OREANDA-NEWS In 2023, Russians began to spend more on pets. This was reported by Vedomosti newspaper with reference to representatives of Sberbank and the federal retail chain Four Paws.

Spending on pets increased by 20 million compared to 2022, to 480 million bonuses. According to Infoline Analytics, the number of pet owners in Russia is growing by 400 thousand households per year. The trend of increasing the number of animals in each family has been growing since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

"We see that over the past two years, the proportion of not only those who have decided to have a pet has increased markedly, but also responsible owners who are trying to provide proper care for their pet," said Viktor Zakharov, Executive director of Four Paws.

In 2019, Russia entered the top 5 world leaders in the number of pets. At that time, 68 percent of families had pets, and in 2022, 73 percent of families already kept pets at home, said Artem Deev, head of the analytical department at AMarkets.

The leaders in spending on pets were the residents of St. Petersburg. Over the year, they wrote off more than 214 million bonuses for pet supplies (plus 31 million in annual terms). The top ten cities with the highest expenses also included Moscow (70.6 million bonuses), Leningrad (36.8 million), Sverdlovsk (24.1 million), Rostov (18.6 million) regions. Sakhalin (14.6 million), the Moscow region (14.5 million), the Novosibirsk Region (7.5 million), Tatarstan (7.4 million) and the Tyumen Region (6.4 million) complete the top ten.

Women spend almost twice as much on pet supplies as men. For the year, the ratio was 317.7 against 162.5 million bonuses (plus 19 million for the year).

According to researchers of the X5 Package service, more than half of Russians spend from one to three thousand rubles a month on pet food, a quarter — up to five, eight percent — more than five thousand. 97 percent of all pet expenses are spent on food. 73 percent of the cost is dry or wet food, and another 24 percent is for the purchase of delicacies and treats.