Analysis: European pet population grew by 11% in 2022
Nearly half of the households in the region have at least 1 pet. We take a look at what’s happening in each country.
New data from the European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF) concluded that in 2022, there were 340 million pets in Europe, mostly cats (127 million) and dogs (104 million). In 2021, the total number of pets was 305 million.
(Pet population in Europe 2022 vs. 2021)
Last year, EU households owned 53 million ornamental birds, followed by 29 million mammals—the population of these pets went down by 1 million in one year. Aquarium (22 million) and terrarium (11 million) animals followed suit.
Russia has the highest number of dogs, cats and small mammals, while the highest number of pet ornamental birds are found in Italy and Turkey. The UK has the most aquarium and terrarium pets, almost doubling Russia across both categories.
Pet distribution per country
The data concludes that 46% of all European households (91 million) own at least one pet. The number of homes with cats and dogs in the region is very similar, with an average of 26% and 25%, respectively.
If we look just at countries within the European Union, the percentage is the same for both animals (25%).
Eastern Europe tops the podium of countries with at least one dog: Poland leads with 49%, followed by Romania (43%) and the Czech Republic (42%).
For households that own at least one cat, Romania stands at 48%, Poland at 40% and Hungary at 35%.
Italy and Hungary have the same percentage of households with a dog and cat (25% and 35%), while Turkey has an important difference between households that own a cat (15%) and those that own a dog (55%). Czech households have significantly more dogs (42%) than cats (23%).
Differences across countries
In the Netherlands, 45% of households owned a pet in 2022. According to FEDIAF, 21% of households have at least one dog, and 25% have at least one cat.
Last year, more than 3 out of 10 households in France (32%) had a cat, while 20% owned dogs. According to the French Federation of Food Manufacturers for Dogs, Cats, Birds and Other Pets (FACCO), there were 74 million pets in France in 2022, of which most were fish (29.1 million). In 2020, there were 75 million pets nationwide.
In the UK, the proportion of British households that own an animal fell by 1.2 million to 16.2 million this 2023. The latest figures from UK Pet Food concluded that 13% of UK pet owners admitted to relinquishing a pet last year.
FEDIAF’s data reveals that 34% of British households had a dog last year, and 28% had a cat.
The pet population in Germany also declined last year. Recent research from the German Pet Trade & Industry Association (ZZF) and Industrial Association of Pet Care Producers (IVH) reveals that the 2022 pet population was 34.4 million (300,000 less than the year before.).
While the number of cats and dogs declined, small animals and bird populations increased. FEDIAF notes that 21% of Italian households have one dog, while 24% have one cat.
In 2022, there were 65 million pets across Italian households. This is 200,000 more than in 2021, according to a report from Zoomark and the Italian Association for Pet Feeding and Care (ASSALCO). This tallies to 4 out of 10 households owning a pet. According to FEDIAF, the number of Italian households with a dog or cat is 25%.
