South Korean Pets Stay Home for 5 Hours Daily: Report

Dogs ride on strollers at a pet show in Seoul in this file photo taken on Oct. 14, 2022. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, June 5 (Korea Bizwire) — About one out of every 4 South Korean households owns pets, which typically stay at home for an average of 5 hours per day, a report showed Sunday.

The report, published by the management institute of KB Financial Group Inc., revealed that there were 5.52 million households with pets as of late last year, marking a 2.8 percent increase from late 2020.

The percentage of households with pets accounted for 25.7 percent of the total, showing a decrease of 0.6 percentage points over a two-year period.

Among households with pets, dogs were the most common, making up 71.4 percent, while 27.1 percent owned cats.

The proportion of dogs decreased by 3.2 percentage points compared to two years ago, whereas the proportion of cats increased by 1.9 percentage points.

Of the households that owned pets, 80.3 percent reported leaving their pets at home, even for short durations, on a daily basis.

On average, the pets stayed at home for 5 hours and 17 minutes each day, slightly shorter than the 5 hours and 40 minutes reported in 2021.

Each household spent an average of 154,000 won (US$117) per month on their pets, representing a 14,000 won increase since 2021.

Close to one-third (31.7 percent) of the pet-related expenditure was allocated to food, followed by snacks (19.1 percent), disposable products (12.7 percent), and beauty services (10.5 percent).

The data also indicated that 73.4 percent of pet-owning households had spent an average of 787,000 won on medical care for their pets during the past two years.

When traveling (37.4 percent), dealing with deteriorating health conditions (34.4 percent), and attending to their pets’ grooming needs (34.1 percent), owners expressed the most concern for their pets.

Approximately two-thirds of households expressed satisfaction with pet ownership, with 62.8 percent stating their intention to continue having pets.

In contrast, only 41.9 percent indicated that they would recommend others to adopt a pet, marking a 4.6 percentage point decrease from two years ago.

H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)