Where the Most Pampered Pets Live

While Americans spend the most on pet supplies per capita of any country in the world, pampered pets also live in Australia and New Zealand. This is according to numbers by Statista Market Insights. Per-capita expenditures on pet supplies are expected to reach an absolute global record of around $280 in the United States this year, while this figure is projected as $226 in Australia and $196 in New Zealand. The global market for all things pet is expected to surpass $228 billion this year, with pet food making up more than 70 percent of this.

Purchases like pet supplies have a strong correlation to personal income or GDP per capita, but there are some outlier in this. While New Zealand, Portugal, Chile, France or Finland spend comparably high amounts of money on pets compared to their GDP per capita figures, Gulf countries and Asian city states like Hong Kong and Singapore spend less than their GDPs would suggest.

Overall, Asian nations spend little on pet supplies, including pet food, accessories, hygiene products and medicines. Chinese people on average are only estimated to spend $8.7, compared to $6.7 in Indonesia, $37.9 in Taiwan, $38.8 in South Korea and $58.2 in Japan. Spending is higher in South America, at $102 in Chile, $60.3 in Argentina and $52.1 in Brazil. This is despite the fact that Argentina's and China's per-capita GDP were on a similar level as of 2024. Spending was also below expected GDP levels in Eastern Europe, with some nations like Croatia or Slovakia spending only as little as $33-$47 per capita annually despite relatively higher GDPs.

India is even among the nations spending the absolute least on pets on average at just $0.5. This is close to $0.7 in Pakistan and $0.8 in Sudan. Poor nations predictably spend very little in this department and large swaths of Africa, Asia and also Central America spend under $10 or even under $2 per year and inhabitant on pet supplies.