2026 pet industry – key stats, trends, and marketing tactics
At Leopard Co, we’re drawn to pet clients like a dog to a bone. We have decades of marketing experience in the sector and have attended nearly every Crufts and PATS show for years on end. So, we know a thing or two about the industry, and most critically – how it’s shaping up to look in 2026.
That’s why, following another great year of Crufts, we’re poised to launch the latest edition of our Pet Marketing Insight Report. Shiny and new for 2026.
The report includes a comprehensive overview of the pet sector, what consumers care about and crucially – what they’re spending, the key marketing trends set to shape the next 12 months, and most important of all, how to action all of this to effectively market your pet brand.
We also spoke to leading pet experts from charities through to industry associated and got them to weigh in on what they think the key movements of the sector are for 2026 – and what’s important to them when it comes to pet PR and marketing.
Ahead of the release of our next edition, lets take a peek at what you can expect from the report. Don’t say we don’t spoil you!
2026 pet industry statistics
Our Pet Marketing Insight Report is packed full of data about the state of the industry in 2026, consumer habits, and surprising stats around ownership. Some of the key things we discovered include:
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There are soon to be more dogs than children in the UK
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The UK spends around £12 billion a year on its animals
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64% of pet owners plan to prioritise pet health and wellbeing in 2026
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There are around 3000 pet shops in the UK
Discover more interesting facts and figures by downloading the report.
Key pet sector trends
Combining qualitative and quantitative data with desk research, and expert insights from our own team and our pet connections, in our Pet Marketing Insight Report we outline what we believe to be the key trends core to the sector in 2026.
They include AI (no surprises there!), tackling misinformation, scrapping the status quo, following human trends, and considering our ageing pet population. We’ve outlined what these trends are and what they involve, what we predict will happen over the year, and vitally, why all of this is important to UK pet brands.
We then took these core trends and used them to inform what we think are the top considered marketing trends for 2026 and provided actionable advice on how brands can take their communications up a step.
Marketing for pet brands
Using our best in class pet marketing expertise, our team has got together to produce an important, pragmatic insight report that is essential reading for anybody working in the pet sector in 2026.
To find out more about how Leopard Co can support your pet business, get in touch. Our Pet Marketing Insight Report 2026 is available to download from Monday 9th March.