If you’re considering a hair transplant, you’ll probably want to know how many hair grafts you need to get the hairline you want. In general, the more hair you’ve lost, the more hair grafts you’ll need — but there’s more to your hair graft calculation than this.
By the end of this article, you’ll know:
Hair grafts are tiny clusters of follicles that are extracted from one area of the head and implanted in thinning areas. They look like this:
Grafts are usually made up of groups of 2-5 healthy hair follicles. They’re also known as follicular units.
In FUE surgery, hair grafts are removed with an instrument known as a micropunch. Most micropunches are less than 1mm in diameter [1].
In FUT, a strip of skin is removed from the donor area. This strip is then sliced into individual hair grafts. Find out more about the differences between FUT vs FUE.
The hair grafts are then implanted into the balding areas commonly caused by male pattern baldness or female pattern hair loss.
Surgeons can transplant as few as 100 grafts or as many as 6,000 grafts in a hair transplant. It all depends on the graft availability in your donor area, the number of hair grafts you need, and the look you want to achieve. Most hair transplants involve transplanting around 2,000 to 3,000 grafts.
Hair follicle: A hair follicle is a tiny structure in the skin that anchors the hair strand and is responsible for hair growth. It contains the root of the hair and is surrounded by cells that regulate hair production and cycling.
Hair graft: A hair graft is a small unit of tissue containing one or more hair follicles that is extracted from a donor area during a hair transplant and implanted into a thinning or balding area. A single graft can contain anywhere from 1 to 4 hair follicles.
There are 3 key criteria used to determine how many grafts you’ll need:
The scalp is separated into zones. Each zone requires a certain number of grafts to fill. This diagram shows how many hair grafts are required for each zone:
The extent of your hair loss is analysed against the Norwood Scale. The Norwood Scale shows the 7 progressive stages of hair loss in men with male pattern baldness (also known as androgenetic alopecia). Your Norwood stage determines approximately how many grafts you need.
While the Norwood Scale gives a rough indication of how many grafts you’ll need, you must also factor in your continuing hair loss.
If you’re still losing hair, it’s important to manage this before you opt for hair restoration surgery. This can ultimately reduce the number of hair grafts you need now and in future surgeries. Solutions like Minoxidil and medication like Finasteride and Dutasteride are often prescribed to slow the rate of hair loss.
Sometimes hair loss progresses to the point where you need multiple hair transplants. In these cases, your hair transplant surgeon should aim to preserve your donor area so you can have additional procedures in the future. That means your graft count may be lower initially to ensure you have enough donor hair for future transplants.
Patient advisor Sophie reveals the most common graft counts among our hair transplant patients.
Technician Emma explains what a hair graft is, where they’re taken from and how the safe zone is measured.
Technician Evgeniya reveals why surgeons can take a limited number of grafts from your safe donor area.
All prospective hair transplant patients should be aware that there is a limit to how many grafts a surgeon can safely extract. This is known as your safe donor area, and it prevents hair transplant overharvesting among other hair transplant complications.
There’s some debate about what constitutes a safe donor area. This diagram shows 4 commonly used models:
Some research suggests that the safe donor area decreases in size as you age [2]. Studies have shown that it’s safe and effective to extract up to 6,000 grafts in certain patients with large donor areas — but not all patients will be able to have this many grafts [3].
Regardless of the donor area model used, hair transplant surgeons shouldn’t extract more than 25% of the hair follicles from the safe donor area in a single hair transplant procedure [4]. So be wary of clinics that offer high graft quotes (in excess of 6,000 grafts), as this may constitute overharvesting.
There’s very little difference between FUT and FUE in terms of the number of hair grafts you’re quoted. Some research suggests that the transection rate is slightly higher in FUE hair transplantation, so graft survival may be slightly lower [5]. However, these differences are negligible, and shouldn’t impact your overall graft quote or hair transplant success.
FUE hair transplant surgery is generally slightly cheaper than FUT, as it’s a less invasive procedure that requires fewer surgical team members to perform. It also gives you less scarring and a faster hair transplant recovery timeline.
Hair transplants for women use a different chart to measure progression of female pattern hair loss. This chart is known as the Ludwig Scale:
The table below shows the average number of grafts needed for each stage of the Ludwig Scale:
The average cost per hair graft in the UK is £3.25. However, some clinics reduce their price per graft and inflate the number of grafts quoted in order to appear more competitive in terms of hair transplant cost.
