2011 Contact Lens Sales Rise 11 Pct To US$712 Million In Five Key Asian Markets

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Bernama) -- Some US$712 million worth of contact lenses were sold in five key Asian markets -- South Korea, Taiwan Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong -- last year, representing a sales growth of 11 per cent, says market research-based GfK Asia Pte Ltd. The company's retail audit findings across these five countries for 2011 showed that the two biggest contact lens markets of South Korea and Taiwan were the key drivers in Asia with robust double-digit sales in both unit and value terms over 2010. South Korea grew by 20 per cent in value sales, followed by Taiwan at 12 per cent, GfK Asia said in a statement Tuesday. Singapore and Malaysia reflected hikes in value worth of the industry by 7.0 and 5.0 per cent respectively. -- BERNAMA