Statistics: Why Hair Loss is on the Rise

In the past few years, more and more millennials have come out with stories about experiencing hair loss and bald patches at the age of 25-30. And while the general public has remained rather skeptical of these reports, we have indeed found some credible studies to back these claims. 

You can find most of these studies, along with their most important details, in the list below. 

• A recent survey conducted of 4000 students at Tsinghua University in Beijing revealed that 60% of the participants, all in their early 20s, reported losing significant amounts of hair. 40% of these students even reported knowing that their hairlines were receding. Meanwhile, 25% reported that they were told of their hair loss by family and friends. 
• An online survey consisting of 15 questions was provided to medical students at a University in Georgia. After recording their responses, the study revealed that 81.7% of students between the ages of 17 and 25 reported experiencing hair loss. The study also revealed that the primary cause of hair loss in both women and men was stress.
• Another Chinese study sought to identify the status of hair loss among university students in Hangzhou city. After sampling 1038 students from 4 universities in the city, each of them was given a survey to complete discussing hair loss. After the responses were collected, 463 students (44.61%) ended up admitting to hair loss. Although 431 of these reported only mild hair loss, deeming stress as the major factor.

Obviously, stress cannot be ignored as a contributing factor to hair loss in the younger generation. However, there are several other reasons why today’s youth may be experiencing hair loss sooner than older generations. 

1) Air Pollution

Since the start of the 21st century, the amount of air pollution recorded has steadily increased. And while it has undoubtedly affected our overall quality of life, it has also directly affected the health of our hair. 

Millennials, in particular, have felt this effect. A 2015 study notes that young patients who’ve recently moved out to metro cities have experienced itching in the scalp, dandruff, and pain in the hair roots. 

The study labeled this as sensitive scalp syndrome, a condition caused by being exposed to particulate matter, dust, nickel, lead, and arsenic. 

2) A Lack of Vitamins in Our Food

Vitamin D is essential for proper hair growth. Unfortunately, the regular spraying of pesticides and other chemicals on our food has drastically reduced the amount of Vitamin D we can consume. 

Research conducted by a prominent physician at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas seems to echo this statement as well. The research indicates that hair loss is directly tied to people not getting enough vitamin D, zinc, and other nutrients necessary for hair growth. 

While pollution and a lack of vitamins have certainly contributed, stress remains the biggest cause of hair loss in the younger generation. A normal person loses, on average, 50 – 100 hairs per day, which is categorized as normal hair shedding. The existence of stress, however, can be a trigger for a condition named telogen effluvium. 

A condition that accelerates this shedding, effectively increasing the number of hairs you lose on a daily basis. To add to that, a report published by the American Psychological Association (APA) has also stated that millennials deal with higher levels of stress on a daily basis than older generations. 

Thereby confirming that millennials also experience greater hair loss at a younger age than their predecessors. Of course, millennials have also been quicker to opt for hair transplants. In fact, in 2021 alone, over 3.4 million hair transplants were performed globally, making the global hair transplant market grow by 14.35%. 

As the influence of social media continues to grow globally, people have started placing more emphasis on their looks than ever before. 

Greater exposure to celebrities could be classified as a cause for this desire to have thicker, fuller hair. In fact, even regular day jobs require company employees to look attractive and appealing when heading into meetings and conducting presentations. And a huge part of their looks is having a full head of hair. 

Our cost analysis determined that the average cost of a hair transplant across the world is $14,298.49. Despite that, however, the number of successful hair transplants have continued to increase year after year. A very telling sign indicating how much the average millennial relies on his/her looks throughout their everyday life. 

All in all, it seems that the hair care and hair transplant industry is flourishing like never before in this new age. Due to how early individuals of the younger generation start experiencing hair loss. 

However, this growth in both cost and revenue of the hair treatment industry could also signify how proactive millennials are in taking action against their hair loss. Anyway, we hope our explanations and detailed studies were enough to convey why hair loss is indeed on the rise.