As a result, it’s important to get quotes from a range of clinics. This will tell you whether you’re paying a fair price for your hair transplant, and whether a clinic is quoting for a higher number of grafts than is really necessary.
Read our hair transplant cost analysis to learn how to spot a shady clinic, and how much you should be paying for a hair transplant in 2025. If you are interested in a hair transplant with the Wimpole Clinic, see our hair transplant price list.
It’s safe to remove up to around 3,000 hair grafts in a single session [6]. It may be possible to transplant more grafts at once in limited circumstances, but generally if you need more grafts than this they’ll be transplanted over multiple sessions.
Surgical teams must leave a safe distance between each graft placement in a single session. By leaving a year or more between sessions, your skin will have healed so the team can place additional grafts between previously transplanted grafts. So this can actually improve your hair density in time.
The number of hair grafts you need to achieve the density you want depends on the size of your thinning area:
Below, you’ll see the kind of coverage you can get with common graft counts.
In general, if you get a hair transplant in the early stages of hair loss, you can limit the number of grafts needed to around 500-1000.
Norwood stage: 2-3Number of grafts: 500
Learn about 500 graft hair transplants in more detail.
Norwood stage: 3ANumber of grafts: 800
Norwood stage: 2-3Number of grafts: 1000
Find out more about the coverage and costs of 1000 graft hair transplants.
If you have moderate hair loss – a visibly receding hairline and some thinning through the crown and mid-scalp – you may need around 1500 to 2500 grafts to improve your hair density.
Norwood stage: 3-4Number of grafts: 1500
Find out more about 1500 graft hair transplants.
Norwood stage: 3-4Number of grafts: 2000
Learn everything you need to know about a 2000 graft hair transplant.
Norwood stage: 3-4Number of grafts: 2500
Learn more about a 2500 graft hair transplant.
Those in the latter stages of hair loss will need higher graft counts, normally ranging from 3000 to 5000 grafts. Whether you’re eligible for a high graft count hair transplant depends on your donor hair availability and your age. You may be advised to have your grafts transplanted over more than one session.
Norwood stage: 4-5Number of grafts: 3000
Learn more about getting a 3000 graft hair transplant.
Norwood stage: 5-7Number of grafts: 4200
Learn more about 4000 graft hair transplants, including coverage, cost, and results.
Norwood stage: 6-7Number of grafts: 4500
Find out more about high-volume procedures such as 5000 graft hair transplants, including costs and coverage.
The only way to find out exactly how many hair grafts you’ll need is to have a hair loss consultation at a reputable hair transplant clinic. Our experienced consultations will examine your hair and scalp to give you an accurate hair graft quote.
If you are considering surgical hair restoration, you are probably curious about other elements of the hair transplant process. Factors such as costs, length of surgery, recovery times, and potential side effects could make you pause for consideration.
That’s why it’s important to research the hair restoration process thoroughly so that you can choose a reputable clinic you can trust.
Consultation at the Wimpole Clinic is free, so book your consultation today and get an accurate quote for how many hair grafts you need to get a full, natural hairline.
Learn more about hair graft calculation in these frequently asked questions.
Just like with scalp hair, the number of grafts you need for a beard transplant depends on the area you’re covering. So there’s no one size fits all answer.
That said, most beard transplants use no more than 2000-2500 grafts. This ensures there’s donor hair left should you ever want to use it for another beard or hair transplant.
It’s difficult to accurately estimate how many grafts you’ll need for your hair transplant without professional assistance. Looking at a hair transplant gallery with graft count details may help you compare against others with similar rates of hair loss.
For the most accurate estimates, it’s best to consult with a professional. Many prospective patients get quotes from multiple clinics so they can be sure they’re getting an accurate quote (black market clinics have been known to inflate graft numbers unnecessarily to increase the price).
Yes, it’s possible to get a small hair transplant of just 100 grafts. This may be necessary to even out your hairline, increase density in a small area, or to perform an eyebrow transplant.
In most cases, no. Taking more than 6000 grafts will use a significant proportion of your donor area. Hair transplant clinics should only take up to 40% of your available donor area to ensure you have enough density left to disguise your graft extraction.
That said, men with a particularly good supply of donor hair may be able to have 6000+ graft hair transplants. Speak to a skilled, reputable surgeon to ensure you get the best advice and results.
Simply fill in your details and we’ll get in touch with you shortly.
Δ
Simply fill in your details in the form below and we'll get in touch with you shortly.
