1 in 6 Chinese People Have Hair Loss Symptoms

In recent years there has been a surge in hair loss topics all over social media in China. According to data published by the World Health Organization, currently one in six people in China has hair loss symptoms. 

Chinese WeMedia outlet Neo Consumer shared that in 2017, China’s hair loss market grew to around 9.7 billion RMB, almost gaining as much market share as plastic surgery. According to data released by the national health department, China’s hair health industry will grow at a rate of 260% per year in the next 10 years. The consumption of hair care products is increasing rapidly at a rate of 30% per year. 

What is most surprising is the demographics. Out of the roughly 250 million people in China currently experiencing hair loss, 74% of them are born after 1980, and out of that group, 36% were born after 1990. 

I’m one of them. I was born in the 1990s and I started losing hair right around age 28.

Any it’s happening to people even younger. According to Alibaba, a growing number of college students are purchasing hair loss products. 

Besides the demographics skewing younger, hair loss consumers are also increasingly female. Ten years ago, only 5% of the market was female, as of 2018 it had reached 30%. 

Why are young Chinese people starting to lose hair at early age? 

A major reason is work related stress and staying up late. Working insane hours has become a big problem for many people in China. Recently Chinese e-commerce company Pinduoduo has been caught up in a scandal involving an employee in her early 20s dying from overwork. 

Another major factor is diet. As I mentioned in my previous article about Chinese people becoming taller, meat and dairy consumption has increased dramatically over the past 40 years as the economy has grown. People born after 1980 grew up with a very different diet compared to my parents’ generation. 

With the increased demand for animal products, farmers and factories use feed instead of natural food sources from nature. In an article published by Fortune Magazine, today’s meat for market chickens grown in just 48 days at 6.2 pounds compared to 112 days and 2.5 pounds in 1925. The hormones do not stop at the animals, it goes into our blood stream and eventually absorbed by our body.

With Chinese diets shifting from primarily rice and vegetables to a large amount of meat and dairy, this change has increased hormone production among young people, especially Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) production. According to the World Health Organization, DHT in one of the leading causes of hair loss in both men and women.  

Why does the massive increase in hair loss equal a huge market opportunity? 

As I mentioned, I am part of this massive group of young Chinese people dealing with hair loss. I never thought I would lose hair. None of my immediate family members have a history of hair loss, plus, at the time I was not even 30 years old. Dealing with this issue impacted my self-esteem dramatically. 

While it might impact anyone’s self-esteem, in Western nations, hair loss at a young age is very common and much more accepted by society. When I was in high school in Australia, a lot of my classmates has started losing hair, which I was shocked by, but they didn’t seem to be that bothered. However, to lose hair at the age of 18 is almost unheard of in China and losing hair even in your 20s or 30s is seen as very embarrassing and almost a taboo topic. 

In the West, men might get upset, but it’s not the end of the rope, because Hollywood has painted a portrait that being bald can be seen as manly. The Rock, Vin Diesel and Bruce Willis are just a few of the bad-ass bald characters I can think of off the top of my head. 

In the West, being bald will not prevent you from getting a girlfriend or getting married. But in China it could (hence why I’m lucky that I was already married when it started happening!). In China, there is no such thing as an attractive bald man. You won’t see any celebrities (other than middle aged comedians and TV hosts) that are bald. Chinese pop culture is heavily influenced by Korea, and if you look at all their celebrities it is the same thing. 

Tousled, thick hair that falls over the eyes is often regarded as romantic, or charismatic if you will, and being bald is seen as a huge turnoff. 

This cultural bias means that young Chinese consumers will go to any length to restore their hairline. 

How are young people treating hair loss?

There are numerous ways to deal with hair loss. At first, most people start with some sort of topical solution, ranging from hair thickening shampoo to Rogaine, some of them does work if you continue to use it for the rest of your life. 

The second most popular treatment is light therapy, some comes in a helmet form and some comes as a regular hat, I personally tried this for so long and it did not work. 

All the treatments mentioned above are just a temporary fix, the third way is also the most effective, which is hair implants.

In 2017, the market size of China’s hair transplant industry reached about 9.7 billion RMB. According to industry insiders, the potential market space for hair transplantation and related industries in the next few years may reach 50-100 billion RMB. 

According to data disclosed by Yonghe (a leading hair transplant clinic in China founded in 1999 in Beijing), a growing number of women are also experiencing hair loss. 10 years ago more than 95% of Yonghe’s customers were male, and the current figure is about 70%. 

Hair transplants aren’t cheap – in China the average price is around 8-12 RMB per unit of hair.  Customers usually spend 25,000 RMB on the first initial surgery and 2000-10,000 RMB on the follow up treatments. So anti hair-loss shampoo, topicals, and laser therapy are consumers’ first choice.

Chinese Brands in the space: 

According to WeChat account NeoConsumer, there are many Chinese brands vying for a piece of this market

Hair implant hospitals: Yonghe雍和, Biliansheng 碧莲盛

Hair treatment products: Hairmeet黑奥秘, Menxlab漫狮

Hair-loss treatment brands, Ruzhangguang 101如章光101, Boshiyuan博士园, Hairology丝域

Information & hair loss services platforms: SoYoung新氧