South Korea's pet food market has grown more than 60% over the past five years to 2.5 trillion won, yet the government cannot determine how much of that market imported products account for, a lawmaker said.
The domestic pet food market expanded 67.4% to $1.783 billion last year from $1.0648 billion in 2020, according to Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs data submitted to Rep. Kim Sun-kyo of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee. That translates to roughly 2.5 trillion won at last year's exchange rate.
Basic statistics have not kept pace with that growth. Asked what share of the domestic pet food market imported products hold, the ministry responded that it had no data on the matter.
The ministry said the import share could be estimated using the size of the domestic pet food market and import figures, but that any resulting number could not be treated as an accurate market share because the market size itself is not an official government statistic. The government plans to build a statistical foundation for the sector under the Companion Animal-Related Industry Act, enacted in March this year, and to establish official statistics through a future survey.
Export competitiveness was also flagged as a challenge. Pet food imports totaled $342.5 million last year, more than double exports of $160.5 million. That left a trade deficit of $182 million, marking the 11th consecutive year of deficits in pet food trade since 2015.
Government spending on export support has risen sharply. The budget for a program to develop the companion animal industry into an export business climbed about 4.9-fold in two years, to 9.095 billion won this year from 1.84 billion won in 2024. Export results have not followed. Pet food exports rose just 7.1% to $160.5 million last year from $149.8 million in 2023, and were virtually flat against the $160.1 million recorded in 2024.
"We need to build basic statistics that match a fast-growing companion animal market and closely analyze the industry's competitiveness," Kim said, calling for a comprehensive support plan covering the use of domestic ingredients, research and development, product premiumization and expansion of overseas sales channels.
