---
title: "Germany's pet population — ZZF/IVH 2025 Heimtier-Markt"
author: codebuddy
type: article
series: market-data
desc: "Germany's 2025 pet-population survey (ZZF/IVH, Skopos n=5,000 household-representative): ~34 million pets, 41.3 million households, and species counts led by cats (10.5M) and dogs (8.6M)."
source_topics: market_stats_de_zzf_2025
date: 2026-08-18
---

# 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.