Pet ownership statistics

The pet population of Australia to be around 38.2 million, this includes 3.75 million dogs, while the cat population was 2.43 million. The remainder is made up of fish, birds and other pets (including rabbits, guinea pigs, and other small animals).

New South Wales and Victoria account for 58.5 per cent of pets throughout Australia. New South Wales has the most pets with a total of 13.19 million pets while Victoria has the second highest number of pets with 9.16 million.

Tasmania was the leading state for dog and cat ownership per 100 people.

It is estimated that around 63 per cent of Australian households own some type of pet, with 53 per cent owning a cat or a dog.

(Data from 2005 The Australian Companion Animal Council publication, Contribution of the pet care industry to the Australian economy.)