ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Overall vision care sales revenues, including the retail sales of eyewear, contact lenses and exams, increased 1.2 percent during the 12-month period ending in June 2011, when the vision care industry in the U.S. generated $32.2 billion, an aggregate gain of $388 million at the retail level compared to the prior-year, according to VisionWatch.

In addition, revenues from eye exams increased 2.8 percent in that 12-month period, according to the large scale continuous research study of consumer eyewear purchasing behavior and future purchase intent conducted by The Vision Council. In the six-month period ending June, 48.3 million eye exams were conducted in the U.S., an increase from 47.4 million conducted in the comparable six-month period ended June 2010, the survey showed.

The survey’s Eyeglass Future Purchasing Intent Index, was at 105 for the six months ending June this year, comparable to the prior measured period and at its highest level in two years, indicating a positive outlook toward purchasing on the part of consumers. It should be noted, that the first-half survey preceded the recent U.S. stock market gyrations which reflect new concerns about the U.S. economy.

The Vision Council reported that most sectors of the vision care market increased during the 12-month period ending June, with the ophthalmic frame market increasing in dollars by 1.3 percent to $8.26 billion, spectacle lenses increasing by 1.2 percent to $9.5 billion, over-the-counter (OTC) readers rising by a strong 5.7 percent to $744 million and contact lenses revenues growing by 1.8 percent to $3.6 billion.

The total number of American adults using some form of vision correction also remains steady. As of June 2011, 177.1 million American adults (75 percent of the U.S. population) were using some kind of vision correction device. There were 149.8 million adult Rx eyeglass wearers in the U.S. during this same period of time along with 203.3 million plano sunglass wearers and 36.2 million contact lens wearers. In addition, there were also 12 million American adults that admitted to needing some form of vision correction but have done nothing about it (down nearly 350,000 from the previous year).

More on the survey is available to Vision Council members by going to www.thevisioncouncil.org. ■