Pet industry inflation jumped 40% in September, rising from 2.5% to 3.5% year-over-year, according to industry analyst John Gibbons of PetBusinessProfessor.com. The September Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, released October 24 after a nine-day delay due to a government shutdown, revealed petflation now exceeds the national inflation rate of 3%, which itself increased from 2.9% in August.
Pet food prices remained essentially stable in September, showing just a 0.5% increase versus September 2024 and virtually no change from August levels. This performance stands in contrast to the broader grocery category, where food-at-home prices rose 0.5% month-over-month and maintained a 2.7% year-over-year inflation rate, Gibbons reported.
The pet food segment has experienced deflation in 15 of the last 19 months, according to Gibbons' analysis. Year-to-date, pet food prices are down 0.2% compared to 2024, though this represents an improvement from the -1.1% deflation recorded in January 2025.
Pet food prices remain elevated
Despite recent deflationary trends, pet food prices remain significantly elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels. Prices are up 23% since 2019, with 96.1% of that increase occurring during the 2021-2025 inflation surge, Gibbons noted. Pet food inflation began accelerating in June 2021 after 12 consecutive months of deflation.
The segment's pricing pattern has been volatile in 2025, with prices rising in January and February, falling from March through May, increasing again in June and July, dropping in August, and holding essentially flat in September, according to the report.
Veterinary services drove the overall petflation surge with a 7.8% year-over-year increase, up from 6.4% in August, while pet supplies inflation rose from 0.0% to 1.5%. Pet services was the only segment to show a decline in its inflation rate, falling from 5.8% in August to 5.1% in September, though this still represents three times the pet supplies rate and 10 times higher than pet food inflation.
The cumulative impact of inflation remains significant across the pet industry, with prices now 29% higher than 2019 levels and 24% above 2021, Gibbons noted. September marked record-high prices for veterinary services and total pet spending, with all other pet segments within 0.7% of their historical peaks.
What this means
Gibbons cautioned that strong cumulative inflation will affect consumer spending patterns in the pet industry, with product segments likely seeing increased movement to online purchasing and private label options. Pet parents may reduce purchase frequency or downgrade their pet food selections in response to sustained price pressures, he noted.
