Oct. 3, 2024 — The Vision Council (TVC) has released its Market inSights Q2 2024 report, showing a mixed performance in the $18.3 billion optical industry. The report provides insights into a variety of market categories including eye exams, eyeglasses, frames, lenses, contact lenses, readers, and plano sunglasses.   

"The Vision Council’s latest research, based on transaction data, shows a decline in both the value and volume of prescription products sold during the second quarter of this year," says TVC vice president of data and insights Alysse Henkel. "However, the nonprescription market saw growth, particularly in sunglasses and reading glasses. This decline in prescription products follows a typical seasonal pattern in consumer purchasing, which is expected to rebound in the third quarter.”

Figure courtesy of The Vision Council

Driven by warmer weather, sales of nonprescription sunglasses increased by 25.6 million units compared to the first quarter, boosting the market's value by $1.6 billion. Sales of reading glasses also rose significantly, reaching 51.2 million units—an increase of over 8 million units from the previous quarter.

Here are other key highlights from the report:

• More than 38 million boxes of contact lenses were sold.
• Prescription lenses generated $4.27 billion in revenue.
• More than 17 million pairs of frames were purchased.
• Comprehensive eye exams were given to 31.5 million patients.
• The market value of nonprescription sunglasses surpassed $5 billion.
• Consumers bought more than 51 million pairs of reading glasses.