Response to interpellation 2025/26:154 on increasing veterinary prices and lack of price transparency
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD argues that pet owners have a responsibility to inform themselves about the costs of healthcare 1. KD notes that unclear terms and a lack of transparency make it difficult for consumers to make informed choices 1. The Government has tasked the Competition Authority with mapping price transparency and analyzing how this affects competition 1. S considers that veterinary care no longer functions due to skyrocketing prices, a shortage of veterinarians, and an unhealthy market concentration 2. S argues that the price increases are due to venture capital companies with profit requirements 2. S considers the prices to be unreasonable and that pet owners avoid care due to the fear of the costs 2.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Sofia Skönnbrink has asked me if I share the assessment that developments within veterinary care show signs of an unhealthy competitive situation and what measures I intend to take to strengthen competition in the veterinary market. Sofia Skönnbrink has further asked me how the government intends to ensure that veterinary care does not become a class issue in Sweden.
Let me first state that animal owners have a special responsibility to inform themselves about how animal healthcare works and what costs a serious case of illness in an animal can entail.
From an animal owner's perspective, the market for veterinary services can be perceived as difficult to penetrate and complicated. Unclear terms and prices that are not comparable make it difficult for consumers to make informed choices. A lack of transparency regarding terms and prices can also affect competition in the market for animal healthcare.
In response to the question regarding what measures I intend to take to strengthen competition in the veterinary market, I can mention that on March 10, 2025, the government tasked the Competition Authority with mapping price transparency within the veterinary market. The authority shall also analyze how a lack of price transparency, through its impact on price formation and market conditions, in turn affects competition in the market. By March 1, 2026, at the latest, the Competition Authority shall submit proposals on how better conditions can be created for consumers to compare prices for animal healthcare between different animal care facilities. I look forward to receiving the Competition Authority's proposals on concrete measures to improve price transparency within animal healthcare.
In conclusion, and in response to the final question, I would like to emphasize that animal welfare is a priority issue for the government. Animals in need of care shall, according to current regulations, receive care regardless of where in the country they are located and at the time the need arises if there are animal welfare reasons. A state-run veterinary organization is needed to ensure this, and here the District Veterinarians have an important role. Following the government's proposal in the 2025 budget bill, the Riksdag decided on a reinforcement of 30 million kronor per year to the Swedish Board of Agriculture during the period 2025–2027 to ensure the availability of a veterinarian 24 hours a day throughout the country.
Sofia Skönnbrink (S)
Mr. Speaker! Swedish veterinary care is not what it once was. It is obvious that it no longer functions as it should.
We have a serious shortage of veterinarians, not least during on-call hours and in rural areas. We have skyrocketing prices and large regional differences, an unhealthy market concentration and insufficient competition. There is a lack of insight, transparency and price comparison tools. This affects very many people.
Every third household in Sweden has pets, and many pet owners experience today that the costs for veterinary care have become unreasonably high and difficult to bear. It is primarily this that we are going to talk about today – the alarming price development.
In his answer, the minister begins by saying that animal owners have an own responsibility to inform themselves about how animal healthcare works, but also about what costs it entails. That is certainly true, but the costs for veterinary care must also be reasonable. We Social Democrats do not think they are.
The price increase that we see today goes far beyond general inflation and far beyond what is reasonable for an animal owner to pay. In just ten years, prices have increased by almost 70 percent. The largest increase has occurred in the last five years, with a price increase of a full 55 percent. Worst of all was between 2022 and 2023. Then prices increased by 25 percent in just one year.
Mr. Speaker! I think it is time we start speaking plainly about why prices have skyrocketed. A decisive explanation is that two private equity firms entered the market and bought up a large part of the animal hospitals and clinics about ten years ago. We are talking about companies that turn over billions of kronor every year.
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, has been able to confirm that large veterinary companies with profit requirements are an important cause of the price increases. Their studies also show that the private equity firms' clinics stand out, with both higher prices and larger price increases than other veterinarians.
Mr. Speaker! I have had the Riksdag's investigation service examine how things look in other countries. Their report clearly shows that Sweden has had the largest price changes and, after 2022, the very largest price increases among the compared countries – in this case Norway, Finland, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. This has very large consequences.
In a survey conducted by Agria, it was shown that nine out of ten animal owners are worried about their veterinary care costs. One in three even avoid taking their animal to the veterinarian because they are so afraid of what the bills will amount to. This has led to an increase in emergency cases, which is due to animal owners waiting until the last moment to seek care in the hope that the animal will get better without help. It has even gone so far that thousands of Swedes have ended up with the Enforcement Authority due to unpaid veterinary bills.
Mr. Speaker! The price carousel must come to an end. Swedish animal owners should not have to pay extortionate prices for veterinary care. Therefore, I want to ask the Minister what measures the government intends to take to strengthen competition in the veterinary market and press down prices, beyond the mandate that Konkurrensverket has received regarding increasing price transparency.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.