Pets set to be a long-tail investment trend – Morgan Stanley

The $100 billion pet industry is poised to nearly triple to $275 billion by 2030 thanks to a surge in new owners, favorable demographics and increased per-pet spending, as reported by Morgan Stanley.

Two-thirds of US households have at least one pet

"A recent AlphaWise survey found that 66% of US households have at least one pet, with 1.7 on average. Even more notably, 69% of respondents ‘strongly agree’ that their pets are important members of the family, 37% would take on debt to pay for a pet's medical expenses, and 29% would put a pet's needs before their own.”

“In the AlphaWise survey, 65% of 18- to 34-year-olds plan to acquire or add a pet in the next five years, helping drive what's expected to be a 14% increase in pet ownership by 2030.”

“Pet owners – younger ones in particular – are spending incrementally more on their pets. Average annual household spending per pet could grow from $980 in 2020 to $1,292 by 2025 and expand further to $1,909 by 2030, Morgan Stanley forecasts.”

“After food and treats, animal health is the biggest subsegment, and vet care could be the fastest growing subsegment in the industry over the next decade. This loyalty to vets could prove problematic for online prescriptions post pandemic, but for other pet-related categories, e-commerce continues to gain traction. After all, online retailers give owners more choice, convenience and time to dote on their dogs and cats.” 

“Other ways to invest in the growing market for pets include retailers with scale and the burgeoning pet insurance industry.”