Sweden has a tradition of strong animal protection and has chosen to implement stricter requirements for animal welfare than those mandated by common EU regulations. The relatively strict Swedish requirements create added value for Swedish animal products but can also result in higher production costs and higher prices for consumers.

In this report, we conduct a literature review to examine consumers' interest and willingness to pay for animal welfare. The results of the literature review are used to investigate whether an animal welfare label could increase the competitiveness of Swedish animal products in Sweden and abroad.

We find that Swedish consumers generally have a strong interest in animal welfare, but only some consumers would be willing to pay extra for a product produced under higher animal welfare standards than what the law requires. Generally, there is a higher willingness to pay to upgrade from a relatively poor product from an animal welfare perspective to an acceptable one, rather than from an acceptable to a good one. Therefore, it is unlikely that animal welfare labelling could be used as an instrument to improve animal welfare in Sweden. However, labelling can create niche markets for products produced with good animal welfare and/or help consumers avoid products that are relatively poor from an animal welfare perspective.

An animal welfare label would likely have a limited effect on Swedish consumers' willingness to buy Swedish animal products in stores. This is mainly because the interest in buying Swedish products is already high. The potential to promote Swedish animal products is greater in restaurants than in stores, but consumer interest in the origin and sustainability of food when dining out is limited. Therefore, we find it difficult to change restaurant consumption patterns with the help of animal welfare labelling.

Animal welfare labelling is an opportunity for Swedish producers to market products with good animal welfare abroad. A harmonization of rules for animal welfare labelling within the EU would likely benefit Swedish producers who want to export products produced with good animal welfare.

The report is a contribution to the governmental inquiry SOU 2024:56.