2026-09-03
As pet ownership demographics continue to shift toward younger pet owners, economic uncertainty lingers and pet food and product prices keep rising, the global pet care market is evolving to become more feline focused. According to Euromonitor International’s World Market for Pet Care 2025 report, the cat food sector is poised to serve as a key growth driver for the global pet market.
According to the report, the global pet care market is estimated to be valued at $207 billion in 2025. Within this, cat food represented the fastest growing category with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% between 2020 and 2025, whereas dog food increased by a CAGR of 3.8%. By 2030, Euromonitor estimates the cat food market will grow at a CAGR of 4% in value.
This shift toward felines demonstrates that consumers are increasingly choosing cats as their pets due to their lower maintenance and costs.
“Economic uncertainties are a growing headwind for the pet care industry,” said Sahiba Puri, global insight manager for pet care at Euromonitor International. “Despite the industry’s relative resilience exhibited in the past, consumer patience is wearing thin as continuing pricing pressures is stretching consumer wallets.”
Preference toward cats is rising throughout the globe, from traditionally dog-centric regions like North America and Western Europe to emerging markets like the Asia Pacific. Fueling this is higher costs associated with owning dogs, especially larger breeds. According to Euromonitor, the share of large dog ownership is expected to be 27% of the total dog population in 2030, a drop from 32% in 2020.
In other regions, like the Asia Pacific, strict regulations on dog ownership and religious preferences are primarily driving cat ownership. Countries like China, Thailand and the Philippines are behind this growth, propelling demand for cat-related and health-focused pet products.
Additionally, from 2024 to 2025, households that own cats in Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines witnessed a growth rate of 6%, 7% and 9%, respectively, according to Euromonitor. On the dog side, growth during the same period was much more modest at rates of 2.3%, 1.8% and 4.1%, respectively.
With this rise in cat ownership comes more demand for cat food. In fact, Euromonitor forecasts the cat food market in the Asia Pacific to represent more than half (56%) of future dog and cat food value sales by 2030. In contrast, in North America dog food is expected to represent 68% of future dog and cat food value sales by 2030.
Outside food, Asia Pacific continues to see strong growth across all pet product categories. Pet products witnessed a CAGR of 7% over the past five years, with Euromonitor attributing this to cat ownership and growth in cat litter and smart pet products.
Additionally, proactive pet health solutions are facing more demand, particularly pet supplements. According to Euromonitor, pet dietary supplements reported the strongest growth during the past five years.