Which country in Europe has the most cats? The full FEDIAF ranking

If you've ever argued about whether Europe has more cat lovers or dog lovers, here's the answer, backed by data: the cat wins, and by a fair margin. Every year the European pet food industry federation, FEDIAF, publishes its "Facts & Figures" report with the pet population country by country. We go through the 2026 edition, with data from 2024.

Europe, a continent of cats

According to FEDIAF, in 2024 Europe had:

• 110,861,000 cats, the most numerous pet.
• 91,205,000 dogs.
• Around 306 million pets in total, including birds, fish, small mammals and reptiles.
• 140 million households with at least one pet, 49% of European households.

The report covers the whole European Union, the European Economic Area and most Council of Europe countries: 41 countries in all. In other words, there are around 20 million more cats than dogs on the continent.

The ranking: the 10 European countries with the most cats

• 1. France: 16,700,000 cats.
• 2. Germany: 15,900,000.
• 3. United Kingdom: 12,300,000.
• 4. Italy: 11,900,000.
• 5. Poland: 7,463,000.
• 6. Ukraine: 6,944,000.
• 7. Spain: 4,939,000.
• 8. Turkey: 4,928,000.
• 9. Romania: 4,439,000.
• 10. Belgium: 3,128,000.

Just behind come the Netherlands, with 3,001,000 cats.

How the countries we follow most closely compare

• France: 16.7 million cats and 9.7 million dogs. Cats win.
• Germany: 15.9 million cats and 10.5 million dogs. Cats win.
• Italy: 11.9 million cats and 9 million dogs. Cats win.
• Spain: 4.9 million cats and almost 7 million dogs. Dogs win.
• Portugal: 2.1 million cats and 3.1 million dogs. Dogs win.
• Austria: 2 million cats and 836,000 dogs. Cats win, by a wide margin.
• Ireland: 404,000 cats and 563,000 dogs. Dogs win.

Interestingly, the countries of the south and the Atlantic west (Spain, Portugal, Ireland) are among the few in this part of Europe where the dog is still ahead. In the United Kingdom and Poland there are also slightly more dogs than cats.

And in proportion to population?

Absolute figures favour the larger countries. If we compare them with population, Austria stands out: with around nine million inhabitants and two million cats, there's roughly one cat for every four or five people. In Spain, with around 48 million inhabitants and almost 5 million cats, the ratio is roughly one cat for every ten people.

Cats rule the food bowl too

The FEDIAF report includes data on the food market. In Europe, the pet food industry had a turnover of around €29.4 billion in 2024, with a volume of around 8.6 million tonnes. And although only 41% of the food produced (by volume) is for cats, half the value (50%) comes from the cat sector, compared with 46% from the dog sector.

Another curious fact: around 61% of the cat food sold in Europe, by volume, is wet food, whereas for dogs dry food predominates.

How to read this data properly

• Not every country supplies its own data. Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria and others send figures through their national associations; in others, such as Portugal and Ireland, FEDIAF makes estimates.
• FEDIAF advises against comparing directly with previous editions, because the methodology and the countries included have changed. For example, France changed its method in this edition.
• The figures are rounded and in some cases have been adjusted using data from the European Medicines Agency.

In short: Europe has almost 111 million cats and France is the country with the most (16.7 million), followed very closely by Germany. Spain is seventh and one of the few countries where dogs are still in the majority.

On the Katlune blog you'll find an article with detailed data for each of these countries. And if you'd like the most interesting bits every week, Club Katlune makes it easy.

Sources: FEDIAF (European Pet Food Industry Federation), "Facts & Figures 2026", with 2024 data compiled together with Soulor Consulting.