With the continuous aging of the global population and increasing consumer awareness of anti-aging, the demand for medical beauty is undergoing structural changes. Consumers' expectations of medical beauty are shifting from temporary problem solutions to skin maintenance, contour management, and long-term anti-aging, which drives the continued development of non-surgical medical beauty services with shorter recovery periods and a wider range of applications.
At the same time, photoelectric technologies such as laser, radiofrequency, and focused ultrasound continue to evolve, and treatment approaches are moving from single technology applications to precise stratification, multi-technology collaboration, and intelligent treatment directions. Beyond technological upgrades, consumers are paying more attention to doctors' professional capabilities, equipment compliance, treatment plan adaptability, and outcome certainty, making photoelectric anti-aging enter a more specialized and refined development stage.
On September 12, 2026, Frost & Sullivan (hereinafter referred to as "Frost & Sullivan") officially released the '2026 Global Medical Beauty Industry Photoelectric Anti-aging White Paper' (hereinafter referred to as the 'White Paper'). Mr. Cai Jinfeng, Partner of Frost & Sullivan China, along with his creative team, attended the release ceremony to launch the report together.
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(Left) Mr. Cai Jinfeng, Partner of Frost & Sullivan China
(Right) Ms. Shi Nannan, Senior Consultant in China
The White Paper starts from global anti-aging trends and medical beauty demand, systematically analyzing the global non-surgical medical beauty market, the Chinese photoelectric anti-aging market, consumer needs and decision-making characteristics, photoelectric technology development, and representative medical beauty equipment companies. It aims to present the current development stage of the photoelectric anti-aging industry and explore technological innovation, changing consumer demands, and long-term market trends under industry standardization.
The following is a excerpt from the White Paper. For detailed content, scan the QR code:
01
Overview of Global Anti-aging Trends and Demand
01
Macro Background Analysis
In terms of population fundamentals, the global population size continued to grow between 1950 and 2025, rising from approximately 2.5 billion people to 8.19 billion people, providing a foundation for the long-term expansion of the consumer market. At the same time, the global population structure is also aging simultaneously, with the proportion of people over 60 years old increasing from 8.0% in 1950 to 14.9% in 2025, indicating that the global consumer market is moving from "size growth" to "structural reshaping." This change is reflected not only in the number of people but also in changes in consumption capacity and preferences. Although the actual growth rate of global disposable income in 2025 slowed to about 2.0%, the nominal growth of global disposable income is expected to be slightly higher than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth, indicating a moderate recovery in residents' purchasing power.
Aging is not just a medical and elderly care issue; it is also becoming an important structural factor in the consumer goods, health management, and lifestyle industries. As the population of middle-aged and elderly people grows, their income increases, and their health awareness improves, consumers' demand for "maintaining good physical and appearance conditions and quality of life for a longer period" continues to rise. Related demands are gradually expanding from single disease treatment or basic care to broader scenarios such as daily image management, skin condition maintenance, body shape management, functional products, and professional services.
*Source: United Nations, Frost & Sullivan analysis
02
Analysis of the Global Medical Beauty Industry Chain
While demand is expanding, the global medical beauty industry has formed a chain system consisting of upstream pharmaceutical and medical device providers, midstream medical beauty service institutions, and downstream multiple channels and consumers. Different service entities, such as hospital-affiliated medical beauty centers, chain private institutions, and independent private clinics, jointly meet the continuously segmented medical beauty needs. Professional consultation, online and offline channels also further connect consumers with service providers. Driven by the continuous improvement of industrial supply and the continuous release of consumer demand, the global medical beauty market remains expanding.
*Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis
03
Analysis of the Global Medical Beauty Consumer Market
The global medical beauty market size increased from $141.7 billion in 2021 to $177.4 billion in 2025, and is expected to continue growing in the future. In addition to demand growth, the improvement in medical professionalism and compliance levels, continuous technological innovation, and the increase in the penetration of non-surgical medical beauty also drive the continuous development of the global medical beauty industry. In terms of regional development, the global medical beauty market has shown different development stages and consumption characteristics. Mature markets such as North America focus more on stable results, doctor professional capabilities, and long-term maintenance. The Asian market maintains high development vitality driven by expanding consumer groups and diverse demands. The differences in development across regions also indicate that the global anti-aging market is moving from scale expansion to segmented demand stages.
