The Indonesian pet food market has grown rapidly to reach US$237 million in 2023, up 24.5% from US$190.38 million in the previous year, according to the US Department of Agriculture FAS Report.
As a muslim-majority country, rising cat ownership instead of dogs has fueled the growth of Indonesia’s pet food market. Between 2017 to 2022, Indonesia’s pet population has grown by 75.7% with cats being the most popular with higher growth of 137.6% during this 5-year period bringing its estimated population to 5.1 million in 2022.
Along with this growing cat population, the cat food market has become the industry’s largest segment.
According to the USDA report, “Dog ownership in Indonesia remains relatively low due to religious and cultural beliefs, particularly within the Muslim community. Many Muslim households in Indonesia traditionally do not prefer to keep dogs as pets due to religious practices and cultural considerations. As a result, dogs are owned by only about 10% of Indonesian households.”
Meanwhile, the Indonesian pet food retail market increased from Rp 2.8 trillion (US$172 million) in 2022 to Rp 3.6 trillion (US$221 million) in 2023, or 27.2% growth year-on-year. Cat food drove much of this growth, rising by 32.2% from Rp 2.1 trillion (US$129 million) in 2022 to Rp 2.8 trillion (US$172 million) in 2023. On the other hand, retail sales of dog food grew only 12.4%, from Rp 719.7 billion (US$44.2 million) in 2022 to Rp 809.1 billion (US$49.8 million) in 2023.
In terms of proportion, cat food contributed 77.5% of the total pet food market, while the dog food segment made up of 22.5% in 2023.
According to a USDA analyst, the trend is expected to continue with cat food projected to grow even higher in the coming years as the cat population is expected to reach 5.9 million by the end of 2026.
Meanwhile, not only Indonesia is experiencing the rising population of cats as pets. Pulling factors which encourage the growth of cats as pets around the world are also active in Indonesia such as busy work lifestyles and rapid urbanization which also encourages smaller, lower-maintenance pets.
