The total U.S. optical retail market grew by 3.7 percent for the 12-month period ending December 2013, when compared with the same period in 2012, according to The Vision Council’s most recent VisionWatch report. The market grew from $30,287 million to $31,415 million, as indicated by the graph. Among the categories measured, lenses grew 5.2 percent from $10,587 million to $11,138 million, frames increased 2.7 percent from $8,639 million to $8,871, and contact lenses sales went up 8 percent from $3,304 million to $3,569 million.

Total U.S. Market for Optical Retail* Products and Services


Source: The Vision Council’s VisionWatch, 12-month period ending Dec. 2013. Sample size is approximately 110,000 American adult respondents.

*Optical Retail includes dollars spent at all optical locations on the sale of either spectacle lenses (regular Rx and Rx sun), frames, sunglasses (plano only), over-the-counter readers, or revenue earned from refractive surgery or eye examinations. This number does not include sunglass clips and reflects the dollars spent only by those U.S. residents 18 and older. Optical retail includes leased optical spaces in department stores, mass merchandisers with optical locations, optical chains, and independents with