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By Liz O'Connell
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New data has revealed the world's top dog-loving 35 countries based on the number of canines owned per capita, with Lithuania shockingly topping the list.
Pet Insurance Deals, an Australian insurance comparison company, analyzed pet ownership data across several countries—sourced from World Population Review—to determine which nations have the highest number of dogs in relation to their population size.
Despite having a modest total dog population of 850,000, the data crowned Lithuania as the country with the highest number of dog lovers. About 30 percent of the country owns a dog, with some 30,000 dogs per 100,000 residents.
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The rest of the top 10 include Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United States, Argentina, Spain, and Croatia.
Second-place Hungary closely follows Lithuania, with 29,069 dogs per 100,000 residents, but its total dog population is significantly higher at 2.8 million.
While the United States has the highest total number of dogs living in a country, at about 69.9 million—seven times more than any country in the top 10—smaller nations ranked above in terms of per capita.
The United States is the only non-European country to crack the top 10 with 20,128 dogs per 100,000 residents.
Falling just shy of the top ten is the United Kingdom with 18,260 dogs per 100,000 people, despite the country's large dog population of 12.7 million.
About 25 percent of European households have at least one dog. Of the top 25 countries, 29 are located in Europe, including Russia, which is partially located on the continent. This reveals a regional pattern and suggests cultural factors play a role in dog ownership.
Argentina is the only country located in South America to make the list. Coming in at number 8, the country is home to over 9.2 million dogs, but per 100,000 residents, 20,065 own dogs.
Only one country in Africa landed in the top 35, South Africa, at number 23; about 11.4 percent of the population owns dogs.
The Philippines and Japan are the only two listed in Asia, as Russia was already counted for in Europe. At number 28, the Philippines has about 9,933 dogs per 100,000 residents. Japan is slightly less with 9,748.
"These results paint a fascinating picture of global dog ownership patterns, with smaller Eastern European countries leading the way," Tom Sadler, managing director at Pet Insurance Deals, said in a press release.
"What's particularly interesting is how the total dog population doesn't necessarily correlate with per capita ownership."
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