We often ask, “Are you a dog or a cat person?” I’ve investigated this question by mapping and graphing some pet ownership statistics. The two maps show pet data by country – the first explores the number of pets per capita, and the second responds directly to the dog/cat question. Below the maps is a graph of pet data for the USA, showing the total population of a given type of pet, the number of households that have that type of pet, and the average number per household (population/households).

Although data are only available for about half of the countries, we can still identify some interesting trends. Only five countries have more than one pet for every two people – Panama, Samoa, Barbados, Papua New Guinea, and Grenada. USA ranks sixth, with 0.48 (just under one pet per two people). Eight countries have fewer than one pet per 100 people, all of which are in Asia or Africa; the bottom two are both African countries (Egypt and Congo-Kinshasa). The median value of the data set is 0.19, or about one pet per five people.

The dog/cat map shows the ratio of dogs to the number of dogs and cats. In other words, it shows what percentage of the dog and cat population consists of dogs. Anything below 50% (shown in orange) implies there are more cats than dogs. Conversely, purple countries (above 50%) have more dogs than cats. From looking at the map, it appears that southern hemisphere countries tend to prefer dogs. Looking at the data reveals that five countries have at least ten times more dogs than cats (dog % is greater than 90.9): Guatemala, Mexico, South Korea, Ethiopia, and Samoa. Only one country, Qatar, has at least ten times more cats than dogs. Other cat-loving countries include Kuwait, Austria, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland, each having at least twice as many cats as dogs. The USA leans slightly toward the cat side, but is close to an even split.

The graph is ordered from left to right by the population of each pet type, so cats (74 million), dogs (70 million) and fish (58 million) are the most popular pets. The population drops off sharply after that, with birds, rodents, horses, and reptiles all under 13 million. Due to small household values, fish, poultry, and livestock are the only pets that average more than seven per household; poultry leads this category with more than 12 per household. All other animals average between one and three per household. Finally, although there are more cats than dogs in terms of population, there are more households with a dog (43 million) than with a cat (36 million).

Data Sources:

https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Statistics/Pages/Market-research-statistics-US-pet-ownership.aspx

http://www.wspa.org.uk/Images/Pet%20ownership%20and%20trade%20-%20Global%20report_tcm9-10875.pdf