South Koreans are facing increasing vet bills every year. Households with pets spent an average of $570, or 787,000 won, on veterinary expenses last year, according to the “2023 Korea Pet Report” issued by KB Financial Group. Pet-related medical expenditures rose by 68.2%, or 319,000 won, compared to two years ago. Regular checkups accounted for more than half of these expenses.
Mr. Lee, a 36-year-old office worker who has been taking his cat to the vet for regular health checkups for nine years, spends 400,000 to 500,000 won yearly for a single checkup. This year, he plans to increase the number of checkups to two as his cat is aging, but he is concerned about the cost. “The price of pet health checkups vary vastly depending on the vet, so the price is essentially whatever each vet asks for,” he said. “Online pet communities suggest visiting at least ten vets to compare prices.”
Mrs. Go, a 50-year-old housewife who has raised two dogs for over ten years, shared the sentiment. “I don’t understand why vet bills keep increasing even though the number of veterinary clinics is growing every year. Shouldn’t prices go down when supply increases?”
The number of veterinary clinics has steadily risen over the past five years, with a net annual increase of 100 clinics. As of June this year, 51 clinics have closed, while 138 new ones have been licensed, bringing the total number of operating veterinary clinics to 5,204.
More vets are opening than closing because most veterinarians prefer opening clinics to a career in research. According to the Korean Veterinary Medical Association, 60.3% of the 14,123 licensed veterinarians in the country as of last year were working at veterinary clinics. Over 500 new veterinarians are licensed annually in Korea, making private practice more appealing than working in public institutions or academia.
Several reasons are behind the rise in pet medical expenses. Min In-sik, a professor at Kyung Hee University, pointed to intensifying competition among vets. “Enhanced competition may lead to overtreatment, which could push up vet service prices,” he stated in a recent paper.
Unlike a competitive market for consumer goods where prices fluctuate depending on demand, doctors have an advantage over consumers regarding expertise and information in the healthcare market, leading to distorted prices. Doctors may leverage this advantage to provide unnecessary medical services to increase or maintain profits.
There is also a huge disparity in medical costs between different veterinary clinics. Even for the same condition or illness, prices vary widely depending on the veterinarian.
A veterinarian operating a clinic in the Seoul metropolitan area said, “Animals cannot communicate their exact needs or conditions, which leads to significant differences in treatment and prices.” He added that “the cost of treatment can vary greatly depending on whether the veterinarian decides to prescribe simple medication or perform surgery.”
Pet owners have been sharing information regarding inconsistent vet prices in online communities. They post receipts from veterinary clinics and ask whether the prices are “reasonable.” Kang Yoo-jin, a 30-year-old who has been raising her dog for 11 years, said, “There is a common saying among pet owners: ‘You give birth to your pets with your heart and raise them with your wallet.’”
To address this issue, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs mandated that veterinary clinics with two or more veterinarians display the costs of 11 medical services, including checkups, consultations, and hospitalization fees from January last year. This requirement was extended to single-veterinarian clinics this year, but costly procedures like surgeries, ranging from several million to over ten million won, are not included.
Nearly a quarter of Koreans, around 15 million, were raising pets as of 2022. According to the “Korea Pet Report,” 5.52 million households lived with pets as of 2022, up 2.8% from 5.36 million households in 2020. In terms of population, this translates to over 12 million people. The Korea Rural Economic Institute projected that this number would have surpassed 15 million as of last year.
