US lottery ticket sales

For eighteen years, Americans have purchased lottery tickets and pet food in quantities that track each other with the precision of a synchronized swimming routine. This implies one of several things: that lottery players are disproportionately pet owners, that hope and kibble share a distribution channel, or simply that both are recession-proof comforts.

Both lottery ticket sales and pet food sales are notably resilient spending categories that grow with population, disposable income, and stress. Lottery sales in the U.S. grew from roughly $47 billion in 2005 to over $100 billion annually by the early 2020s. Pet food sales grew comparably as pet ownership rates increased and premiumization pushed average spend per pet higher.

What lottery tickets and pet food have in common is that they are both purchases made against uncertainty — one for the chance of a better future, one to ensure a better present.