Market analysis: Contact lens growth in UK and Ireland

With a population approximately 8% the size of Great Britain’s, but contact lens sales volumes of only around 3% of Great Britain’s, the Republic of Ireland is a contact lens market with the potential for strong growth. This piece compares the contact lens markets development over the past year across both countries.

Growth in the contact lens markets across Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland have tended to occur in a similar manner with annual growth rates within a few per cent of each other across both countries over recent years. Over the year to June 2017 the Republic of Ireland has achieved growth in value sales compared to the previous year of +4.1%, slightly ahead of the growth rate achieved in Great Britain of +3.1%. This then appears to show a continuation of the status quo of relatively similar market performance, however, when we delve a little deeper to see how this value growth has been achieved we see a significant divergence in trends has developed.