South Korea's pet industry worth W8tr, but holds just 1.6% of global market

South Korea's pet-related industry has grown to 8 trillion won ($5.37 billion), yet the country holds just 1.6% of the global market, pointing to an urgent need to overhaul export support systems to sharpen competitiveness, according to a new analysis.

The analysis calls for a one-stop export support system that handles country-specific certification and quarantine requirements alongside overseas buyer identification in a single integrated process.

The Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI), in a report released Friday titled "Measures to Boost Exports of Pet-Related Industries," said the domestic pet-related industry reached approximately 8 trillion won as of 2022 but accounted for only about 1.6% of the global market. The institute said domestic demand alone cannot sustain long-term growth, and that expanding exports must be treated as the industry's core challenge.

Domestic companies expressed strong interest in entering overseas markets but cited a lack of country-specific market information, complex certification and quarantine procedures, and difficulty securing foreign buyers as their biggest obstacles. While satisfaction with government export support programs was generally high, the survey found that many companies were either unaware of the programs or unable to make use of them.

KREI proposed building a one-stop support system to strengthen export competitiveness — covering country-specific quarantine and certification information, export documentation, overseas buyer identification and export consulting. The institute also said the government should consider introducing a "K-Foreign Market Development Program (K-FMDP)" modeled on the United States' Foreign Market Development program.

The report further recommended that the law on fostering pet-related industries spell out a concrete legal basis for export support, and that the government draw up product-specific export roadmaps. It also called for nurturing industry associations and establishing public-private joint funds to strengthen the foundation for overseas market entry. Alongside this, the report urged improvements to industrial statistics systems and expanded support for quality certification and overseas intellectual property protection.

"The pet-related industry is an emerging sector with high growth potential," said Lee Jeong-min, a research fellow at KREI. "We need to develop the K-pet industry into a new export industry through systematic export support and competitiveness enhancement."