According to the data, the German pet industry was able to maintain the high sales level of previous years in 2024 despite the generally tense economic situation. The stationary specialist and food retail sector recorded a slight increase of 0.9 per cent with sales of just under 5.4 billion euros. In addition, a good 1.5 billion euros came from online retail and 145 million euros from wild bird feed. The total turnover of the German pet industry therefore totalled around seven billion euros last year. Sales of ready-made pet food exceeded the previous year's result by 1.3 per cent at around 4.3 billion euros. The consumables and accessories segment, on the other hand, saw a slight decline of 0.6 per cent compared to 2023 with sales of around 1.1 billion euros.
‘Overall, the pet supplies market remained stable,’ says Georg Müller, Chairman of the IVH. ‘Sales of ready-made pet food were slightly below the rate of inflation in the same period. There were species-specific differences within the category, with cat food achieving the greatest growth.’ Furthermore, a slight reluctance to buy supplies and accessories was observed in 2024. ZZF President Norbert Holthenrich explains: ‘Pet owners are concerned about the well-being of their pets, which is why they invested in their nutrition, health and care. However, due to the tight financial situation, some have postponed major investments in dog accessories, small animal enclosures or aquarium technology, for example.’
Cat food as growth driver - dog food down slightly
The market for cat food achieved a positive result in the pet food segment in 2024, with total sales of 2.3 billion euros in stationary retail and an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to the previous year. It therefore remained the largest food segment. The most important growth driver here was dry food with an increase of 5.9 per cent to 377 million euros. The snacks segment including cat milk (369 million euros, up 3.9 per cent) and wet food (around 1.5 billion euros, up 2.9 per cent) also performed well.
The market for dog food achieved total sales of around 1.8 billion euros in the traditional sales channels in 2024, which was a slight dip compared to the previous year (down 0.7 per cent). While sales in the snack segment increased (752 million euros, up 1.5 per cent), the opposite trend was seen for wet food (593 million euros, down 2.0 per cent) and dry food (414 million euros, down 2.8 per cent).
Mixed results for food for other pets and wild bird food
The ornamental fish food segment was able to continue the upward trend of recent years with sales of 62 million euros in stationary retail, an increase of 3.3 per cent. In contrast, sales of ornamental bird food fell again in 2024 after a disproportionately high increase in the same period of the previous year, by 4.1 per cent to 71 million euros. Small animal food maintained its position as the third-strongest segment behind ready-made food for cats and dogs, but also suffered a significant decline (82 million euros, down 7.9 per cent). Sales of wild bird food amounted to 145 million euros in 2024 (down 9.9 per cent), which can also be attributed to a milder winter.
Upward trend in consumables and accessories halted
Despite pleasing developments in the cat litter (376 million euros, up 7.1 per cent) and cat accessories (242 million euros, up 0.4 per cent) segments, the supplies and accessories segment was unable to continue its upward trend from 2023 in 2024 overall. With total sales of just over 1.1 billion euros, it recorded a slight decline of 0.6 per cent. This was accompanied by a downward trend in the dog (214 million euros, down 4.9 per cent), pet bird (27 million euros, down 10.0 per cent), ornamental fish (167 million euros, down 6.2 per cent) and small animal (88 million euros, down 8.3 per cent) segments.
Grocery retail is the strongest sales channel for pet food - specialist retailers lead the way for consumables and accessories
Food retail (including drugstores and discounters) remained the main sales channel for pet food. Last year, this sector accounted for 65 per cent of sales, or just under 2.8 billion euros. Specialist retailers remained the most important sales channel for consumables and accessories such as enclosures, technology, pet furniture, care products, litter and pet accessories, with sales of 858 million euros and a 77 per cent share of sales.
Online retail continues to grow - Pet shop as a place of experience
Around one-third of pet owners still purchase pet products exclusively in physical stores, but more and more purchases are also being made online: 60 per cent of pet owners spend money on their pets both in shops and online. The estimated sales volume in online shops and marketplaces in 2024 was around 1.5 billion euros - an increase of 14.9 per cent compared to the previous year. Differentiated, species-specific data on the online market is not yet available. ‘Despite the growing importance of online retail, the sales area of the top 20 pet shops is increasing,’ says ZZF President Norbert Holthenrich. ‘Specialist retailers are the first port of call for pet owners and an important point of contact due to their premium and speciality products, services, advice and experience-oriented offers.’
Around 34 million pets in Germany
33.9 million dogs, cats, small mammals and ornamental birds lived in households in Germany in 2024. Numerous ornamental fish and terrarium animals were also housed in homes across Germany. Overall, at least one pet lived in 44 per cent of all households in Germany. This is the result of a household-representative survey conducted by the market research institute Skopos for the IVH and ZZF (telephone and online survey, based on 5,000 respondents). Germany's number one pet remains the cat: a total of 15.9 million house pets lived in a quarter of households in 2024. 38 per cent of cat owners even had two or more cats. Dogs are also popular as loyal companions, with 10.5 million animals in 21 per cent of households. 42 per cent of them are mixed breeds. In addition, 4.3 million small animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and mice lived in 5 per cent of households and 3.2 million ornamental birds in 3 per cent of households last year. There were a total of 2 million aquariums in 4 per cent of households. The number of garden ponds with ornamental fish and terrariums was 1.1 million each in 2 per cent of households. In addition, 1.4 per cent of private households kept home-farming animals such as chickens or quails.
‘Whether cats or dogs, rodents or fish – pets can enrich the lives of ‘their’ people in a variety of ways if their welfare and needs are at the centre of attention,’ says Holthenrich. ‘This is reflected in the continued high total number of pets kept in households in Germany.’
Overall, the pet market held up well in 2024, Müller and Holthenrich concluded ¬– despite the difficult economic conditions. This and the high value that pets continue to have for Germans make the two industry representatives look to the future with confidence.
