Rome, April 12, 2025 – The pet business takes on new forms and creates new opportunities. The 2024 data on the companies that animate this sector reveal a strong shift in the attention of operators from production and trade to services: fewer companies on the supply side of puppies and pet food, more space for veterinarians and wellness services. Increasingly, owners are looking for quality grooming, professional pet-sitters and even specialized physiotherapists. In short, Italians today do not only want to feed their dog or cat, but guarantee them a healthy and happy life.
These, in summary, the dynamics of a market in full evolution and that – according to the analysis carried out by Unioncamere and Infocamere on the data of the Register of Companies of the Chambers of Commerce – counts almost 27,000 companies throughout Italy. Over the past five years, the number of companies operating in animal care services has grown by 32% with almost 1,400 new businesses. Veterinary services also recorded a strong increase (+39.4%), a sign that Italians increasingly consider their animals as family members. Looking at the decade 2014-2024, the sector as a whole remained stable (+0.05% change in enterprises), demonstrating a remarkable capacity to adapt to the transformations induced by the financial crisis and then by the arrival of the pandemic. In this double shift, the real revolution took place in the redistribution of activities: in ten years the number of care services enterprises almost doubled (+90.1%), while those in the animal trade fell by 17.5%.
Enterprises selling animals (-10.6%) and animal products (-10.6%) fell. The rabbit industry (-21.6%) and, even more so, the wholesale of animal feed (-34.3%). The fastest growing production sector is that of pet food (+28% from 2019), with increasingly personalized and high-quality foods.
The territorial trends emerging from the data are also interesting. Overall, Lombardy leads the sector with 3,860 enterprises, followed by Campania (2,871) and Lazio (2,770). Veneto is the region with the most rabbit farms, while Lombardy still leads in care services with over 1,000 activities. Southern Italy has a strong presence in the retail trade, with Campania (1,612 companies) and Sicily (1,083) at the top for small animal shops. In the North, on the other hand, care services are concentrated, with Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna together counting almost 1,600 dedicated activities. The case of Sicily is significant since despite the general contraction of the sector maintains a prominent position with 2,191 companies overall.
These numbers tell a story that goes beyond economic statistic, reflecting a profound cultural change in the relationship between Italians and pets. It is not just a market transformation, but a social evolution that is creating new business and employment opportunities. The future of pet economy is increasingly oriented towards personalized services that put the wellbeing and quality of life of pets at the center.
