Historical Pet Population data

Please note: whilst our figures date back over 14 years, the way we gather our data has evolved, with the annual survey moving from face-to-face to online following the 2020 Covid Pandemic. As a result, it is not possible to compare current data with data sourced prior to 2021.

2023

Top 10 Pets in 2023:

Dogs: There were approximately 12 million dogs as pets in the UK, with 31% of households owning a dog.

Cats: There were approximately 11 million pet cats in the UK, with 26% of all households having a cat.

Rabbits: There were approximately 1.5 million rabbits as household pets in the UK, with 2.8% of households having at least one.

Indoor Birds: There were approximately 1.3 million birds kept as indoor pets in the UK, with 2.3% of households keeping them.

Guinea Pigs: There were approximately 1 million guinea pigs as pets in the UK, with 1.8% of households having at least one.

Domestic Fowl: There were approximately 1 million domestic fowls as pets in the UK, with 1.3% of households having at least one.

Hamsters: There were approximately 900,000 hamsters as pets in the UK and 2.1% of households have one.

Tortoises & Turtles: There were approximately 900,000 tortoises and turtles being kept as pets in the UK, with 1.8% of households having one.

Lizards: There were approximately 800,000 lizards as pets in the UK, with 1.8% of households having a pet lizard.

Snakes There arewereapproximately 700,000 pet snakes in the UK, with 1.4% of households having one.

Note: All figures were rounded to the nearest 100,000.

Pet fish population

There were 7 million indoor fish tanks in the UK and 15% of households had one.
11% of households in the UK had an outdoor pond, making 6 million in total.

Note: Kantar / Soulor Consulting online survey with 8,901 respondents, 2023.

2022

In 2022 it was estimated that 17.4m (62% of) households had a pet.

2022	Pet population (m)	% households with ..…
Dogs	13	34%
Cats	12	28%
Rabbits	1	2.4%
Indoor Birds	1.6	2.9%
Guinea Pigs	0.9	1.3%
Domestic Fowl	1.4	1.4%
Hamsters	0.6	1.5%
Tortoises and Turtles	0.6	1.4%
Snakes	0.5	1%
Lizards	0.4	1%
Horses and Ponies	0.6	1.1%
Gerbils	0.3	0.4%
Rats	0.3	0.4%
Ferrets	0.2	0.2%
Frogs and Toads	0.4	0.5%
People keep insects	0.1	0.3%
Newts/Salamanders	0.2	0.3%
Pigeons	0.7	0.9%
Mice	0.1	0.2%

2021

In 2021 it was estimated that 17m (59% of) households had pets.

2021	Pet population (m)	% households with ..…
Dogs	12	33%
Cats	12	27%
Rabbits	1.1	2%
Indoor Birds	1.3	2%
Guinea Pigs	0.8	1.20%
Domestic Fowl	1.2	1.10%
Hamsters	0.6	1.70%
Tortoises and Turtles	0.4	1%
Snakes	0.4	0.80%
Lizards	0.4	0.70%
Horses and Ponies	0.5	1%
Gerbils	0.4	0.60%
Rats	0.2	0.30%
Ferrets	0.1	0.10%
Frogs and Toads	0.2	0.20%
People keep insects	0.3	0.30%
Newts/Salamanders	0.1	0.10%
Pigeons	0.5	0.80%
Mice	0.1	0.10%

2011-2020

These charts detail the rolling totals 2011-2020, when surveys were face-to-face.

Rolling total	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20
Sample	4,205	4,223	6,192	8,353	8,380	8,000	8,000	8,000	8,000

% households
Any pet	47%	48%	47%	46%	40%	44%	45%	40%	41%
Indoor fish	10%	10%	9%	9%	8%	8%	7%	6%	5%
Outdoor fish	6%	6%	6%	5%	5%	5%			3%
Dogs	22%	24%	25%	24%	24%	24%	26%	25%	23%
Cats	18%	19%	18%	17%	17%	17%	18%	17%	16%
Rabbits	3%	3%	3%	2%	2%	2%	2%	1%	1%
Domestic fowl	1%	1%	1%	1%	0%	1%	0.4%	0.4	0.3%
Guinea Pigs	2%	1%	1%	1%	1%	2%	1%	1%	1%
Indoor birds	2%	2%	2%	1%	2%	0%	1%	1%	1%
Hamsters	2%	2%	1%	1%	1%	1%	1%	1%	0.5%
Lizards	1%	1%	1%	1%	0.3%	-	0.5%	0.6%	0.3

Pet population (m)	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20
All	66.9	69.2	64.9	58.4	54	54	51
Indoor fish	23.0	23.3	23.3	19.9	16	15-20
Outdoor fish	21.8	21.8	18.4	17.1	20	15-20
Dogs	7.6	8.6	8.9	8.5	8.5	8.5	9	9	9
Cats	7.8	8.5	7.9	7.4	7.5	8	8	7.5	7.5
Rabbits	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.6	0.6
Domestic fowl	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.4
Guinea Pigs	0.9	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4
Indoor birds	0.8	1.0	0.8	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.5	0.5	0.5
Hamsters	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2
Lizards	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.2