UK — PDSA PAW Report 2024: estimated pet dog / cat / rabbit population
Source: PDSA PAW Report 2024, "Pet Populations" page (pdsa.org.uk), first-hand published UK pet-population survey, pulled 2026-07-30. The PAW Report uses nationally representative annual data and a consistent methodology since 2011, enabling year-on-year tracking of UK pet populations. All figures below are verbatim from the source page.
Pet population estimates (2024)
- "In 2024, we estimate there are 10.6 million pet dogs, 10.8 million pet cats and 800,000 pet rabbits living in the UK."
- "Overall, 51% of UK adults own a pet of any type" (a slight decrease from 2023, when 53% did).
- "28% of UK adults own a dog and 24% a cat" (neither significantly different from 2023).
- "has been growing steadily since 2011 when it was 8.2 million dogs, to 10.6 million in 2024" (dog population trend; 2024 not statistically significantly different from 2023).
- "the rabbit population from 2023 (1.1 million) to 2024 (800,000)" (a decrease; new linear-regression analysis by PDSA shows no significant long-term trend).
Note: PDSA is a UK veterinary charity; its PAW Report is a first-hand, annually repeated survey (methodology consistent since 2011), making it a primary source for UK pet-population counts (dogs, cats, rabbits). UK Pet Food (formerly PFMA) also publishes a Pet Population Report, but its headline counts are delivered as an image and are not extractable as text; PDSA's text-based figures are used here for C1 verifiability.
Source: pdf-raw/market-stats/uk_pdsa_paw_2024_2026-07-30.txt — PDSA PAW Report 2024 Pet Populations page, pulled 2026-07-30.