Useful Pet Info

Dog population in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

by Isaenko Alexander on Oct 10, 2020

1. Dog population in the European Union

At the end of 2019 over 87.5 million dogs were estimated in the countries of the European Union.

The highest dog population of over 10 million is in Germany. The United Kingdom is in the second place – the British own more than 9 million dogs then Poland with 7,8 million pet dogs follows (table 1).

Table 1 – Top 10 EU countries by dog population 2019

№	Country	Number of dogs, (m)
1	Germany	10,1
2	The United Kingdom	9,0
3	Poland	7,8
4	Italy	7,0
5	France	7,7
6	Spain	6,7
7	Romania	4,2
8	Portugal	2,1
9	The Czech Republic	2,0
10	The Netherlands	1,7

The increase in the number of dogs has been observed in the EU countries since 2010. The increase compared to 2019 was 11 million animals.

2. Number of dogs in the United Kingdom

The number of dogs in Great Britain is growing gradually. According to the Statista surveys in 2014/15/16/17/18 there were about 8,5 million dogs in the UK. In 2019 the number of dogs increased to 9 million.

The United Kingdom is famous for its love for dogs. About 41 percent of the British households own at least one pet; 23 percent of the households have dogs (table 2).

Table 2 – Top 10 popular owned pets in the United Kingdom, 2019/2020

№	Pet	Number, (m)	Households, (%)
1	Dogs	9	23
2	Cats	7,5	16
3	Rabbits	0,6	1
4	Indoor birds	0,5	1
5	Guinea pigs	0,4	1
6	Domestic fowls	0,4	0.3
7	Turtles	0,3	0.5
8	Hamsters	0,2	0.5
9	Snakes	0,2	0.4
10	Lizards	0,2	0.3

The share of the British households owning a dog since 2010 till nowadays has remained relatively steady between 23 and 25 percent.

3. Regional dog population in Great Britain

According to the results of the 2017/18/19 survey, the largest number of dogs lives in South East and North West (1.1 million dogs). However, based on the number of residents with dogs, North East and Northern Ireland stand out among others (over 30 percent of the population with dogs) (table 3).

Table 3 – Dog population statistics by regions of Great Britain 2017/18/19

Region	% Population with dogs	Households with dogs, (000s)	Dogs per household	Dogs per region, (000s)
North East	36	454	1.4	610
North West	27	835	1.4	1100
Yorks and Humb	23	571	1.3	760
East Midlands	29	662	1.3	870
West Midlands	28	654	1.3	830
East	23	640	1.4	910
London	9	251	1.3	310
South East	21	842	1.4	1100
South West	25	582	1.4	780
Wales	29	440	1.5	650
Scotland	24	559	1.3	710
Northern Ireland	31	213	1.3	270

In London 9 percent of the population has got pet dogs: more than 300 thousand dogs live in 251 thousand households.

4. Top 20 dog breeds in the United Kingdom

The most common breeds for the British are Labrador retriever (35,347 dogs), French Bulldog (33,661 dogs) and Cocker Spaniel (21,663 registrations) (table 4.1).

Table 4.1 – Top 20 popular dog breeds in the UK in 2019

№	Dog breed	Number of dogs
1	Labrador Retriever	35,347
2	French Bulldog	33,661
3	Cocker Spaniel	21,663
4	Bulldog	9,922
5	Spaniel (English Springer)	8,638
6	Golden Retriever	8,422
7	Dachshund	8,375
8	German Shepherd Dog	6,837
9	Pug	6,751
10	Miniature Schnauzer	4,982
11	Staffordshire Bull Terrier	4,454
12	Border Terrier	4,353
13	Boxer	3,329
14	Cavalier King Charles Spaniel	3,252
15	Whippet	3,146
16	Hungarian Vizsla	2,771
17	Shih Tzu	2,186
18	Beagle	2,177
19	Border Collie	2,087
20	Rottweiler	1,935

In table 4.2 we see the leading 5 dog breeds according to different British regions.

Table 4.2 – Top 5 dog breeds by regions of the United Kingdom

Region	Top 5 dog breeds
North East	Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, French Bulldog, Pug, Spaniel (English Springer)
North West	French Bulldog, Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Pug, English Bulldog
Midlands	Labrador Retriever, French Bulldog, Cocker Spaniel, Pug, Spaniel (English Springer)
East	Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, French Bulldog, German Shepherd Dog, Pug
London	French Bulldog, Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Pug, English Bulldog
South East	Labrador Retriever, French Bulldog, Cocker Spaniel, Pug, German Shepherd Dog
South West	Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, French Bulldog, Spaniel (English Springer), Golden Retriever
Wales	French Bulldog, Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Spaniel (English Springer), English Bulldog
Scotland	Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, French Bulldog, Spaniel (English Springer), German Shepherd Dog
Northern Ireland	Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Spaniel (English Springer), Miniature Schnauzer, Golden Retriever

In London the most popular dog breeds are French Bulldog, Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Pug and English Bulldog.

5. Why do the British get dogs?

According to the 2019 survey the most popular reason for owning a dog for the British is happiness that a dog brings to the house. The others are providing love, affection and companionship (table 5).