*Source: International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), Frost & Sullivan analysis
02
Overview of the Global Non-surgical Medical Beauty Market
01
Definition and Classification of Non-surgical Medical Beauty
Non-surgical medical beauty mainly includes injection and photoelectric medical beauty services. Photoelectric services can be further divided into three main technical routes: laser, radiofrequency, and focused ultrasound. Compared with surgical procedures, non-surgical medical beauty has a variety of treatment methods, relatively short recovery periods, and can be carried out periodically, gradually becoming an important direction of global medical beauty consumption. The global non-surgical medical beauty market size increased from $32.1 billion in 2021 to $47.4 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of about 10.3% from 2021 to 2025; its proportion in the global medical beauty market has also continued to increase.
*Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis
Note: Recovery period refers to the time from treatment to when the skin returns to its normal natural state.
02
Development History of Global Photoelectric Medical Beauty Equipment
Photoelectric medical beauty connects consumers' long-term skin management needs with medical device technological innovation. Different technical routes such as laser, radiofrequency, and focused ultrasound continuously expand application scenarios, and the global photoelectric medical beauty market maintains high development vitality. At the same time, industry technology evolution has moved from early single-energy treatments to precise stratification treatment, multi-technology collaboration, and intelligent treatment platforms. This change means that the technical value of photoelectric anti-aging devices is extending beyond individual parameters to multiple dimensions such as energy control, tissue level identification, treatment plan design, and overall treatment efficiency.
The Chinese photoelectric medical beauty equipment industry is also in an accelerated development stage, with continuous enhancement in independent research and development and compliant productization capabilities. *Domestic equipment companies represented by Peninsula Medical continue to promote research and development and product innovation around core technologies such as radiofrequency microneedling and focused ultrasound. Through continuous optimization of effectiveness levels, output control, and treatment adaptation capabilities, domestic photoelectric equipment is developing towards more precise, stratified, and diversified anti-aging treatment applications.
*Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis
Note: 1. FDA refers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; 2. NMPA refers to the National Medical Products Administration of China.
03
China's Photoelectric Medical Beauty Market
After many years of development, China's medical beauty market has seen continuous improvement in consumer base, service institutions, and equipment supply. The market is transitioning from rapid popularization to a stage where professionalism, standardization, and consumer experience are emphasized. The China medical beauty market size increased from 189.1 billion yuan in 2021 to 253.9 billion yuan in 2025, with private medical beauty institutions becoming an important part of market expansion. Among them, China's photoelectric medical beauty market has developed rapidly. From 2021 to 2025, the China photoelectric medical beauty market size increased from 57.9 billion yuan to 95.7 billion yuan. Increased consumer anti-aging demand, continuous enrichment of terminal institutions in equipment and project layouts, and equipment technology upgrades have collectively promoted the continuous development of China's photoelectric medical beauty market. In the future, younger consumer demographics, improved cost-effectiveness, expanded lower-tier markets, and industry standardization will further influence the development path of the Chinese market.
*Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis
Note: Market size is calculated based on treatment service revenue.
03
Insights into Chinese Medical Beauty Consumers
Changes in consumers are an important entry point for understanding the next stage of development in China's photoelectric anti-aging market. This White Paper conducted a special survey of 500 Chinese medical beauty consumers, observing changes in consumer behavior from multiple dimensions such as anti-aging awareness, consumption frequency, service preferences, and information acquisition.
01
Analysis of Average Annual Medical Beauty Consumption Frequency
Anti-aging is shifting from a periodic need to a more widespread and proactive long-term management awareness. In the survey, all respondents considered anti-aging important, and the start time of anti-aging awareness was clearly concentrated among those aged 26-35, accounting for about 80%. This reflects that consumers' understanding of anti-aging is moving from "improving after obvious aging problems" to earlier preventive management, laying the cognitive foundation for long-term and periodic medical beauty consumption. As anti-aging awareness advances,medical beauty consumption is also shifting from one-time attempts to periodic management.The survey shows that consumers who consume 1-2 times per year and 3-4 times per year are a high proportion. Different projects have gradually formed differentiated usage patterns: some projects are used for daily maintenance, while others are used for periodic anti-aging or periodic improvement. Thus, consumers are forming a consumption pattern of "high-frequency maintenance + low-frequency improvement," and medical beauty is closer to long-term skin and anti-aging management.
*Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis
02
Analysis of Medical Beauty Institution Selection
This long-term management need is further reflected in consumers' choices of service scenarios and project types. Private medical beauty institutions, with a rich range of projects and flexible service models, have become the main choice for consumers' medical beauty services. At the same time, photoelectric services account for a high proportion among the medical beauty projects that consumers are most interested in. This indicates that after consumers gradually establish long-term anti-aging habits, photoelectric projects with controllable recovery periods and capable of being carried out periodically are becoming an important anti-aging management method.
*Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis
03
Analysis of Reliable Information Channels for Medical Beauty
However, as technical routes and equipment choices become more diverse, the complexity of decisions faced by consumers also increases. The survey shows that when choosing photoelectric anti-aging services, consumers trust information sources most from professional medical beauty consulting platforms, offline stores, doctor communication, and official institutional channels. Traditional search and mere media information are relatively less important. This indicates that photoelectric anti-aging projects require more professional information, depth of explanation, and individual adaptation judgment. Consumers are moving from "obtaining information" to "seeking credible professional judgments".
*Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis
04
Analysis of Photoelectric Anti-aging Consumption Preferences
Among those who have experienced photoelectric equipment, the willingness of consumers to continue trying in the future shows a certain concentration trend. Main technical routes such as ultrasonic anti-aging, radiofrequency microneedling, and radiofrequency skin tightening still maintain high attention. Overall, after completing the initial experience, consumers do not significantly shift to a large number of niche devices but prefer to continue focusing on devices and projects with high awareness and relatively mature treatment paths. This reflects that existing experience, technical knowledge, and treatment expectations are jointly influencing subsequent choices. Among them, ultrasonic anti-aging and radiofrequency microneedling under Peninsula Medical are both at a high level of willingness to continue trying, indicating a continuous improvement in the recognition and acceptance of domestic photoelectric equipment by consumers.
*Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis
As anti-aging needs advance and gradually become long-term and periodic management, consumers' requirements for treatment levels, plan adaptation, and professional services continue to increase, driving photoelectric equipment to evolve from a single project tool to a comprehensive treatment platform that supports long-term anti-aging management.
04
Analysis of Representative Global Medical Beauty Equipment Companies
As photoelectric anti-aging demands become more segmented, the differences between mainstream devices no longer lie solely in technical categories such as radiofrequency and ultrasound, but also extend totissue level, output methods, treatment depthand tissue identification and treatment logic, among other dimensions. Take radiofrequency microneedling as an example. Different devices form different technical orientations around deep tissue remodeling, layered treatment, and refined improvement. Focused ultrasound devices further develop differentiated paths in treatment depth, visualization ability, layered identification, and treatment efficiency. Chinese medical beauty equipment companies represented by Peninsula Medical are also forming clearer technical routes around different anti-aging needs. Among them, counterclockwise radiofrequency microneedling focuses on layered output and refined treatment, covering skin improvement and anti-aging needs through different treatment depths and combination modes; Big Super Cannon further introduces imaging identification, layered control, and intelligent treatment design based on focused ultrasound, to adapt to different tissue levels and treatment scenarios.
Continued deepening of different technical routes also further shapes the product positioning and development model of each equipment company. The capacity building of global representative equipment companies has gradually extended from single product research and development totechnical platform, clinical application, product matrix, doctor education, and global commercialization systemmultiple aspects. Different companies have also formed distinct development paths: Merz Aesthetics builds a comprehensive medical beauty business system based on medical beauty equipment, medical beauty injections, and skin care products; InMode uses a radiofrequency technology platform as a basis to expand product applications to multiple scenarios such as facial rejuvenation, body shaping, and female health.
At the same time, Chinese medical beauty equipment companies are moving from product follow-up to independent innovation and systematic development. Domestic companies represented by Peninsula Medical have formed product layouts around technical directions such as radiofrequency microneedling and focused ultrasound, and continue to promote independent research and development, clinical cooperation, doctor training, intellectual property accumulation, and overseas market expansion. With the continuous improvement of core technology research and development, compliance registration, clinical application, and commercialization system, Chinese enterprises are moving from single-product innovation to systematic capacity building, and their participation in the global photoelectric medical beauty industry is continuously increasing.
Deep Insight: The value of photoelectric equipment is shifting from "completing one treatment" to "undertaking long-term anti-aging management"
Considering consumers' anti-aging awareness, consumption frequency, project selection, and information acquisition behavior, a deeper transformation is taking place in Chinese medical beauty consumption: consumers are not simply increasing the number of medical beauty projects but gradually establishing long-term, layered anti-aging management methods. The advancement of anti-aging awareness extends the consumption cycle, and periodic consumption habits further encourage consumers to choose different functions and levels of medical beauty services at different stages. In this process, photoelectric projects that can cover multiple needs such as skin improvement, firmness enhancement, and contour management and can be periodically configured according to different stages are evolving from a "single treatment tool" to a "long-term anti-aging management tool." Therefore, the growth logic of the photoelectric anti-aging market may gradually shift from relying solely on new consumers and single-project penetration to "consumer life cycle extension × treatment demand stratification × periodic management deepening" composite driving. Under this trend, photoelectric equipment and treatment plans that can cover multiple anti-aging needs through different technical paths and continuously build consumer trust will play a more core role in the long-term anti-aging management system.
