The global pet care industry is entering 2026 with strong growth but sharper pressure on value, efficiency, and innovation.
Recent market estimates put total pet care at about 380 billion US dollars in 2025, with projections toward 650 billion by 2030, implying double digit compound annual growth around 11 percent.2 This confirms that, despite macroeconomic uncertainty and inflation, pet spending remains structurally resilient, driven by pets treated as family and ongoing premiumization of food, health, and services.2
In the past week, news flow has centered on three themes: health platforms, clinic performance, and innovation. On the health platform side, Wagmo announced an evolution into a full pet healthcare platform positioned more like human employee benefits, signaling employer backed pet coverage as a growing channel for preventive and wellness services.7 At the clinic level, Bond Vet reported roughly 40 percent same store visit growth on a trailing twelve month basis, sharply outpacing a broader US veterinary sector that is seeing declining visit counts amid post pandemic normalization and affordability concerns.7 This divergence highlights a shift toward well capitalized, scaled clinic brands with integrated care models.
On the innovation front, Purina’s 2026 Pet Care Innovation Prize recognized startups focused on data driven insights, accessible wellness, and technology enabled services, underscoring investment momentum in digital monitoring, personalized nutrition, and home based care tools.9 Parallel market research shows rising demand in high growth subsegments such as pet biotics, projected to reach about 1.23 billion dollars by 2030 from 878 million in 2025 at roughly 7 percent annual growth, fueled by functional nutrition and preventive health.1 Smart feeding devices are also scaling, with the GCC smart pet feeder market alone valued around 140 million dollars, reflecting the broader global shift to automated, connected care.6
Consumer behavior continues to tilt toward sustainability and scrutiny. More than half of pet industry companies now integrate sustainability into corporate strategy, and surveys indicate pet owners are materially more likely than average consumers to choose sustainable products.8 Online research, comparison, and subscription purchasing are now the default path to care decisions, raising customer acquisition costs but rewarding brands with clear digital positioning and transparent ingredient or treatment information.2
Compared with reporting from earlier years, today’s environment shows a more mature, competitive industry: growth is still robust, but success is increasingly concentrated among players that combine omnichannel presence, clear value on price and outcomes, and visible commitments to wellness, technology, and sustainability.
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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI