Germany's pet population — ZZF/IVH 2025 Heimtier-Markt
Germany's standard pet-population source is the ZZF/IVH "Heimtiere in Deutschland" 2025 survey, produced by the German pet-trade associations (Zentralverband Zoologischer Fachbetriebe, Industrieverband Heimtierbedarf) with Skopos Marktforschung on a household-representative sample of n=5,000.
Total pets and households
- About 34 million pets live in Germany ("Rund 34 Millionen Heimtiere in Deutschland").
- The number of households: 2024: 41.3 million; 2023: 40.9 million.
Species counts (2025)
| Species | Millions |
|---|---|
| Cats | 10.5 |
| Dogs | 8.6 |
| Small animals | 1.9 |
| Aquaria (fish) | 1.6 |
| Cage birds | 1.1 |
| Garden-pond fish | 1.0 |
| Terrarium (reptiles) | 0.6 |
Cats and dogs together account for roughly 19.1 million of the ~34 million pets — the dominant companion-animal segment, with small mammals, ornamental fish, birds and reptiles making up the remainder.
Notes
Figures are verbatim from the ZZF/IVH industry-body survey (the chart lists species counts in millions preceding their labels). This topic covers population counts, not pet-food market value; for market scale, see the separate EU/FEDIAF and national market reports.
Sources
market_stats_de_zzf_2025— ZZF/IVH 2025 Heimtier-Markt (Skopos n=5,000): ~34M total pets; households 41.3M (2024) / 40.9M (2023); cats 10.5M, dogs 8.6M, small animals 1.9M, aquaria 1.6M, cage birds 1.1M, garden-pond fish 1.0M, terrarium 0.6M.