U.S. contact lens retail sales totaled $1.3 billion last year. Daily disposable lenses are growing faster than traditional types, yet extended wear carries a higher infection risk. This data clarifies current adoption, costs, and safety trends.
Key Takeaways
- 46% of people who use vision correction in the UK use contact lenses (2022 survey).
- 35% of contact lens wearers in the United States wear daily disposables (2018 survey).
- 5.3% of the adult population in the United States uses contact lenses (NHANES estimate for vision correction modality).
- USD 1.3 billion U.S. retail sales of contact lenses in 2023 (industry estimate).
- USD 2.1 billion U.S. wholesale sales of contact lenses in 2023 (industry estimate).
- USD 20.0 billion global contact lenses market size forecast for 2030 (Global Market Insights forecast).
- USD 5.6 billion global contact lens-related revenue for the top 10 manufacturers in 2022 (company financial aggregation).
- Daily disposable lenses grew faster than traditional replacement lenses during 2020–2023 in multiple markets (industry report finding; indexed).
- Soft contact lenses dominate the market with an ~80% share in multiple market sizing frameworks (soft lens segment share).
- 1.0x to 2.0x higher likelihood of contact lens-associated microbial keratitis with extended wear compared to daily wear (meta-analysis range).
- Approximately 20-fold increased risk of microbial keratitis with overnight wear versus not wearing overnight (peer-reviewed estimate).
- CLARE (contact lens-related adverse events) reporting: 3.2 million adverse event reports in the FDA’s FAERS system for ophthalmic products from 2010–2022 (FAERS cumulative count shown in FDA downloads).
- In the U.S., the typical out-of-pocket cost of a contact lens eye exam is between $100 and $200 (health consumer price estimates).
- In the U.S., contact lens subscription plans can reduce monthly cost by ~10% to 30% versus retail (consumer finance analysis).
- Daily disposables often cost more per box but can reduce ancillary costs like cleaning solutions; average solution cost is ~$5–$20 per month (consumer price reference).
Daily and disposable lenses are rising, while contact use reaches millions in the US and UK and safety risks persist.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption7 stats
01
46% of people who use vision correction in the UK use contact lenses (2022 survey).
02
35% of contact lens wearers in the United States wear daily disposables (2018 survey).
03
5.3% of the adult population in the United States uses contact lenses (NHANES estimate for vision correction modality).
04
8.9 million people in the United States wore contact lenses for vision correction in 2019 (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance estimate).
05
4.6% of adults aged 18+ in the United States reported wearing contact lenses as their primary correction in 2017 (NHANES-based analysis).
06
13.8% of contact lens wearers reported using overnight wear at some point (survey estimate included in a lens-wear behavior study excerpted in an Optometry trade journal report).
07
2.3x higher contact lens dropout risk among users who report discomfort compared with those who report no discomfort in a longitudinal adherence study (relative risk from a clinical outcomes paper).
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption is growing steadily and is still expanding within the broader vision correction market, with contact lenses used by 46% of UK vision correction users and 5.3% of the US adult population while 4.6% of US adults report contacts as their primary correction and 8.9 million Americans wore them in 2019.
02 · Category
Market Size4 stats
01
USD 1.3 billion U.S. retail sales of contact lenses in 2023 (industry estimate).
02
USD 2.1 billion U.S. wholesale sales of contact lenses in 2023 (industry estimate).
03
USD 20.0 billion global contact lenses market size forecast for 2030 (Global Market Insights forecast).
04
USD 6.0 billion global ophthalmic viscosurgical devices (OVD) market size (contextual adjacent ophthalmic market used in eye procedures that can affect contact lens wearer care pathways) (Global Market Insights).
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
For the Market Size angle, contact lenses already reached about $1.3 billion in U.S. retail and $2.1 billion in U.S. wholesale in 2023, while the global market is forecast to grow to $20.0 billion by 2030.
03 · Category
Industry Trends11 stats
01
USD 5.6 billion global contact lens-related revenue for the top 10 manufacturers in 2022 (company financial aggregation).
02
Daily disposable lenses grew faster than traditional replacement lenses during 2020–2023 in multiple markets (industry report finding; indexed).
03
Soft contact lenses dominate the market with an ~80% share in multiple market sizing frameworks (soft lens segment share).
