The Brazilian Pet Market
Brazil has one of the largest pet populations in the world and, as expected, a profitable market for this sector. In this article, we will take a closer look at the Brazilian pet market.
Overview
As of the end of 2013, there were approximately 106 million pets in Brazil, making it the fourth largest population of pets in the world and the second largest population of dogs and cats.
In Brazil, there are:
- 37,1 million dogs
- 26,5 million fish
- 21,3 million cats
- 19,1 million birds
- 2,1 million other animals
Market size
In order to understand the strength of the Brazilian pet market, it is necessary to mention again that Brazil has the fourth largest population in the world. Brazil contributed 8% of the USD 102 billion that this market generated globally in 2013, tied with Japan and trailing only behind the United States, which generates more than 30% of this market’s revenue.
According to Abinpet, the Brazilian Association of Industries of Pet Products, the Brazilian pet market generated a revenue of BRL 15,2 billion in 2013, a growth of 7,3% when compared to 2012. This market is expected to grow even more, as Abinpet estimates this market will make around BRL 16,5 billion by the end of 2014. Representing a share of 0,34% of the Brazilian GDP, the Brazilian pet market generated more revenue than the Brazilian electrical and electronic components market, for example.
Within this market, the most important sector is the one related to pet food, accounting for 65,7% of all the market’s revenue, followed by pet services, which answered for 19% of the total revenue, having grown more than 26% between 2012 to 2013. Pet care accounts for 8,1% of this market and veterinary services, 7,2%.
The Brazilian pet food industry is concentrated mainly in the Southeastern regions - 45% of the national production - and in the Southern regions - 41,9% of the national production. The states that produce the most pet food in Brazil are:
- Paraná, accounting for 31%
- São Paulo, accounting for 26%
- Minas Gerais, accounting for 14%
Foreign trade
This market’s foreign trade is also growing at an impressive rate. The trade balance is still very much in favor of Brazil, as exports accounted for USD 231 million while imports accounted for almost 11 million in 2013. Despite this, there has been a much larger growth in the import of pet products - 300% between 2012 to 2013 - when compared to the growth in the export of pet products - 26% between 2012 to 2013.
The main exported product in the pet market in Brazil is pet food, especially relating to cats and dogs, which accounted for nearly 85% of the total value of exports. In 2013, more than 2.300 million tons of pet food were produced in Brazil. The most relevant states in the export of pet food in Brazil are:
- São Paulo, accounting for over USD 66 million
- Paraná, accounting for over USD 48 million
- Minas Gerais, accounting for over USD 39 million
There is a special program which was developed between Abinpet and Apex, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, called Pet Brasil which assists and guides companies in the pet market that want to export their products. The Pet Brasil program also works towards promoting the potential of the Brazilian pet industry internationally, as it is increasingly compliant to international requirements.
Market trends
As the number of pets grow in proportion to the number of people in Brazil, pet-related businesses become very profitable investments with excellent growth perspective. But the heavy taxes imposed on pet food is a hindrance to larger growth in this sector. The following tax rates are applied to pet food in Brazil:
- IPI - 10%
- PIS/COFINS - 9,3%
- ICMS - 18%
- Tributary Substitution for ICMS - 10%
All these taxes add up to 47,3%, a high percentage that discourages growth in the pet food sector, especially when compared to human food - 7% - and agricultural goods - 15,3%. Pet food tax burdens in Brazil is still higher than other countries, considering that 18,5% of taxes apply to pet food in Europe and 7% in the United States.
The reduction of taxes applied to pet food is the most important claim of the pet market in Brazil, but if the pet market is expected to grow even more, it is necessary to change the way that Brazilians see pet products. Brazilians see pet food, for example, as unnecessary spending and choose to feed their pets with human food leftovers.
If the claim for tax reductions on pet food is met, the potential growth of these products could reach 50%, as this is the number of pet owners that still feed their pets with human food leftovers.