SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of pet cats in South Korea jumped by almost 300,000 in the last 12 months.
The state-run Korea Agency of Education, Promotion and Information Service in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported that 7.1 of all households in South Korea owned cats as a pet as of last year, up by 0.5 percentage points from 2021.
A total of 2,540,561 cats were being raised as pets last year, up 12.7 percent from the previous year.
While the number is no more than half of dogs raised as pets in the country, each household owns an average of 1.51 cats, which is more than the average number of dogs owned by each household (1.21).
Food producer Dongwon F&B Co. reported last year’s sales of canned cat food jumped by 35 percent from the previous year, while Cargill Agri Purina Inc. reported a 50 percent increase in sales of cat food.
Harim Co. reported a 170 percent increase in sales of cat food and treats last year compared to the previous year.
Image Credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
