Three or four UK sources get quoted again and again when people talk about surgery abroad, and they measure different things. This page puts the published figures side by side, with the period, what is being counted and the limits stated by the sources or following directly from how the numbers were collected. It is a reference table, not a ranking of countries or clinics.
Key takeaways
- The FCDO Turkey travel advice says it is aware of 7 British nationals who died in Turkey in 2025 following medical procedures, a figure that covers all procedure types and gives no total of travelers.
- BAAPS counted 198 patients treated in the UK after cosmetic surgery abroad between September 2022 and September 2024, with 76% of complications following surgery in Turkey, and estimated NHS treatment costs of £1.2 million to £1.8 million.
- A BMJ Open rapid review pooled 655 NHS patients from published case studies, 61% of patients in studies that reported a destination had gone to Turkey, and costs ranged from £1,058 to £19,549 per patient, on very low certainty evidence.
- None of these sources gives a complication rate, because no UK source counts how many people travel abroad for cosmetic surgery.
Last updated 8 November 2026. For what the NHS says it will and will not do after you return, see what the NHS will and won’t do after surgery abroad.
What do the UK figures on surgery abroad say?
| Source | Year or period | What it measures | Figure | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCDO, Turkey travel advice (Health page) | 2025 | British nationals the FCDO is aware of who died in Turkey following medical procedures | 7 | All medical procedures, not only cosmetic. No total of patients, no breakdown by procedure or cause. |
| ONS, visits abroad for medical treatment | 2024 | Visits by Great Britain residents abroad for medical treatment | 523,000 in total; 196,000 to Turkey (the top destination, about 37% of the total) | All treatment types, not only cosmetic. Counts visits, not people. Sample survey, official statistics in development, no confidence intervals, rounded to the nearest 1,000. |
| BAAPS audit, press release of April 2022 | Four years to 2022 | Patients needing surgery after returning to the UK from cosmetic surgery abroad | 324 patients; 82 treated in 2021, a 44% rise on 2020 | Counts of treated patients reported to BAAPS, with no total of travelers. |
| BAAPS audit, press release of April 2022 | 2017 study, updated estimate | Average cost to the NHS per patient | £13,500 in a 2017 study presented to BAAPS, estimated at closer to £15,000 in 2022 | One study and one BAAPS estimate; the release does not describe how the costs were built. |
| BAAPS Cosmetic Tourism Complications Database, press release of July 2026 | September 2022 to September 2024 | Cases of patients treated in the UK after cosmetic procedures overseas | 198 cases; 76% followed surgery in Turkey; 93% women, average age 39; nearly three in four needed procedures or surgery after returning; almost half needed an operation under general anesthetic; one death (pulmonary embolism) | Cases reported by surgeons to a database. BAAPS says the study likely represents only a fraction of the burden. No total of travelers. |
| BAAPS, same release | Same period | Estimated NHS cost of treating those cases | £1.2 million to £1.8 million | A BAAPS estimate for the 198 cases; BAAPS says the true national figure is likely to be substantially higher. |
| BMJ Open rapid review (Bangor and Cardiff authors), January 2026 | Cases from 2006 to 2024; literature searched 2012 to 2024 | NHS patients treated for complications after elective surgery abroad, drawn from 35 case series and case reports | 655 patients (385 bariatric, 265 cosmetic, 5 ophthalmic); Turkey 61% (216 of 353 patients, in studies that reported a destination) | Mostly case series from individual hospitals. Mixes bariatric and cosmetic surgery. The authors state that no figure exists for how many UK residents go abroad for surgery or how many have complications. |
| BMJ Open rapid review, same paper | Costs in 2024 prices | NHS cost per patient | £1,058 to £19,549 | Rated very low certainty by the authors. Based on costed studies, some with incomplete notes. |
What don’t the numbers tell you?
There is no rate. Every count in the table is a numerator: patients who came back and were treated. None has a denominator of everyone who traveled for the same procedures. The ONS figure counts visits for all kinds of medical treatment, so it cannot stand in for that denominator. The BMJ Open authors say this directly: without data on how many people travel and how many have complications, the level of risk cannot be fully understood.
The sources count different things. The FCDO figure is deaths of British nationals in Turkey after any medical procedure in one calendar year. The BAAPS figures are patients seen by plastic surgeons over two to four years. The BMJ Open figure pools hospital case series across 18 years and includes bariatric surgery. A total from one row should not be added to a total from another, and the periods do not line up.
Shares are shares of returning patients. The 76% and 61% figures describe where returning patients had surgery. They do not say that 76% or 61% of surgeries in Turkey go wrong, and they cannot be compared directly with the ONS share of medical visits (about 37% for Turkey), which covers a different group of people and all kinds of treatment.
Case reporting is incomplete. BAAPS notes that many complications are managed by emergency departments, GPs and community services and never reach its database. The numbers are better read as evidence that a pattern exists than as a measure of its size.
Cost figures come from different methods. A BAAPS estimate for a cohort, a 2017 study, and pooled hospital costs adjusted to 2024 prices are not the same kind of number. The BMJ Open authors rate theirs very low certainty.
None of these sources says that surgery abroad is unsafe as such. The BAAPS 2026 release itself states that many overseas surgeons provide excellent care and that millions of procedures are performed safely worldwide every year. What the sources do agree on is that the data needed to put a number on the risk is not being collected. For how the Turkish side is regulated, see whether Turkish medicine is safe for surgery, and for how costs compare at home, Turkey versus the UK for rhinoplasty.
How do you cite this page?
Cite the original source for any figure. To cite this table: noseaesthetic.com, “Cosmetic Surgery Abroad: UK Complication Data, One Table”, updated 8 November 2026, https://noseaesthetic.com/cosmetic-surgery-abroad-complication-data-uk/.
Sources
- FCDO, Turkey travel advice: Health (page updated 27 October 2026): “We are aware of 7 British nationals having died in Turkey in 2025 following medical procedures.”
- ONS, Estimated number of visits by residents of Great Britain to overseas countries for medical treatment, 2024 (released 19 September 2025): 196,000 visits to Turkey, 523,000 in total.
- BAAPS, Sun, sea & necrosis: cheap surgery abroad leaving Britons disfigured and costing the NHS millions (7 July 2026): 198 cases, 76% Turkey, £1.2 million to £1.8 million.
- BAAPS, Audit reveals 44% rise in botched cosmetic surgery from abroad (April 2022): 324 patients over four years, 82 in 2021, per-patient cost.
- BMJ Open, Complications and costs to the UK National Health Service due to outward medical tourism for elective surgery: a rapid review (2026, volume 16): 655 patients, Turkey 61%, £1,058 to £19,549 per patient.
- Bangor University, Research finds complications of medical tourism may cost NHS up to £20,000 per patient (10 February 2026): summary of the BMJ Open review.
