"Amway Corp. is reporting a double-digit sales decline for the second year in a row.

"Company sales are down 12 percent from a year ago, to $5 billion."

In 1997, Amway claimed worldwide sales of $6.7 billion (at estimated retail, a nonexistent number as retail sales comprise only a small percentage of Amway's sales). A private company, Amway does not release other financial or operating information.

According to a company statement, Amway noted that its distributor force remains at 3 million. Considering that their North American sales force has almost doubled because of all the hype surrounding Quixtar, this means that distributor numbers in other countries have declined in spite of new country openings.

Seventy percent of Amway's business comes from its international markets. In Japan, one of Amway's larger markets, sales for fiscal 1999 were down 25.3%; Amway Asia Pacific's sales were down 14.7%. Amway Asia Pacific includes Amway's operations in China, Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific Rim countries. Amway's owners, the DeVos and VanAndel families, are attempting to privatize both Amway Japan Ltd. (AJL) and Amway Asia Pacific (AAP).