Millions of animals – foxes, mink, and raccoon dogs – are bred in barren cages, suffering unimaginable cruelty before being killed for profit. This outdated practice is not only ethically indefensible but also economically unsustainable.

For years now, a steadily growing number of fashion companies turn their back on real fur, and devastating outbreaks of COVID-19 and avian influenza on fur farms have hit the industry hard. As a result, production figures plummeted to a new low.

While European countries such as Denmark, Finland and Poland used to be at the top of fur producing countries, recent years show a rapid decline in farms and production numbers for a majority of remaining fur producing countries in the EU. Since 2020 alone, Estonia, France, Italy, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania adopted bans on fur farming, and similar regulations are under discussion in other countries. The Netherlands, once the EU’s second-largest mink producer, moved up its timeline for shutting down the industry from 2024 to 2021, following COVID-19 outbreaks on Dutch fur mink farms. In January 2025, the Swedish government confirmed¹ they’ll provide decommissioning aid to remaining and former mink fur farmers, with all farms expected to be shut down by June 2025. However, a formal fur farming ban is not yet in place. Find out more about fur bans in Europe and the world.

The fur industry’s decline in the EU is also reflected in the number of operating farms: their number has dropped from 4350 in 2018², to 1088 in 2023. In Denmark a few mink farmers restarted their business after a temporary production ban was lifted, but most of them closed their farms down and received financial support for doing so. That the country changed from being a leading fur producer to having many of their industry stakeholders pull out is just another example of Europe’s fur industry coming to an end.

The last decade came with positive developments for fur bearing animals worldwide: the fur farming industry shrank by 85%. Even in China, the largest fur producing country globally, the production of pelts from fox, mink, and raccoon dog showed an 88% decline compared to 10 years ago.

Despite progress, unfortunately millions of animals still die (every year) due to the fur industry. The decline has, however, led to fewer animals being bred and kept overall. Every farm that scales back production or shuts down spares further animals from a miserable life and painful death on a fur farm.

Since the successful ECI (European Citizen's Initiative) #FurFreeEurope the EU has the power and public support to outright ban fur farming and the sale of farmed fur within the EU. It’s time to start investing in a kinder, more ethical future. Recent figures already show a stark decline in Europe’s fur industry – let us make sure this trend continues!