Plymouth Tops UK Anti-Ageing Search Rankings as Smaller Cities Outpace London

When Britons turn to Google with concerns about ageing skin, the level of interest varies dramatically depending on where they live. An analysis of search behaviour across 50 major UK cities has uncovered significant regional variation in anti-ageing search intensity, with smaller cities such as Plymouth, Newcastle, and Brighton outpacing London on a per-capita basis.

UK-based wellness brand Kollo Health analysed Google Keyword Planner data for 12 anti-ageing and wrinkle-related search terms across 50 major UK cities. Each city’s total search volume was then normalised against 2026 population estimates from World Population Review to calculate searches per 100,000 residents, allowing fair comparison between cities of vastly different sizes.

Plymouth Tops the UK at 83.91 Anti-Ageing Searches per 100,000 Residents, with the Top 10 Cities Accounting for 60.8% of All Volume

Rank	City	Avg Monthly Searches	Population (2026 Est.)	Searches per 100,000
1	Plymouth	230	274,104	83.91
2	Newcastle upon Tyne	260	328,349	79.18
3	Brighton and Hove	210	285,339	73.60
4	Manchester	430	605,521	71.01
5	Kingston upon Hull	190	278,303	68.27
6	Bristol	340	504,401	67.41
7	Glasgow	420	663,221	63.33
8	Birmingham	750	1,199,447	62.53
9	London	5,540	9,188,200	60.29
10	Wolverhampton	160	287,161	55.72

The ranking reveals a striking mix of smaller and larger cities. Plymouth, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Brighton and Hove, none of which rank among the UK’s ten most populous cities, claim the top three positions. Eight of the top ten cities are located outside the South East of England. The gap between top and bottom is pronounced: the top ten cities average 68.53 searches per 100,000 residents, 2.2 times the bottom ten average of 30.88. Meanwhile, 58% of cities (29 of 50) fall at or below the national average of 46.91 per 100,000.

Commenting on the findings, Scarlett Gray, Registered Dietitian at Kollo Health, said:

“The data highlights how differently anti-ageing concerns manifest across the country. Notably, smaller cities are driving some of the highest per-capita search intensity, suggesting that interest in skincare and ageing is by no means concentrated in larger metropolitan centres. Understanding these regional patterns can help both consumers and the wider industry make more informed decisions about how ageing-related products and information are accessed.”

Wrinkle-Treatment Searches Account for 67.7% of Total Volume, with Eye-Cream Terms Making Up 29.7%

Breaking the 12 keywords into sub-categories reveals where search interest is concentrated within the terms measured. Six keywords that explicitly reference wrinkle creams or products (“best anti wrinkle cream”, “good anti wrinkle cream”, “top anti wrinkle cream”, “best product for wrinkles”, “best ageing cream”, and “good anti wrinkle cream”) together account for 9,510 of the 14,040 total monthly searches (67.7%). Within that group, three eye-cream-specific terms (“good eye cream for wrinkles”, “top eye cream for wrinkles”, and “top rated eye cream for wrinkles”) generate 4,170 searches (29.7% of total volume).

Keyword Category	Monthly Searches	Share of Total
Wrinkle cream keywords (6 terms)	9,510	67.7%
Eye cream for wrinkles keywords (3 terms)	4,170	29.7%
General ageing keywords (4 terms)	2,910	20.7%
Total (all 12 keywords)	14,040	100%

The remaining four keywords, “ageing products”, “ageing skincare”, “anti ageing”, and “anti ageing skincare”, are broader in nature and together account for 2,910 searches (20.7%). Because the keyword set was designed to capture cream and topical product interest specifically, these figures reflect the composition of the terms studied rather than the full spectrum of anti-ageing search behaviour in the UK.

Among the Keywords Measured, Product-Specific Terms Dominate Across All Top 10 Cities

Rank	City	Cream/Topical	General Ageing	Total	Cream Share
1	Birmingham	660	90	750	88.0%
2	Glasgow	360	60	420	85.7%
3	Bristol	290	50	340	85.3%
3	Leeds	290	50	340	85.3%
5	London	4,690	850	5,540	84.7%
6	Liverpool	220	40	260	84.6%
6	Edinburgh	220	40	260	84.6%
6	Newcastle upon Tyne	220	40	260	84.6%
9	Manchester	360	70	430	83.7%
10	Plymouth	190	40	230	82.6%

Birmingham leads the country with 88.0% of its anti-ageing search volume directed at cream and topical product terms, followed by Glasgow (85.7%) and Bristol and Leeds (both 85.3%). Even at the lower end of this top ten, Plymouth still records 82.6%, indicating that product-specific searches consistently outweigh broader ageing queries across all high-interest cities.

Across all 50 cities combined, 11,130 of the 14,040 total monthly searches (79.3%) are for cream and topical product keywords, leaving 20.7% for broader queries such as “ageing products” or “anti-ageing”. This split reflects the product-focused nature of the keyword set analysed; the study did not include non-topical terms such as supplements, ingestibles, or treatments, so no conclusions about the relative popularity of those categories can be drawn from this data.

Methodology

Search volume data was collected from Google Keyword Planner for 12 keywords across 50 major UK cities. The keywords analysed were: “ageing products”, “ageing skincare”, “anti ageing”, “anti ageing skincare”, “best aging cream”, “best anti wrinkle cream”, “best product for wrinkles”, “good anti wrinkle cream”, “good eye cream for wrinkles”, “top anti wrinkle cream”, “top eye cream for wrinkles”, and “top rated eye cream for wrinkles”.

Average monthly search volumes for each keyword were summed per city to produce a total anti-ageing search volume. Each city’s total was then normalised against its 2026 population estimate (sourced from World Population Review) to calculate searches per 100,000 residents, allowing fair comparison between cities of vastly different sizes. Cities were ranked from highest to lowest per-capita search intensity.

Keyword categorisation: Eight keywords were classified as cream and topical product terms: “best aging cream”, “best anti wrinkle cream”, “best product for wrinkles”, “good anti wrinkle cream”, “good eye cream for wrinkles”, “top anti wrinkle cream”, “top eye cream for wrinkles”, and “top rated eye cream for wrinkles”. The remaining four, “ageing products”, “ageing skincare”, “anti ageing”, and “anti ageing skincare”, were classified as general ageing queries because they do not specify a product format.