Petflation dropped to 2.2% in September 2026, down from 3.2% in August, with pet food prices declining 0.02% month-over-month and rising only 1.5% year-over-year. This significant slowdown reflects easing pressure on pet owners' budgets as inflation across pet segments, particularly pet services, continues to cool after reaching record highs earlier in 2026.
- Petflation fell to 2.2% in September 2026, down from 3.2% in August and 37% below the 2024-2025 rate
- Pet food prices declined 0.02% month-over-month and rose only 1.5% year-over-year, down from 1.6% the previous month
- Pet services inflation dropped significantly to 3.1% from 4.8%, marking the largest contributor to overall petflation relief
- All pet segments declined in September except veterinary services, which rose 0.3%
- Pet food prices remain 17% below the national food inflation rate of 1.8%, showing relative stability in this category
U.S. pet price inflation, or petflation, fell to 2.2% year over year in September 2026, down from 3.2% in August, according to John Gibbons, president of Pet Business Professor, who tracks monthly U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for the pet industry.
During the same period, the overall U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 3.7% from 3.4%, Gibbons said.
“Even minor price changes can affect consumer pet spending, especially in the discretionary pet segments, so we will continue with monthly reports to track petflation as it evolves,” Gibbons said.
Pet food prices
Pet food prices fell 0.02% from August but were up 1.5% from September 2025, down from a 1.6% year-over-year increase the previous month, Gibbons said. The pet food rate was 17% below the 1.8% inflation rate for food at home. Pet food prices reached a record high in July 2026.
According to Gibbons, the year-over-year pet food CPI has deflated in 17 of the last 31 months. Pet food inflation began in June 2021, at 0.9%, after 12 straight months of deflation. The 2021-2026 surge accounted for 96.4% of the 24.9% increase in pet food prices since 2019.
Year to date, pet food prices were up 1.7%, unchanged from June through August and down from 1.8% in May. Gibbons said that compared with -0.2% for the same period in 2024-2025, 0.7% in 2023-2024 and an average of 1.1% from 2018 to 2021. Since 2019, pet food prices have risen at an average annual rate of 3.3%, below the national average of 3.8%.
Pet segments
Overall pet prices fell 0.4% in September from August, when they hit a record high, Gibbons said. By segment, prices for pet food fell 0.02%, pet supplies fell 0.8% and pet services fell 1.2%. Veterinary prices rose 0.3%, the only increase.
Gibbons said the September decline differed from the 0.1% average August-to-September change from 1997 to 2025. A key factor in the year-over-year drop was that pet prices rose 0.7% in September 2025.
No pet segment had a rate increase in September. Total petflation was 37% below the 2024-2025 rate, 40.5% below the national CPI and below the 3.1% average September rate since 1997, Gibbons said.
The CPI for pet services fell to 3.1% from 4.8%, while the pet products CPI fell to 1.3% from 1.9%.
“Services is the driver, but both contributed,” Gibbons said.
Petflation rose from 2.5% to 3.5% in September 2025, fell to 2.6% in November, then rose to 3.5% in December and 4.3% in March 2026. It fell to 3.8% in April, 3.2% in May and June and 3% in July before rising to 3.2% in August, according to Gibbons.
“Inflation is complex and recovery is slow,” Gibbons said.
National inflation
Overall U.S. prices rose 0.6% from August, Gibbons said. The national CPI peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, and the current 3.7% rate remains more than 85% above the 2% target. Year to date, the national CPI was 3.4%.
Grocery prices rose 0.1% from August, but their year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 1.8% from 2.2%. Gas prices were up 45.5% from February, Gibbons said.
Services account for 63.5% of the national CPI, and their rate rose to 3.2% from 3.1%. The CPI for commodities rose to 4.6% from 4%.
“Commodities are the inflation driver,” Gibbons said.
Since 2019, veterinary services have had the highest average annual inflation rate of the categories Gibbons tracks, at 6.5%. Pet supplies had the lowest, at 1.8%.
Data sourced from the latest Petflation report by John Gibbons at PetBusinessProfessor.com, tracking Consumer Price Index data for pet industry segments compared to national inflation trends.
