Declining interest in tattoos in the Balkans: a Google Trends analysis

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Public Health
• Infodemiology

Background:

• Tattooing is a prevalent decorative practice globally, with adult prevalence ranging from 20-30%.
• Infodemiological data from Google Trends (GT) suggest a pre-pandemic decline in global interest in tattoos.
• Regional variations in tattoo trends necessitate localized investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate tattoo-related search trends in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
• To determine if a declining interest pattern observed globally is also present in this specific region.
• To analyze temporal changes in public interest regarding tattoos from 2004 to 2025.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Google Trends (GT) data to analyze the relative search volume (RSV) for the topic "tattoo".
• Examined data for Balkan countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, former Yugoslavia nations, and Kosovo) from January 1, 2004, to December 27, 2025.
• Interpreted time series data representing scaled percentages of total searches for the "tattoo" topic.

Main Results:

• All analyzed Balkan countries exhibited seasonal search patterns, with summer peaks and December dips.
• Interest in tattoos generally increased until a peak around 2011-2019, followed by a consistent decrease across most Balkan nations.
• Kosovo showed a mean increase in search interest, potentially linked to increased internet accessibility, though recent trends indicate stabilization.

Conclusions:

• The decline in tattoo interest in the Balkans began before the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting other contributing factors.
• Economic factors like inflation and increased competition within the unregulated tattoo industry may influence demand.
• The observed decrease in tattoo interest appears widespread across Europe, despite study limitations inherent in using Google Trends.