Pet hamsters (proxy): number of small mammals kept as pets
Estimated number of small mammals kept as pets (a proxy including hamsters) by country, based on major pet industry surveys and reports (mostly 2022).
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Key Insights
- •Germany (5.2M) and France (2.9M) have the largest estimated small-mammal pet populations in Europe (2022).
- •The United States (14.0M, 2020) is substantially larger than any single European country in this proxy category.
- •Several European countries report relatively small totals (0.05–0.2M), suggesting either lower ownership, different definitions, or rounding effects.
- •Because hamsters are only a subset of small mammals, countries with high values are likely to have larger hamster-owner populations, but the exact hamster share is unknown.
Country Rankings
Top 10 Countries
Bottom 10 Countries
Data Analysis
Value Distribution
How countries are distributed across the value range
Regional Comparison
Average values by world region (Global avg: 1.1million animals)
About This Statistic
Direct, hamster-only counts are rarely reported consistently by country, so this statistic uses the closest widely-available proxy: the estimated number of “small mammals” or “small animals” kept as pets. This category typically includes hamsters alongside rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, mice, rats, chinchillas, and ferrets.
For Europe, figures come from FEDIAF’s 2023 Facts & Figures report (pet population estimates for 2022). For several non-European countries, values come from national/industry pet ownership surveys (often reported as “small animals” totals). Because years and category definitions vary by source, the resulting map should be interpreted as an approximate indicator of the scale of potential hamster ownership rather than a precise count of pet hamsters.
Methodology
Used the most comparable, country-level pet ownership totals that include hamsters within a broader “small mammals/small animals” category. For European countries, values are taken directly from FEDIAF (2022). For non-European countries, values are taken from the cited national/industry survey totals (various years) and expressed in millions of animals. No attempt is made to convert “small mammals” into hamster-only counts because the hamster share of the category is not consistently reported across countries.
Full Data
| Rank ↑ | Country ↕ | Value ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 14.0million animals |
| 2 | Germany | 5.2million animals |
| 3 | France | 2.9million animals |
| 4 | Italy | 1.8million animals |
| 5 | Spain | 1.3million animals |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 1.3million animals |
| 7 | Canada | 1.1million animals |
| 8 | Poland | 1.1million animals |
| 9 | Australia | 1.1million animals |
| 10 | Netherlands | 0.8million animals |
| 11 | Japan | 0.7million animals |
| 12 | Austria | 0.6million animals |
| 13 | South Korea | 0.5million animals |
| 14 | Switzerland | 0.5million animals |
| 15 | Belgium | 0.5million animals |
| 16 | Czech Republic | 0.4million animals |
| 17 | New Zealand | 0.4million animals |
| 18 | Sweden | 0.4million animals |
| 19 | Denmark | 0.3million animals |
| 20 | Hungary | 0.3million animals |
| 21 | Bulgaria | 0.2million animals |
| 22 | Finland | 0.2million animals |
| 23 | Norway | 0.2million animals |
| 24 | Romania | 0.2million animals |
| 25 | Croatia | 0.1million animals |
| 26 | Greece | 0.1million animals |
| 27 | Ireland | 0.1million animals |
| 28 | Latvia | 0.1million animals |
| 29 | Lithuania | 0.1million animals |
| 30 | Portugal | 0.1million animals |
| 31 | Slovakia | 0.1million animals |
| 32 | Slovenia | 0.1million animals |
| 33 | Cyprus | 0.1million animals |
| 34 | Estonia | 0.1million animals |
Topics
Data Source
This data comes from FEDIAF (Europe) + national/industry pet surveys (non-Europe) (2022).
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