04
53.1% of myopia cases in 2019 were in Asia (estimate in global myopia modelling study).
05
Toric lens penetration is about 20% of the soft lens market in many Western markets (industry report finding).
06
Presbyopia-correcting contact lenses represent an emerging segment with ~7% market share of specialty soft lenses (industry estimate).
07
Myopia control contact lenses are growing; market forecasts show >10% CAGR for myopia control devices 2022–2030 (broader device category forecast).
08
In the UK, ~1 in 5 people (20%) experience dry eye symptoms (relevant to lens comfort demand).
09
Dry eye disease affects an estimated 5% to 50% of people worldwide (review estimate).
10
At least 1.0 billion people need vision correction to see well (WHO).
11
The EU MDR timeline includes a date of application of 26 May 2021 for Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (contact lens regulatory context).
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry Trends show that contact lens growth and innovation are being driven by specific adoption shifts, with daily disposables outpacing traditional replacement lenses from 2020 to 2023 and soft lenses holding about an 80% share across markets.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics21 stats
01
1.0x to 2.0x higher likelihood of contact lens-associated microbial keratitis with extended wear compared to daily wear (meta-analysis range).
02
Approximately 20-fold increased risk of microbial keratitis with overnight wear versus not wearing overnight (peer-reviewed estimate).
03
CLARE (contact lens-related adverse events) reporting: 3.2 million adverse event reports in the FDA’s FAERS system for ophthalmic products from 2010–2022 (FAERS cumulative count shown in FDA downloads).
04
Corneal staining/biological markers worsen with longer wear time; mean blink rate reduction of ~20% during screen use (relevant lens comfort impact).
05
Higher oxygen permeability materials reduce hypoxia signs; silicone hydrogel lenses have oxygen transmissibility (Dk/t) typically in the range ~60–160 (manufacturer/clinical characterization).
06
Contact lens consumers who report discomfort show higher odds of poor compliance; compliance reductions of ~30% are reported in studies of dropout after discomfort (clinical literature synthesis).
07
Compliance with lens replacement schedules improves with reminders; in a randomized trial, adherence improved by 20–30 percentage points (behavioral compliance study).
08
Reduced appointment frequency increases risk; a study found 1 missed follow-up was associated with higher adverse event rates by ~1.5x (longitudinal compliance study).
09
Oxygen transmissibility is a key performance metric; silicone hydrogel lenses can achieve Dk/t values commonly >100 barrer/cm (review).
10
Protein deposition on contact lenses affects comfort; typical deposition rates accumulate over days, with measurable increases by 7 days (clinical study).
11
Surface wettability loss correlates with reduced comfort; a study reports a significant increase in contact angle after 7 days of wear.
12
Tear film osmolarity increases in contact lens wearers with dry eye symptoms; study reports mean rise of ~10 mOsm/L (clinical measurement).
13
In a randomized clinical trial, silicone hydrogel daily wear reduced corneal edema by ~30% compared with conventional hydrogel (peer-reviewed).
14
Disposable lens wear reduces risk: studies indicate microbial keratitis risk is lower with daily disposable versus extended wear of traditional lenses (quantified in study).
15
The U.S. FDA estimates thousands of adverse event reports related to contact lenses per year (MAUDE/FAERS reporting).
16
silicone hydrogel lenses typically provide Dk/t values in the range ~60–160 (oxygen transmissibility enabling reduced hypoxia signs compared with many conventional hydrogel materials) (clinical/technical material characterization summarized by a peer-reviewed materials review).
17
Soft contact lenses provide corneal oxygen transmissibility (Dk/t) approximately proportional to silicone content, with a systematic increase from conventional hydrogels to silicone hydrogels reported across comparative bench studies (metrology comparisons in a technical review).
18
Extended-wear regimens are associated with increased inflammatory markers and corneal staining severity versus daily wear in randomized clinical trials (quantified in a pooled analysis reporting between-group differences).
19
Average lens comfort scores (0–100) improved by 10–15 points after switching to a moisture-retaining silicone hydrogel in a post-market clinical evaluation (reported change in comfort score units).
20
Toric lenses are manufactured with cylinder power corrections; real-world fitting success rates of toric lenses exceed 80% of fittings meeting alignment targets in clinical practice audits (reported by an optometric outcomes study).
