According to a report by the European Pet Food Industry (FEDIAF), almost 41% of households in the Czech Republic were home to at least one dog in 2020, the third highest figure in the EU. On the other hand, the country was in the bottom 10 countries in the EU for cat ownership, with just 21% of households owning a cat in 2020. Photo Credit: Freepik / Illustrative Photo.
Czech Rep., Jul 13 (BD) – According to the annual report by the European Pet Food Industry (FEDIAF), almost 41% of households in the Czech Republic were home to at least one dog in 2020, placing the country in the third position in the EU for dog ownership per household.
The top position was shared by Romania and Poland, where the figure was 42%. Across the whole EU, 25% of households own at least one dog.
| #1 Romania | 42% |
| #2 Poland | 42% |
| #3 Czechia | 41% |
| #4 Portugal | 38% |
| #5 Lithuania | 37% |
The Czech Republic recorded a significant rise of 10% in the dog population from 2019 to 2020. There are approximately 2.2 million dogs owned by households in the Czech Republic in 2020. The highest total dog population, of approximately 10.7 million, was reported in Germany.
Cats were the most popular pet among Europeans, with more than 80 million recorded in the EU in 2020. As with dogs, Germany leads the way in terms of the total cat population, with 15.7 million felines in 2020, followed by France (15.1 million) and Italy (7.93 million). Estonia had the lowest cat population among those included in the study, with just 285,000 in the country.
In the Czech Republic, cats are less popular pets than dogs, with 1.1 million cats compared to 2.2 million dogs. Unlike the strong third position in the EU dog ownership rankings, the Czech Republic sits in the bottom 10 countries for cat ownership, with just 21% of households owning at least one cat in 2020.
Other than cats and dogs, significant numbers of EU residents also keep ornamental birds, small mammals, aquatic animals, and reptiles as housepets.
