The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS) has released its “Mid-Year Update of the Consumer Expenditure Survey” covering the period July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.
The most recent report shows pet food annual spending at US$26.7 billion (Food & Treats).
There was a period of minor price deflation beginning in December 2013 and continuing through May 2014, which could be a factor in the essentially flat sales from 2013 to mid-2014.
Prices rose slightly in the second half of 2014 and were stable in early 2015. This contributed to the turnaround by the end of 2014 and the growth by midyear of 2015 – up US$3.8 billion, 16.6% from a year ago.
The growth is being driven by the old and young, especially ages 55-64 and 25-34. However, there is significant growth in the under-35 group (millennials) and the 55-74 group (mostly boomers). One big factor in the small decrease in the 45-54 age group is that there are 267,000 fewer households.
There are 600,000 more households in the over 75 age group. This may indicate that 75 is the threshold for declining pet ownership.
This data was compiled by John Gibbons of PetBusinessProfessor.com.