A new study by the Nielsen Co. shows that North America and Europe account for more than half of the world’s pet food sales, but growth potential in these regions is more limited than in others. Meanwhile, sales in Latin America and Eastern Europe are growing at a double-digit pace.

The study looked at where consumers are shopping for pet food:

• Grocery retailers 52%
• Specialty channels 46%
• E-commerce 2%

Seventy percent of global pet food sales are in eight countries:

• United States 29.7%
• Brazil 9.8%
• Japan 6.6%
• United Kingdom 6.6%
• France 5.9%
• Germany 5%
• Russia 4.3%
• Italy 3.7%
• All other countries 28.4%

Specialty pet food sales have soared in Germany, with 86% of sales made by the top four specialty pet retailers.

That’s compared with:

• 67% in the United States
• 57% each in the United Kingdom and Canada
• 57% in the Netherlands
• 32% in France
• 24% in Italy
• 11% in Brazil
• 7% in Spain
•  5% in Russia