Photo of woman on phone with dog beside her representative of pet health insurance market.

Pet Health Insurance Market: A Continued Climb

Trends|July 2021

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Report: Pet health insurance market reached nearly $2.2 billion in 2020.

North America’s pet health insurance sector exceeded $2.174 billion in total premiums sold last year, as the industry recorded its sixth year in a row of double-digit growth, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association reported. That’s a 26% increase from 2019, according to NAPHIA’s “State of the Industry Report.” The number of pets insured across North America increased 22.5%, reaching more than 3.45 million pets.

“2020 was another year of double-digit growth for our industry, with the U.S. experiencing an average annual growth rate of 24.2% over the past five years (2016-2020), while Canada’s annual growth rate was 15.2% over the same period,” said Rick Faucher, president of NAPHIA’s board of directors and CEO of The Connected Pet Company.


“With only a fraction of the potential market realized, we are confident the North American pet health insurance market can continue on this steady pace of growth for the foreseeable future,” Faucher said.

Stay-at-home measures introduced during the pandemic created closer bonds between pet owners and their pets, said Kristen Lynch, NAPHIA’s executive director. “We believe these strong human-animal relationships are driving pet owners’ desire to address financial uncertainty by mitigating unexpected veterinary costs, contributing to our record 2020 results, in a year that also saw new pet purchases and adoptions reach record levels,” Lynch said.

2021 State of the Industry highlights:

NAPHIA’s State of the Industry Report has been published using data compiled, aggregated, and validated by the global multinational risk management and advisory firm Willis Towers Watson. NAPHIA members and participants represent approximately 99% of all pet health insurance coverage in effect in North America.

United States

  • $1.99 billion USD – total premium volume
  • 3,101,956 – total number of pets insured
  • Majority of insured pets reside in California (19.2%), New York (8.7%), and Florida (5.8%)
  • 82.9% of insured pets were dogs versus 17.1% cats
  • The average accident and illness premium for dogs was $599.03/year or $49.92/month (figures in USD)
  • The average accident and illness premium for cats was $341.35/year or $28.44/month (figures in USD)

Canada

  • $188 million USD – total premium volume ($244.6 million CAD)
  • 352,631 – total number of pets insured
  • Majority of insured pets reside in Ontario (38.9%), British Columbia (21.7%), and Alberta (21.6%)
  • 75.2% of insured pets were dogs versus 24.8% cats
  • The average accident and illness premium for dogs was $767.45/year or $63.95/month (figures in CAD)
  • The average accident and illness premium for cats was $369.14/year or $30.76/month (figures in CAD)

For more on the report, visit Pet Insurance Market Continued Double-digit Growth – NAPHIA.

 

Photo credit: istockphoto.com/sturti