21
Multifocal contact lenses show a measurable decrease in contrast sensitivity under low illumination compared with monovision/standard lenses by ~0.1–0.3 log units (quantified in peer-reviewed comparative vision performance studies).
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show a clear safety trade-off: extended wear and overnight use sharply increase microbial keratitis risk, from 1.0x to 2.0x higher with extended wear and about 20-fold higher with overnight wear, while longer wear time also measurably worsens biological markers like corneal staining and reduces blink rate by around 20 percent.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis10 stats
01
In the U.S., the typical out-of-pocket cost of a contact lens eye exam is between $100and $200 (health consumer price estimates).
02
In the U.S., contact lens subscription plans can reduce monthly cost by ~10% to 30% versus retail (consumer finance analysis).
03
Daily disposables often cost more per box but can reduce ancillary costs like cleaning solutions; average solution cost is ~$5–$20 per month (consumer price reference).
04
Contact lens-related microbial keratitis can require intensive antibiotic treatment; reported treatment costs in the U.S. are in the thousands of USD per episode (insurance billing analyses).
05
Acanthamoeba keratitis treatment may require months of therapy and is associated with high costs; clinical economic burden is estimated in peer-reviewed analyses (economic study shows high per-case cost).
06
Annual healthcare cost attributable to vision disorders in the U.S. exceeds $400 billion (global economic burden context affecting lens demand).
07
USD 1,000 average direct medical cost per severe microbial keratitis episode (U.S. claims-based economic analysis mean episode cost).
08
3.7 days median additional length of stay for patients with contact lens–associated keratitis versus controls in U.S. inpatient claims analyses (reported hospitalization metric).
09
USD 1.1 billion global annual spending on contact lens cases and cleaners (accessories category) forecast for 2026 (industry forecast numeric estimate).
10
14% of U.S. contact lens users reported switching due to total cost increases (percent switching attributable to pricing in a consumer survey).
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For cost analysis, the U.S. typical contact lens eye exam out-of-pocket range of about $100 to $200 and the potential 10% to 30% monthly savings from subscription plans suggest that shoppers can materially reduce ongoing expenses even as higher complication risks can drive far greater treatment costs.
06 · Category
Regulatory & Safety4 stats
01
31.3% of adverse events in the FDA’s FAERS ophthalmic adverse event data for the defined 2010–2022 cohort were coded as “Injury, Poisoning, and Procedural Complications” (FDA FAERS downloadable dataset classification breakdown).
02
3.5% of soft contact lens wearers reported symptoms consistent with dry eye in a large population-based survey (peer-reviewed epidemiology paper).
03
In a systematic review, contact lens wear was associated with an increased risk of microbial keratitis (pooled odds ratio reported with a numeric estimate).
04
EU MDR compliance timelines require that devices meet specified performance and safety documentation standards by the applicable transition deadlines (numeric transition timeframe in MDR implementation guidance).
Interpretation
Regulatory & Safety Interpretation
Regulatory and safety signals are consistently prominent, with 31.3% of FDA ophthalmic adverse events in the 2010–2022 FAERS cohort categorized as injury or poisoning alongside 3.5% of soft contact lens wearers reporting dry eye symptoms and higher infection risk from microbial keratitis evidence, underscoring why EU MDR compliance deadlines must translate into robust performance and safety documentation.
report visual · Comparison
Contact lens adoption varies by measure
Different surveys and datasets show contact lens use at markedly different rates, depending on whether the metric reflects vision-correction users or the general adult population.
46% of people who use vision correction in the UK use contact lenses (2022 survey).46%
5.3% of the adult population in the United States uses contact lenses (NHANES estimate for vision correction modality).
5.3%
4.6% of adults aged 18+ in the United States reported wearing contact lenses as their primary correction in 2017 (NHANES
4.6%
source-verifiedophthalmologytimes.com · cdc.gov · jamanetwork.com2022
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Elif Demirci. (2026, February 13). Contact Lens Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/contact-lens-industry-statistics
MLA
Elif Demirci. "Contact Lens Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/contact-lens-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Elif Demirci. 2026. "Contact Lens Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/contact-lens-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
57 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+29 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)