CL market worth £186m

The UK contact lens market was worth £186.1m in 2007, made up of sales of 483 million contact lenses, with demand for silicone hydrogels continuing to rise.

According to figures published this week by the Association of Contact Lens Manufacturers (ALCM), daily disposables account for 55 per cent of the market value, followed by silicone hydrogels (21 per cent), soft frequent replacement lenses (16 per cent), rigid (5 per cent) and soft traditional lenses (3 per cent).

Figures also showed that more than 760,000 people in the UK (23 per cent of all wearers) wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses, an increase of 20 per cent compared with 2006. In total, 331,000 people use rigid lenses, accounting for 10 per cent of all wearers.