JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia’s pet food market saw strong growth in 2023, reaching US$237 million, a 24.5% increase from US$190.38 million in 2022, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
The surge is largely due to the sharp rise in cat ownership across the country. Indonesia’s overall pet population grew 75.7% between 2017 and 2022, with cats leading the trend. By 2022, the country had an estimated 5.1 million cats, a 137.6% increase over five years.
This rise has made cat food the largest segment in the industry. Analysts note that dog ownership remains low in Indonesia, primarily due to religious and cultural beliefs. In many Muslim households, keeping dogs as pets is uncommon. As a result, only about 10% of households own dogs.
From 2022 to 2023, the Indonesian retail pet food market grew from IDR 2.8 trillion (US$166 million) to IDR 3.6 trillion (US$214 million), a year-on-year increase of 27.2%. Cat food led this growth, with sales rising 32.2%, from IDR 2.1 trillion (US$124 million) in 2022 to IDR 2.8 trillion (US$166 million) in 2023.
Meanwhile, dog food sales rose by just 12.4%, from IDR 719.7 billion (US$42 million) to IDR 809.1 billion (US$48 million). Cat food’s share of the pet food market grew from 74.6% to 77.5%, while dog food’s share dropped to 22.5%.
Analysts predict this trend will continue. Urbanization, religious practices, and a growing preference among young people for low-maintenance pets like cats are all contributing to the shift. The cat population is expected to reach 5.9 million by the end of 2026, pushing further growth in the cat food sector.
