The rankings of pet populations in various European countries don’t necessarily reflect the prevalence of pet ownership. More populous nations inherently will tend to have more pets. However, ordering the top five cat and dog populations in Europe by per capita pet ownership causes different patterns to emerge.
Last year, Russia had the highest pet dog and cat populations in Europe, according to the FEDIAF report “Facts & Figures 2021.” Italians owned the most pet birds, while France was home to the most reptile pets. The United Kingdom had the most aquariums.
Considering the six nations with highest dog and cat populations, I divided that FEDIAF pet data by the human population in 2021, according to World Bank statistics using Eurostat data. Russia dropped from the top spot to the fifth, while Spain proved to have the most dogs per person. Likewise, when considering the cat population, Russia went to fifth. France proved to have the most cats per person. Spain and France were opposites in pet preference, with France having the lowest per capita dog numbers. Spain had the fewest cats per person.
6 highest dog populations per capita in Europe 2021
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- Italy
- Germany
- Russia
- France
6 highest cat populations per capita in Europe 2021
- France
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Italy
- Russia
- Spain
Cat and dog populations per capita in Europe 2021
|
Dog population |
Cat population |
Human population 2021 |
Per capita dog |
Per capita cat |
|
|
France |
7,500,000 |
15,100,000 |
67,499,340.00 |
0.111 |
0.224 |
|
Germany |
10,300,000 |
16,700,000 |
83,129,290 |
0.124 |
0.201 |
|
Italy |
8,700,000 |
10,050,000 |
59,066,220 |
0.147 |
0.170 |
|
Russia |
17,550,000 |
22,950,000 |
143,446,060.00 |
0.122 |
0.160 |
|
Spain |
9,313,000 |
5,859,000 |
47,326,690.00 |
0.197 |
0.124 |
|
United Kingdom |
12,000,000 |
12,000,000 |
67,326,570.00 |
0.178 |
0.178 |
