As per the latest report by data analysis platform Pet Business Professor, petfood Year-to-date (YTD) inflation stands at 0.3%, down from 0.5% in October, and is 97.3% lower than the rate recorded from 2022 to 2023.
Prices are up 0.1% compared to October but are down 1.2% compared to November 2023, slightly improving from the previous decline of 1.3%.
In the last 24 months, prices remained at December 2019 levels from April 2020 to September 2021. They then began to rise, eventually peaking in May 2023. From June to August 2023, prices declined, rose again from September to November, fell from December to February, increased in March, dropped from April to May, rose in June, declined from July to October, and then rose again in November. Petfood had the highest inflation rate during 2022–2023 and now holds the second-highest position for the 2021–2024 period compared to other pet products.
It is also 96.9% below the rate from 2021 to 2022 and 75% below the average inflation rate from 2018 to 2021. Deflation in the first half of 2021 kept prices low, but they surged in 2022 and even more dramatically in 2023. In November, prices for Veterinary Services, Services overall, and Total Pet reached new record highs, while prices for Product segments are now less than 1.4% below their all-time peak. Among these, only Supplies prices (+11.3%) are less than 21% higher than their 2019 levels. Since price-to-value perception is a key driver of consumer spending, inflation is expected to impact the Pet Industry significantly.