South Korea aims to double its pet market by 2027

South Korea’s government plans to double the size of the pet care industry to 15 trillion won (11.4 bn dollars) by 2027, according to a report in the news magazine Korea JoongAn Daily. The pet food, pet healthcare, pet service and pet tech markets will be fostered into a premium market under the “Everywhere K-pet Care Industry” goal, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced. The ministry said the pet market has become a new growth industry generating new jobs as both the number of pet owners and emphasis on animal rights increase.

The number of households with pets grew 65.4 per cent between 2012 and 2022 to 6.02 mio. The domestic pet market comprised 6.2 bn dollars or 1.6 per cent of the global pie as of 2022, according to Seoul National University. Pet food will be distinguished from food for livestock under a pet-food-specialised system on a par with global standards by 2024. The new system will regulate how pet foods are categorised and advertised as well as their nutrition requirements.
 
The government aims to fuel the pet food industry to 5 mio dollars in pet food exports by 2027, triple 2022's figure of 1.49 mio dollars.