Market performance (II): Spain posts strong growth in pet food among European markets

European pet markets showed diverging growth patterns in 2025, with Spain standing out for the strong performance of its pet food sector. France, meanwhile, moved closer to stagnation, while the UK recorded more moderate growth. 

Across the three markets, cats remained an important driver of sales, particularly in Spain, although dog food remained the largest category in both Spain and the UK.

France sees quasi-stagnation

The French pet sector reached €6.7 billion ($7.7B) in revenue, representing modest growth of 1% YoY, according to data from Promojardin-Promanimal, an association that brings together economic and strategic players in the garden and pet markets.

This represents a deceleration from the 2.7% growth posted in 2024. “The pet market continued its slowdown in 2025, after several years of strong growth,” the organization remarks. 

Without specific figures, Promojardin-Promanimal says the volume increase was more pronounced, suggesting the slowdown in the pet market is partly due to price reductions in certain categories. 

Cats and dogs support rise

Dogs and cats lifted the sector, as the former grew 1% YoY and the latter increased by 2% in the period. 

Other animals, on the other hand, registered falling revenues, especially terrariums (-9%), aquariums (-7%) and small mammals (-6%). According to the organization, “there is no rebound on the horizon for other animal categories, which continue to record a decline in their revenue, sometimes significant.” 

Spain’s pet food sales soar

Spain saw a considerable jump in pet food sales in 2025: 6.1% more than in 2024, reaching €2.2 billion ($2.6B), as published by the National Association of Pet Food Manufacturers (ANFAAC).

According to the association, “cat food has played a key role in this growth”, as revenue rose by 12.2% to €1 billion ($1.2B). Dog food also rose, but only slightly, by 1.1% to €1.1 billion ($1.3B).

By segment, the largest increases were registered in cat treats (+26.7%), wet cat food (+17.3%), wet dog food (+15.5%), dry cat food (+5.4%), and dog treats (+1.3%). Dry dog food was the only category with a decline (-2.1%).

Specialized and online channels continued their upward trend, ANFAAC says, with combined revenue increasing by 4.9% in 2025, particularly in the wet cat food category (+28.7%).

Overall, value grew faster than volume, as the latter increased by 5.3% to 603,527 tonnes. Dog food represents 60.8% of total production and grew 0.2% year on year. Cat food, on the other hand, jumped 14.4% YoY.

UK follows upward trajectory

In the UK, the pet food industry grew more than the total market in the US, France and Brazil, but less than the Spanish pet food market: it went from £4.1 billion ($5.4B/€4.7B) in 2024 to £4.3 billion ($5.7B/€4.9B) in 2025, an increase of 4.9% YoY.

The data published by UK Pet Food, the British pet food industry association, shows that dog food accounted for over half of the revenue (51.1%), followed by cat (37.2%), outdoor birds (7.9%), small mammals (1.5%), fish (1.5%) and indoor birds (0.4%). 

Unlike Spain, the UK saw dog food grow the most, from £2.1 billion ($2.8B/€2.4B) in 2024 to £2.2 billion ($2.9B/€2.5B) in 2025, while cat food stagnated at £1.6 billion ($2.1B/€1.8B). 

Overall, the 2025 figures point to a mixed picture across European pet markets. Spain’s strong pet food performance was driven largely by accelerating cat food sales, while the UK maintained steady growth led by dog food. France, in contrast, continued to lose momentum, with declining revenues in several smaller animal categories weighing on the overall market.