Since 2016, the number of pets covered has grown by an average 18.9% in the U.S., and 12.6% in Canada.
Employers who are looking for unique benefits to woo new talent to their organizations should consider offering pet health insurance. The market topped $2 billion in 2020, according to a report by the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, continuing a five-year growth streak that has seen annual double-digit increases. Average annual growth is over 23%, the report found.
Related: Pet adoption, care awareness to lift pet insurance market
In the U.S., total premium volume was $1.99 billion as of the end of 2020, while in Canada, total volume reached $188 million ($244.6 million CAD).
"Last year, we saw the stay-at-home and work-from-home measures introduced during the pandemic create even closer bonds between pet owners and their pets," Kristen Lynch, executive director of NAPHIA, said in a statement. "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."
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NAPHIA's report was produced by Willis Towers Watson.
Nearly 3.4 million pets in the United States and Canada are insured, the report found. Since 2016, the number of pets covered has grown by an average 18.9% in the U.S., and 12.6% in Canada. U.S. owners paid an average $49.92 per month to provide accident and illness coverage for their dogs, and $28.44 per month to cover cats. Canadian owners paid monthly premiums of $52.84 and $25.42 to cover dogs and cats, respectively.
Rick Faucher, president of NAPHIA's Board of Directors and CEO of The Connected Pet Company, believes pet insurance is an untapped market, ripe for growth over the coming years.
"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 (2016-20), while Canada's annual growth rate was 15.2% over the same period," Faucher said in a statement. "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."
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