ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Vision Council has released its Market inSights Q3 2024 report featuring new market data and analysis estimating the performance of the $18.9 billion optical industry. The report reveals industry performance across a variety of categories, including eye exams, eyeglasses, frames, lenses, contact lenses, readers and plano sunglasses for the third quarter of 2024. “Compared to previous quarters of 2024, The Vision Council’s latest research shows a notable uptick in both the volume of prescription goods purchased and the value of these products and services, suggesting a strong back-to-school season for the industry,” said Alysse Henkel, vice president of research and inSights at The Vision Council.

Henkel continued, “As more families prioritized prescription exams, glasses and contacts this quarter, the non-prescription sunglasses market experienced a decline, as is expected with the changing seasons and cooler weather.”

Along with prescription products, reading glasses continued to see an increase in volume from Q2 2024 to Q3 2024, according to the report. Even so, there was a slight dip in their overall market value, indicating that while more units were sold, consumers are opting for more budget-friendly options compared with the previous quarter.

Key highlights from the Q3 report include the following:

● The contact lens market sold more than 40 million boxes of contacts.

● Lenses led the prescription market with a value of $5.01 billion.

● Over 18 million pairs of frames were sold. 

● 34 million patients received a comprehensive eye exam.
 
● Plano sunglasses had a market value of $4.37 billion. 

● Consumers purchased more than 53 million pairs of readers.

The Market inSights Q3 2024 report estimates are based on a variety of data sources, including consumer retail expenditure data, patient billing and payment data, and optical retail location data, along with an updated consumer survey program.

The full report is available in The Vision Council’s Research Download Center as a complimentary download for members of The Vision Council, with a paid option for non-members to download.