60 Million 'Companion Pet Households' Era... Last Year's Pet Food Exports Up 83.5%

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and aT Publish 'Pet Food Market Status Report'

CJ CheilJedang's pet food 'OFRESH Beef'. (Photo by CJ CheilJedang)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] As the number of pet-owning households in South Korea approaches 6 million, pet food exports last year increased by 83.5% compared to 2019.

Pet food refers to meals and snacks for pets, a term that has replaced "feed" as the number of pet families (pet+family) who treat their pets like family members has grown.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) published a "Pet Food Market Status Report" on the 3rd containing these details.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs · Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT)

Last year, pet food export value reached 67.49 million USD, an 83.5% increase from 2019. Imports also rose by 11.9% to 270.73 million USD.

Exports were led by Japan with 24.55 million USD, accounting for 36.4% of the total, followed by Taiga with 17.8 million USD (26.4%), and Vietnam with 5.68 million USD (8.4%).

Source=Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs · Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT)

Pet food production volume was 109,781 tons in 2019, a 16.4% increase from the previous year.

From January to October last year alone, production already reached 109,191 tons, nearly matching the entire 2019 volume.

The increase in single-person households and nuclear families has contributed to the growth of pet ownership, influencing market expansion.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and aT, as of 2019, pet-owning households are estimated at 5.91 million, representing 26.4% of all households.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.