Historical Pet Population
This chart details the rolling totals over the last nine years.
In 2021 due to the Covid Pandemic, the survey moved online and due to the change in methodology (previously the survey was conducted via face to face interviews) current 2021 figures should not be compared to previous years.
| Rolling total | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |