When France publishes its pet population data, the global pet industry pays attention — and for good reason.
France has long been one of Europe’s most mature, most sophisticated, and most revealing pet markets. What happens in French households with cats, dogs, fish, and small mammals tends to mirror, a few years later, what happens in emerging pet economies across Asia, the Middle East, and increasingly India. The numbers released this month by FACCO — the French Federation of Pet Food Manufacturers — for the 2025 calendar year are telling a nuanced, fascinating story. And the pet industry worldwide should be reading it carefully.
Here is what the data actually shows — and what it means.
That is more pets than France has people. In a country of roughly 68 million humans, the pet population has consistently outpaced human population numbers for years — and the pandemic-era surge that carried pet ownership to historic highs has not reversed the way many analysts predicted it might.
The 2025 figure represents a modest decline from 75.1 million in 2024, which itself was unchanged from the 2023 number. A year-on-year drop of 1.7 million animals sounds significant, but context matters enormously here. In 2018 — the pre-pandemic baseline — France had just 64 million pets and only 50% of households owned one. The 2025 number, even with its slight dip, represents a 14.6% increase on that 2018 figure. The market is meaningfully larger, not smaller.
Pet ownership as a proportion of French households held steady at 60% in 2025 — down just one percentage point from 2024. That is not a retreat. That is a plateau at a historically high level, in a country where pandemic-era pet adoption permanently shifted the baseline.
The Species Breakdown: Where the Numbers Moved
Not all species told the same story in 2025, and the differences between them matter for brands, manufacturers, and retailers.
Fish remained France’s most numerous pet in absolute terms — but their population declined sharply, falling 13.6% year-on-year to 29.1 million. This is a significant drop and continues a pattern seen across several European markets where aquarium hobbyism is contracting as living spaces get smaller, disposable income comes under pressure, and the emotional value proposition of fish ownership shifts relative to cats and dogs.
The cat population edged down by 100,000 animals to 16.6 million, while the dog population saw a similar marginal decline of 100,000, bringing it to 9.6 million. These are small adjustments, not structural retreats. Both numbers remain substantially above their 2018 levels — France had 14.2 million cats and just 7.6 million dogs seven years ago — meaning the long-term trajectory of the two most commercially important species in the French market remains strongly positive.
Poultry declined 3.2% to 8.8 million. Small mammals fell 12.7%. Birds dropped 200,000 to 3.4 million. Terrarium animals — reptiles, amphibians, and similar — contracted 14.2% to 1.8 million, continuing their long-term decline as regulation and changing consumer preferences make exotic pet keeping harder to sustain.
The pattern is clear: the market is consolidating around cats and dogs, the two species with the strongest emotional bond with their owners and the largest commercial ecosystems supporting them.
54% of Pet Households Have a Cat or a Dog
Perhaps the single most commercially significant figure in the FACCO 2025 data is this: more than half of all pet-owning households in France — 54% — have either a cat, a dog, or both.
In 2018, that figure stood at 43%. In 2024, it was 53%. The slow but consistent rise of cats and dogs as the defining pets of French households is the most durable structural trend in the French market — and it is one of the clearest signals of what a maturing pet market looks like.
Cats lead as the more popular companion: 39% of French households own at least one cat, compared to 28% who own a dog. France’s feline market is one of the deepest and most commercially sophisticated in the world — cats command approximately 45% of the French pet food market by value, supported by high levels of premium and specialised nutrition purchasing and a trend toward treating feline nutrition as a health investment rather than a commodity.
The French pet food market as a whole is estimated at USD 7.46 billion in 2026, growing from USD 7.13 billion in 2025 and projected to reach USD 9.33 billion by 2031, expanding at a CAGR of 4.59%. That is a market growing at pace, driven not by volume increases alone but by the premiumisation of what French pet owners are choosing to buy.
Who Owns Dogs in France — and What It Reveals
One of the most instructive dimensions of the FACCO 2025 data is the demographic breakdown of dog ownership. It tells a story that has direct implications for how the global pet industry should think about its next wave of growth.
Dog ownership in France is highest among younger adults. Nearly four in ten French adults between the ages of 25 and 34 — 37% — own a dog. That figure drops to 34% among those aged 35 to 49, falls further to 30% among the 50 to 64 age group, and reaches its lowest point at just 16% among those aged 65 and over.
This is a young person’s market for dogs in France. And given what we know about generational pet ownership patterns — the fact that Millennials and Gen Z globally are adopting pets at rates their parents never did, treating them as family members, and spending significantly more per pet on nutrition, healthcare, and lifestyle products — this demographic skew is an opportunity signal, not a limitation.
The young adults who are driving dog ownership growth in France today are the same generation who will be the dominant pet-owning demographic for the next three to four decades. The brands that earn their trust now — through quality, transparency, science-backed nutrition, and values alignment — are the brands that will benefit from the most commercially valuable pet owning generation in history.
Geographically, the FACCO data shows dog ownership in France is highest in rural areas at 36%, followed by small towns at 31%. In large cities, that rate drops to 25%, and in the Paris metropolitan area, it falls further to 22%. Urban environments create structural barriers to dog ownership — space, lifestyle, cost — that the pet industry has an opportunity to address with solutions specifically designed for apartment living.
The Cat Owner Profile: Different Animal, Different Market
Cat ownership in France follows a distinct demographic pattern, and it is one that signals a different kind of commercial opportunity.
Cat ownership is more evenly distributed across age groups than dog ownership. Even among adults aged 65 and over, 23% own a cat. In large cities — where dog ownership struggles — 36% of residents own a cat. In the Paris metropolitan area, 29% of households have a feline companion. Cats are the urban pet of choice in France, as they are across most of the world’s major cities.
Single-person and two-person households, which represent a growing proportion of France’s total household count as urbanisation and demographic change reduce average household sizes, show cat ownership rates of 26% and 29% respectively. Cats fit the modern urban household in ways that few other pets do. They are independent enough for busy professionals, quiet enough for apartment living, and emotionally present enough to provide the companionship that an increasingly alone generation is seeking.
The cat food market in France reflects this. Commercial cat food consumption rates are extraordinarily high — 95% of French cat owners feed their animals commercial cat food — compared to 85% for dog owners. Dry food dominates at 86% for cat owners, though wet and mixed formats are growing as health-conscious owners seek more varied, moisture-rich diets. Treats are given by 47% of cat owners, making cat treats one of the most dynamic growth subcategories in the French pet market.
A Decade of Growth That Changed Everything
The story behind the 2025 numbers is best understood by looking at the decade that produced them.
In 2018, France had 64 million pets. Fifty per cent of households owned a pet. The pet industry was already one of Europe’s largest, but its ceiling felt clearly visible.
Then came 2020, and the pandemic. Like virtually every developed market, France saw a surge in pet adoptions as lockdowns changed how people related to home and companion animals. The French pet population grew. The proportion of owning households grew. Spending per pet grew. The relationship between French households and their animals deepened in ways that economic pressure alone has not unwound.
The 2025 data shows a market that is gently normalising after that surge — losing a small number of fish owners, seeing modest declines in some exotic species, adjusting at the margins — while retaining the core gains in cat and dog ownership that the pandemic era created. That retention is the important part. The habits formed when French families added pets to their homes during 2020 and 2021 have largely persisted. The pet population may be slightly smaller than 2024’s peak, but it is 14.6% larger than it was in 2018.
That is not a correction. That is a structural shift — and it is permanent.
What France Tells the Indian Pet Industry
For brands, investors, and operators watching the Indian pet market, France is one of the most useful reference points available.
India’s pet industry is currently in the position France was in approximately fifteen years ago: ownership rates growing rapidly from a low base, the relationship between pet ownership and urbanisation shifting, a young demographic driving the early adopter wave, and a premium nutrition market just beginning to develop in earnest.
The French experience shows that once cat and dog ownership crosses a certain threshold of household penetration — once it becomes normalised across urban and suburban demographics — it becomes sticky. Ownership rates do not easily fall back. Spending per pet rises over time, not just with income but with the deepening of the human-animal bond. The pet food market becomes a health and wellness category, not a commodity.
India is moving along this same curve. The pace is accelerating. The question is not whether India will reach 60% household pet ownership — it is when, and which brands will have built the trust, the distribution, and the product quality to serve the market when it arrives.
Pets News Network is India’s first dedicated media platform for the pet and animal industry. For breaking global pet news, brand coverage, and advertising enquiries, contact: ankur@petsnewsnetwork.com
