How and Why | Tattoos Episode 3: How much money does the tattoo industry make?

Right from beachside stalls at Goa to professional studios at malls, the Indian tattoo industry is bright and booming. The estimated projections since 2016 about the annual revenue of the industry is above ₹20,000 crore.

To become a tattoo artist is an offbeat job, but they say necessity is the mother of invention, and many artists we spoke to choose this profession because well – they wanted to get inked!

There is no dearth of information on the internet on how a person can start the practice of tattoos at home, and e-commerce websites will deliver supplies to your doorstep. This has led to a lot of home-grown and local artists who work on the artform. The size, design, experience of the artist, time consumed, colors of the tattoo and placement are all factors that play into how much a tattoo will cost.

For many this work is also becoming lucrative enough to do as their full-time job, to spend the time it takes to learn the craft and it pays!

However not all tattoo stories have a happy ending. If Ariana Grande can get a tattoo that spells Japanese Barbeque Grill and Deepika Padukone can get a permanent tattoo to mark a relationship that didn’t quite have a fairy tale ending, we are after all mere mortals. If there is money in getting a tattoo – there's also money involved in removing it! And we Indians often get our tattoos removed too – more than any other country in the world.
But it’s not always wrong tattoos, or not being invested in them anymore that leads to tattoos being removed.

One reason for this boom in the tattoo industry in recent years could also be the fact that there is no longer a ‘type’ of person who gets inked. And the attitudes to this style of art are also changing.

We now know there is money being spent here. But the largest question still remains – why are people going through this permanent process for tattoos at all? Why do people get inked and to what lengths will they go for their adornment? We take a look at that in the next episode, but do tell us how much dough you spent on your tattoos in the comments below!

Also Watch -

Episode 1: The History and culture of tattoos in India

Episode 2: Who owns a tattoo? The question of copyright

Episode 4: Why do people get tattoos? A look at the psychology behind getting inked