Brits are spending up to £4.4 billion a year tackling acne

Acne sufferers in the UK are spending up to £738 per person a year on over-the-counter skincare products to combat the condition, with the mental health cost of treatment rising as high as £2,000, new research from Fresha has found. This comes after news that UK health and beauty spend is up by 7.3% in 2024.

Meanwhile, acne rates in UK adolescents are among the highest in the world with adult acne care now its own billion-pound industry, with 4.8 million adults affected.

“With 4.8million people suffering from acne, and the average cost of over-the-counter solutions and NHS treatments totalling £925.95 a year, Brits could be spending up to 4.4 billion a year dealing with acne,” says Sophie Vongkhamsao, in-house beauty content specialist from Fresha. “While there is no cure for acne, most people tend to grow out of it in their mid-twenties, but the sheer volume of solutions, from over-the-counter prescriptions to beauty, shows that this still impacts many people in the later stages of their lives.”

The research found that toner (£40), chemical exfoliator (£45), and cleanser (£76) are the cheapest acne solutions per year, with sunscreen (£196), moisturiser (£150), and face scrub (£141) the most expensive. 

Prescription NHS treatments start from as little as £16 for azelaic acid but go up to £55 for topical retinoids. 

The study also investigated the mental health cost of suffering from acne, which often causes depression in sufferers. The NHS cost of CBT therapy to combat this ranges from £360 to £2,000, depending on the number of sessions required.

The research looked at the overall cost per year of using the bestselling brands of cleanser, face scrub, chemical exfoliator, anti-acne serum, toner, moisturiser, and sunscreen, as well as the prescription cost of the NHS’s prescription treatments, benzoyl peroxide, topical retinoids and antibiotics, azelaic acid, antibiotic tablets, co-cyprindiol, and isotretinoin.

These are the average costs per product of over-the-counter solutions per year:

The cost of NHS treatments:

The research highlights a huge unmet need in adult acne care which can be supported by the professional beauty sector. Read our content on light therapies, microneedling and more and how they can help clients with acne.