|
Activities | Logic Q's | Estimation Q's | |
| Cigarette Smuggling | Index |
US Pet Food Spend
To view the US Daily Death Rate page click here
What is the annual spend on pet food in the United States?
Two things need to be estimated. The number of pets in the US and the food cost per year per pet.
One way to estimate the number of pets in the US is to first estimate the number of households in the US and then estimate the number of pets per household.
Total US spend on pet food = $10 Billion p.a.
(Source: UN DP Human Development Report)
Note: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that providing basic health and nutrition for the world population would cost only an additional $6 Billion p.a. to what is already contributed.
(Source UN Chronicle 2001 Issue 3 - final paragraph)
My Answer: $11 billion p.a.
Assume that the average household in the US is 3 people and that the US population is ~285 million.
--> 285 million / 3 = 95 million households in the US
Assume 1/2 of all households have no pets, 1/3 have just one pet and 1/6 have two pets.
--> (1/3 * 95 million)+ (1/6*2* 95 million) = 63 million pets in the US
Assume a pet food costs about $0.5 a day
--> annual spend of about $170 per pet
---> Total annual US spend on pet food = 170 *63 million
= ~$11 billion per year.
It is of course possible to estimate the number of pets in the US by estimating the number of pets per person. I thought that this would be a more difficult figure to estimate as family pets risk getting counted several times. (My answer equates to about 1 pet owner in every 4.5 people.)
According to the US Census Bureau the actual no. of households in the US is 105 million making 2.75 (and not 3) the average household size.
There are clearly several "correct" answers to this question. If you have a different one (or a different question); e-mail it to WebMaster@IntellectualLoafing.com
|
Activities | Logic Q's | Estimation Q's | Please send all comments to WebMaster@IntellectualLoafing.com |
| Wimbledon | Index |
