Although Belgium was home to only the sixth largest population of small mammal pets in 2018, the nation was home to the highest population of those pets per capita in Europe and Turkey. Analysts with the European Pet Food Federation (FEDIAF) estimated the European population of small mammal pets, such as rabbits and gerbils, and published that data in the report “FEDIAF Facts & Figures 2018.” The report presented the European populations of pet dogs, cats and other pets along with other data on EU member and other European pet food markets, along with Turkey.
Top 10 small mammal populations
As in several other estimates of pet populations in 2018, countries with larger human populations tended to have larger populations of small mammal pets.
- Russia - 6,100,000
- Germany - 5,400,000
- France - 3,400,000
- United Kingdom - 2,000,000
- Italy - 1,825,000
- Belgium - 1,300,000
- Netherlands - 1,180,000
- Spain - 1,160,000
- Poland - 990,000
- Turkey - 800,000
Small mammals per capita
However, some European nations with smaller human populations had higher per capita numbers of small mammals than larger countries.
- Belgium - 0.112 small mammals per person
- Netherlands - 0.069 small mammals per person
- Germany - 0.066 small mammals per person
- Switzerland - 0.057 small mammals per person
- France - 0.052 small mammals per person
- Russia - 0.042 small mammals per person
- Hungary - 0.040 small mammals per person
- Greece - 0.036 small mammals per person
- Italy - 0.031 small mammals per person
- United Kingdom - 0.030 small mammals per person
The per capita population of cats in each nation was estimated by dividing the cat population from the FEDIAF report by the approximate human population of each country in 2018. Human population data was taken from Worldometer.info, which elaborated the numbers using United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division figures.
About European Pet Food Federation
The European Pet Food Federation represents the European pet food industry. It is an umbrella organization of national pet food industry associations. FEDIAF’s mission is to be the voice of the European pet food industry collaborating with authorities, regulators and academics for achieving favorable conditions for the supply of safe, nutritious and palatable products to pets and their owners. Based in Brussels, FEDIAF states that is is committed to promoting responsible pet ownership, to the wellbeing of pet animals, to their important social role and to sustainable development.
The annual Facts & Figures from FEDIAF are compiled using figures from FEDIAF and its member associations and estimations based upon where indicated.
