According to the report of "Contact Lens Spectrum - CONTACT LENSES 2019".The size of the contact lens market has historically been open for debate; as new lenses from smaller/lesser-known manufacturers, novel contact lens categories such as those for myopia control, and new direct-to-consumer selling models have begun to emerge, pinning down the market’s size and growth have become even more challenging. Data obtained from Baird (Jeff Johnson, OD, CFA, managing director, senior research analyst), however, suggest that the value of the global soft contact lens market (measured at the manufacturer level) likely approached $9 billion in 2019 and that growth for the market through the first three quarters of the year remained solidly in the range of 5% to 6% (after excluding the impact of fluctuating foreign exchange rates). 

This marks 10 consecutive years, dating back to the end of the Great Recession, of global soft contact lens market growth of at least 4% to 6%. Growth during this period was supported by a host of factors, including the industry’s continued transition to silicone hydrogel lenses, accelerating uptake of daily disposable lenses, and growth of new wearers driven by increased adoption of contact lens wear in developing markets. Baird further estimates that the $3 billion U.S. contact lens market also grew roughly 5% to 6% through the first nine months of 2019, which is comparable to the 6% growth estimated for the domestic market for all of 2019. While hard to specifically dissect the contributors to U.S. growth, Baird believes that a majority of the growth for the U.S. market can be traced to patients upgrading to more expensive daily disposable lenses—and in particular, daily disposable silicone hydrogel lenses—from older-generation frequent-replacement, non-silicone-hydrogel lenses. A portion of the growth is also likely attributable to the broader availability and corresponding stronger uptake of toric and multifocal contact lens options from the major lens manufacturers.

Looking forward, with the economy still in a reasonably stable state and with several new daily disposable lens products expected to launch more

fully, Baird expects this similar 5% to 6% global market growth to continue in 2020.