‘Mentality’ change driving mainlanders to splash the cash on animal friends, and Hongkongers are among top spenders on pet care in Asia-Pacific

The pets market in mainland China has seen steady growth in recent years, driven by a shift in “lifestyles and mentality” among pet owners, while Hongkongers too are more willing to increase their spending on the health and well-being of their animal friends, analysts said.

On the mainland, even as economic challenges weigh on discretionary consumption, “good growth” is expected in the pets sector, said Sam Sun, partner at Alto Vera Equity Partners, a Beijing-based buyout fund focused on the consumer and industrials sectors.

“The growth is driven by a combination of lifestyle and mentality changes, where an increasing number of young mainlanders, deterred by the high costs of forming families, are choosing to raise pets as companions and treating them as family members [instead],” he said.

And this shifting trend is leading to increased spending not just on pet food, but also pet health, apparel and accessories, Sun added.

China’s pets industry recorded total sales of US$13.6 billion last year, close to a 100 per cent increase since 2018, according to reports published separately by industry bodies such as the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association and Euromonitor.

This comes despite slowing growth momentum in the sector, which was due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on discretionary spending. Last year, mainland pet owners spent an average of 2,875 yuan (US$400) per year on their dogs and 1,870 yuan on their cats, marking declines of 0.2 per cent and 0.75 per cent, respectively, compared to 2022 levels.