Minuk's Musings and Doggy Strollers

In South Korea, doggy strollers are now officially outselling baby strollers

 

 

According to Yoon Hyun-shin, CEO of Pet Friends, South Korea's largest online pet-shopping platform, sales for pet strollers have quadrupled since 2019 and top-end models can sell for as much as $1,100!

 

While yes, doggy strollers are totally practical and stylish, this is a serious development.

 

The reason is that it further signals the country’s plummeting birth rate.

South Korea is not alone as Japan has been struggling with population decline since peaking in 2008 at 128 million, down to 123.6 million in 2024, according to worldpopulationreview.com.

 

 

Statistically speaking, countries require total fertility rates of 2.1 children per woman to sustain long-term generational replacement (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation), not considering immigration trends. As you can see, both South Korea and Japan sit well below that threshold.

 

 

 

While immigration changes the equation here in Canada, our birthrates are also of concern (CAD = 1.5, USA = 1.8)

 

Low birthrates = aging populations = an increased need for healthcare.

 

If you are looking to invest in such a megatrend, you might consider the iShares Global Healthcare Index ETF (ticker XHC) which is up 18.8% over the past 1 year, led by Eli Lilly (ticker LLY) up 65% in that same period.

 

Or, thinking about how much love we must have for our pets to buy them a stroller for $1,100 (crazy), you might consider a company like Zoetis, the global leader in companion animal healthcare. Their drug called Librela seems to do wonders for older dogs suffering from osteoarthritis, keeping them out of strollers. ZTS is the ticker, up 7.5% over the past 12 months.

 

Hope you have a great weekend.

 

Rich

Investment Advisor