“Petflation” — meaning inflation in the pet products and services sector — has increased, with November prices spiking 12 percent versus the same month a year ago, according to a new report from John Gibbons, the Pet Business Professor.
That was higher than the overall U.S. inflation rate. In November the Consumer Price Index was up 7.1 percent compared to November 2021.
Previously, petflation had trailed overall inflation, Gibbons noted. Total pet prices were up 4.1 percent in December 2021 compared with December 2020, versus an overall CPI increase of 7 percent.
In a blog post, Gibbons outlined the specific situation for various segments of the pet industry, including food, supplies, services and veterinary.
He noted:
As you can see, Veterinary and Services prices generally inflated after mid-2020, similar to the overall CPI while Food and Supplies prices generally deflated until late 2021. After that time, Petflation took off. Pet Food prices consistently increased but the other segments had mixed patterns until July 2022, when all increased. In August>October Petflation accelerated, except for a miniscule dip in Veterinary in October. In November, Services and Food prices surged, Veterinary stabilized, but Supplies fell.
Read the full report here.