Inflation snapshot: Price of pet services outpaced goods in 2025
An analysis of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from Europe, the UK, the US, Canada and Brazil shows that veterinary costs continue to grow worldwide.
In 2025, pet products and food offered relief to consumers. In almost all countries analyzed by GlobalPETS, they rose moderately last year.
During the GlobalPETS Forum 2026 in Istanbul, Andrea Deitert, Global Insights Lead, Food, at NielsenIQ, explained that pet food prices are below global and regional inflation rates across all regions, indicating harmonization that positively impacts sales growth.
However, services, particularly veterinary, outpaced the average inflation rate, indicating budgetary pressure on pet owners. According to Sahiba Puri, Global Insight Manager of Pet Care at Euromonitor International, service prices are expected to remain high across the whole economy, not just in the pet market.
According to Euromonitor International’s baseline forecast for the last quarter of 2025, global average inflation is expected to decline to 3.5% in 2026, a trajectory that could also help alleviate price pressures in the pet market.
Europe
In the Euro Area, the average CPI rate for pets and related products, including veterinary and other services, was 0.7% in 2025. This rate is lower than the general recordings for the Euro Zone (1.9%) and the European Union (2.3%).
But figures from specific countries show regional differences. Spain, for instance, followed the same trend as other markets, but with milder figures. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the 12-month cumulative CPI for products for domestic animals was 1.4%, whereas veterinary and other services for domestic animals recorded 3.7% growth.
Finland bucked the trend of most countries, with declines in almost all supply categories: -2.87% in pet products, -3.37% in pet food and -1.28% in pet equipment, as per data from Statistics Finland. However, the deviation was not large: veterinary and other pet services experienced an inflation rate of 4.03% in the Nordic country.
United Kingdom
In the UK, the annual rate of pet product sales was zero last year, indicating that the year’s fluctuations offset one another in the final balance. The quarterly trajectory, however, reveals a point of concern: prices fell in the first quarter but rose over the subsequent months, indicating an upward trend.
Veterinary and other pet services, on the other hand, experienced a 7.1% increase last year. But the trend within 2025 is reversed, with prices higher in the first 3 quarters than in the fourth.
It is important to note that the veterinary sector in the country is under investigation by the British government’s competition authority for high prices and anti-competitive practices.
The total CPI in the UK increased by 3.6%, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
United States
In the United States, prices for the purchase of pets, pet supplies and accessories increased 1% last year, while food and treats registered a 1.2% inflation, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pet services grew 5%, while veterinary services registered the biggest leap: 7.1%.
By comparison, the general CPI increased by 2.7% in 2025, indicating that the cost of services is rising faster in the country.
Canada
In Canada, pet food and supplies ended the year at a lower price than in December 2024, as the annual CPI rate for the category was -1.2%.
In contrast, the country recorded a 2.4% increase in the price index for all items in 2025, according to Statistics Canada.
Brazil
In Brazil, animal treatment and food experienced the same magnitude of price change but in opposite directions. While pet food prices declined by 4.55%, animal treatment prices increased by 4.56%.
However, the hygiene services sector recorded the largest inflation rate, at 7.68%, according to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
In 2025, inflationary pressures in Brazil were reduced overall. According to the national government, the country recorded the lowest rate since 2018, averaging 4.26%.
Although it remained within the Central Bank’s target range of 1.5%-4.5%, it approached the upper end of the range
Fonte: globalpetindustry.com
