Richard Kestenbaum shares he was shocked with numbers from the APPA summary of its annual report on pet ownership that shows a decline in pet households. The percentage of households with pets declined from 70 percent in 2021 to 66 percent in 2022. In contrast to the households decline, the dollars spent on pets in 2022 were up 10.8 percent over 2021. Recent reports from Chewy and Petco Health + Wellness Company support the spend growth.
Kestenbaum sought out industry experts at the Global Pet Expo to explain the decline. Although no definitive explanation was uncovered, several reasons were proposed:
- Boomers aging out as pets pass away
- Combining of households
- Post holiday pet returns . . . “buyer’s remorse”
- Realization of the cost of upkeep and care
Source: Forbes, March 24, 2023. Link.
The pet industry has been recession-proof for a long time. The decline in households owning pets raises the question of whether that continues to be true. Based on the continued increase in spending and the most reasonable explanation for the decline in households owning pets, it appears that the decline is an indication of how the pandemic affected furry friends who are vulnerable to human whims.” – Richard Kestenbaum
NOTE: Kestenbaum’s article was preceded by myriad articles on the health of the pet industry, pet ownership and pet spending statistics. We’re sharing two of them here.
- Pet ownership statistics 2023, Forbes Advisor, March 15, 2023. Link. Forbes Advisor shares a deep dive into the latest available pet owner statistics to determine which pets are most popular, how pet ownership and spending habits differ by generation, the cost of pet ownership and the most common lifestyle sacrifices made by pet owners.
- Pet spending statistics for 2023 that made us say oops, MoneyZine, February 15, 2023. Link. We’re not sure where the oops was, but Dunja Radonic shares 2023 pet spending statistics from several sources. We noted that 42 percent of pet owners would have to go into debt to pay of a surprise vet bill.