The optics market in Europe

Gfk recently presented in Milan research data on trends and changes in European optics distribution.

In January and February, the French market for ophthalmic lenses increased by 3.5% in value and 2.1% in volume. In Germany, after the strong downturn in 2004 due to changes in refunds by the health system, the first two months of 2005 were marked by a drop of 18% in value and 13% in volume (excluding outlets of the Fielmann chain, not included in the survey). In Spain during the same period, there was a 2,2% falloff in value and 3.8% in volume.

With regard to frames, Gfk results were for Germany and Spain only. In Germany in 2004, 9.148 million frames were sold for a value of 703.4 million euros against 13.984 million in 2003 equal to 1.081 million euros. In Spain, 4.7 million frames were sold at a value of 451.9 million euros compared to 4.625 million frames in 2003 for 440.8 million euros.