India’s growing affluence is translating into a love affair with pets. The numbers speak for themselves: Dog and cat food imports have more than doubled in the past five years and jumped six-fold in the past decade, according to commerce ministry data.
While India imported $69.8 million worth of dog and cat food in the first six months of 2024, imports stood at just $25.5 million for January-June 2019 before the pandemic and $11.2 million during a similar period in 2015.
In terms of volume, 29 million kg of dog food were imported in the first half of 2024 compared with 6 million in the first six months of 2015.
“This is a sign of growing affluence in niche segments. Having pets for even the higher income group is common as couples prefer not to have kids. Therefore affluence leads to giving best to pets. Just see the number of pet spas which have come up in urban India. It is a growing phenomenon as demand is there. Buying imported stuff means giving the best to pets,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda.
The push came post-pandemic when work-from-home protocols led to people adopting more pets.
Thailand has captured a significant share of the Indian pet foods market. In 2024, the Southeast Asian country accounted for 60 percent of India’s imports, compared with just a third of dog and cat food imports in 2015.
Move for exports
But India is not solely reliant on imports; a growing market has also ensured a rise in exports.
India exported $36.4 million worth of dog and cat food products in the first of 2024, compared with $18.8 million prior to the pandemic, with Germany, the US and UK emerging as top export destinations.
Of the $36.4 million exported in the first half of the year, Germany accounted for 27 percent of the country’s exports, followed by the US at 20 percent and the UK at 15 percent.
Rising incomes and social media trends have created a demand for foreign dog breeds.
Other mammal imports, primarily dogs and cats, have increased over 50 percent since the pandemic and nearly ten times in the past seven years.
In the first half of the year, imports touched a high of 30,010 animals compared with 3,590 in 2018.
