Most of the world’s farmed fur is produced by European farmers. There are 6,000 fur farms in the EU. The EU accounts for 67% of global mink production and 70% of fox production. Denmark is the leading mink-producing country, accounting for nearly 40% of world production. Other major producers included the Netherlands, Russia, Finland, China, Sweden, and Canada. Finland is the largest United States supplier of fox pelts. The United States is a major exporter of furskins. Major export markets include Canada, the EU, and Asia. Exports to Asia as a share of total exports grew from 22% in 1998 to 47% in 2002. China with its huge fur industry is the largest importer and re-exporter of fur in the world.

Fur farming is banned in Austria, Croatia (started on January 1, 2007, with a 10 year phase out period), and the United Kingdom. In Switzerland, the regulations for fur farming are very strict, with the result that there are no fur farms. Some other countries have a ban on fur farming of certain types of animals.

Demand fell in the late 1980s and 1990s because of a number of factors, including the failure of designers to come up with exciting new lines, and also the efforts of animal rights campaigners. Since the turn of the millennium, however, sales worldwide have soared to record highs, fuelled by radically new techniques for working with fur, and a sharp rise in disposable income in China and Russia. This growing demand has led to the development of extensive fur farming operations in countries such as China, where activist groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have raised concerns about inhumane treatment of animals and the nature of some slaughterhouse practices.

While wearing fur clothing in cold weather as protection goes back to the stone age, the source for this material came from the wild. As human populations grew, furs, leathers and hides for use in clothing came from farm stock such as sheep (sheepskin), rabbits, cattle, pigs and goats. The earliest records of breeding mink for fur in North America were in the 1860s. Foxes were first raised on farms for fur in PEI in Canada in 1895.

Historically, the fur trade played an important economic role in the United States. Fur trappers explored and opened up large parts of North America, and the fashion for beaver hats led to intense competition for supplies of raw materials. Starting in the latter half of the 20th century, producers and wearers of fur have been criticized because of the cruelty involved in animal trapping and because the availability other natural and synthetic fibers (from oil) that competed with natural fiber furs.

Today, 85 percent of the fur industry's pelts come from animals raised on farms. The most farmed fur-bearing animal is the mink, followed by the fox. Finnish raccoon and chinchilla are also farmed for their fur. Sixty-four percent of fur farms are in Northern Europe, 11 percent are in North America, and the rest are dispersed throughout the world, in countries such as Argentina and Russia.

Mink have been farmed for fur in the United States for 130 years. In 2005, the U.S. ranked fourth in production behind Denmark, China and the Netherlands. Mink typically breed in March, and give birth to their litters in May. Farmers vaccinate the young kits for botulism, distemper, enteritis, and, if needed, pneumonia. They are harvested in late November and December. Methods for killing animals on fur farms, as on all farms, are detailed in the American Veterinary Medical Association's Report on Euthanasia which is used as a voluntary guideline for state departments of agriculture which have jurisdiction over all farms raising domesticated livestock, including mink.

Mink are bred once a year, the average litter is three or four kits. The best animals are kept for breeding stock for the next year and the remainder are killed for their pelts.

The white mink, a northern European breed, was introduced into Canada in 1968.

The international trade in chinchilla fur goes back to the 16th century and the animal (whose name literally means "Little Chincha") is named after the Chincha people of the Andes, who wore its soft and dense fur. By the end of the 19th century, chinchillas had become quite rare. In 1923, Mathias F. Chapman brought the eleven wild chinchillas he had captured to the U.S. for breeding. Only three of these were female. Empress Chinchilla is the breeders association for the chinchilla farmers, many of whom are based in the United States, including California. Empress Chinchilla runs a certification program for farmers.