The UK was eighth among the countries with the highest rates, behind Germany, Portugal, Luxembourg, Norway, Andorra, Denmark and San Marino.
Germany’s teenagers and young people have the highest rates of acne in the world, according to a major study, with the UK in eighth place.
All of the countries with the highest rates of doctor-diagnosed acne have seen increases in the skin condition since 1990, the report by the British Association of Dermatologists (BDA) said.
In the UK, nearly 15% (14.65%) of adolescents and young people were diagnosed with acne in 2021, up from 13.57% in 1990, according to the study which looked at data on diagnosis rates among people aged 10 to 24 in 204 countries.
But almost 16% (15.98%) of Germans had been diagnosed with acne, according to the study, published in the British Journal of Dermatology.
Portugal, Luxembourg, Norway, Andorra, Denmark, and San Marino are the other countries with higher rates than the UK, but the condition is spreading everywhere except New Zealand, researchers warned.
Lead author Dr Zhou Zhu, from the Department of Dermatology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, pointed to other factors such as diet, stress, obesity rates, and rising pollution to explain the growth in cases.