand 15th (US$14.1 billion), South Korea 18th (US$9.9 billion), and Indonesia 19th (US$7.3 billion). Most wellness trips are domestic, and GWI excludes cosmetic tourism from its figures. Explore wellness options and health screening.

Medical Tourism Safety Statistics

• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says millions of US residents travel abroad for medical care each year, most often to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and South America (CDC Yellow Book 2026).
• In a CDC-led survey of adults in 11 US states and territories, 1.32% had travelled abroad for care in the previous year, and about 5% of them reported complications (2016 data, Stoney et al., 2022).
• A 2026 review in BMJ Open found that managing complications after a surgical procedure abroad cost England’s NHS between about £1,058 and £19,549 per patient. Infection and wound breakdown were the most common cosmetic complications. The authors rate the evidence as very low certainty (Bangor University, 2026).

Read our guides on whether medical tourism is safe and the hidden cost of cheap rhinoplasty.

Commonly Misquoted Statistics

Outdated or misattributed figures and what the latest data says

Often Quoted	Problem	Latest Data
“Thailand receives 2.5 million medical tourists”	An old figure from around 2013, often relabelled with recent years	Current estimates range from about 580,000 (TAT, 2025) to 3 million, depending on what is counted
“Korea receives about 248,000 foreign patients”	2022 data	2,011,822 in 2025 (MOHW)
“1 in 3 Korean women in their 20s has had plastic surgery”	From the 2015 Gallup Korea survey	25% of women aged 19 to 29 in 2020
“South Korea has the world’s highest plastic surgery rate per capita”	Based on ISAPS data from the early 2010s; ISAPS 2025 publishes no per-capita ranking	Korea ranks 5th by total procedures (ISAPS 2025)
“2 million Indonesians spend US$11.5 billion abroad”	Combines two separate 2023 statements	Official statements range from 1 to 2 million people
“Singapore receives 646,000 medical visitors”	Reportedly a figure from around 2008	No official figure published since 2013
Medical tourism statistics credited to Patients Beyond Borders	The original statistics page is no longer online	Use the dated sources on this page

Methodology and Definitions

• Sources: We use government statistics, official agency press releases, the ISAPS International Survey, peer-reviewed studies, and, where nothing else exists, named market research. We link to the original wherever possible and mark news reports that cite official data.
• Data year vs publication year: “ISAPS 2025” means 2025 data published in September 2026. Global Wellness Institute figures labelled 2025 cover 2024 data.
• Patients vs visits: Korea counts each patient once per clinic; visit counts are higher (2.72 million visits in 2025). Thailand’s 3 million figure (Kasikorn Research) counts foreign patient visits, including residents.
• Tourists vs residents: Malaysian and Thai hospital counts can include foreigners who live in the country. Korea’s count excludes people covered by Korean health insurance.
• ISAPS scope: ISAPS counts only procedures by plastic surgeons, projected from 2,900 surgeon responses. Procedures by dermatologists and other aesthetic clinics are not included, so ISAPS understates non-surgical activity in Korea, Japan, Thailand, and China.
• Currencies: Figures are shown in the currency of the original source. US dollar values appear only where the source provided them.
• Our calculations: Shares and rankings marked “our calculation” are derived from the cited source data.
• Corrections: If you spot an error or have newer data, feel free to reach out us at care@beautsgo.beauty.

Sources

1. Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare, foreign patient statistics press release, 24 April 2026. mohw.go.kr
2. Money Today, Korea foreign patients by nationality, 24 April 2026. mt.co.kr
3. Gangnam-gu Office, foreign patient release, 5 December 2025. gangnam.go.kr
4. DailyMedi, cosmetic VAT refund, 2026. dailymedi.com
5. ISAPS International Survey on Aesthetic/Cosmetic Procedures 2025, full report. isaps.org
6. Tourism Authority of Thailand via The Nation, October 2025. nationthailand.com
7. Department of Health Service Support via The Nation, September 2026. nationthailand.com
8. Kasikorn Research Center, medical tourism, October 2023. kasikornresearch.com
9. Kohpaiboon and Pupaibul, ISEAS Economics Working Paper 2025-3. iseas.edu.sg
10. Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council via Bernama, April 2026. bernama.com
11. Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, industry overview. malaysiahealthcare.org
12. New Straits Times, Indonesian patients in Malaysia, June 2026. nst.com.my
13. TTG Asia, Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism 2026, July 2025. ttgasia.com
14. IMTJ, Singapore medical tourism spending, January 2016. laingbuissonnews.com
15. The Straits Times via SingHealth, foreign patients in Singapore, March 2024. singhealth.com.sg
16. Singapore Tourism Board, tourism receipts release, February 2026. stb.gov.sg
17. Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visa issuance statistics, via e-Stat. e-stat.go.jp
18. Yano Research Institute, aesthetic medicine market, September 2026. yano.co.jp
19. Boao Lecheng Administration Bureau via Hainan news, January 2026. hainanfp.com
20. The Paper, Boao Lecheng interview, October 2026. thepaper.cn
21. Deloitte China, China medical aesthetics industry outlook, August 2026. deloitte.com
22. Cabinet Secretariat of Indonesia, June 2023. setkab.go.id
23. The Jakarta Post, March 2023. thejakartapost.com
24. CNA Indonesia, April 2024. cna.id
25. Katadata, June 2025. katadata.co.id
26. Cabinet Secretariat of Indonesia, KEK Sanur, June 2025. setkab.go.id
27. Grand View Research, Fortune Business Insights, Global Market Insights, and IMARC Group, medical tourism market reports (linked in the market size table).
28. Global Wellness Institute, Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2025. globalwellnessinstitute.org
29. CDC Yellow Book 2026, medical tourism. cdc.gov
30. Stoney et al., Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 2022. stacks.cdc.gov
31. England et al., BMJ Open, 2026, via Bangor University. bangor.ac.uk

Update Log

• 30 October 2026: First published with ISAPS 2025, Korea MOHW 2025, MHTC 2025, and GWI 2025 data.

About this page: BeautsGO (beautsgo.beauty) coordinates aesthetic and medical procedures in South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, China, and Indonesia. We maintain this page as a free reference and update it when new official data is released. If you are comparing destinations for care, see all destinations or how beautsgo.beauty works.