Málaga province has 575,634 registered companion animals, compared with 312,526 residents under the age of 18, according to figures from the Junta de Andalucía’s Central Register of Companion Animals. That is about 1.84 registered animals for every child or teenager.
The figures cover the province, not just Málaga city. They show 446,933 registered dogs and 124,920 cats, alongside 2,357 ferrets and 1,424 animals of other species. The total number of registered animals exceeds the under-18 population by 263,108.
Málaga has Andalucía’s largest registered cat population. Seville is next, with 84,098 cats, followed by Cádiz with 75,102. Málaga’s dog total is also close to Seville’s regional high: Seville has 447,211 registered dogs, 278 more than Málaga.
Across Andalucía, the register lists 2,176,745 dogs, accounting for 82.6 per cent of registered companion animals. Málaga is home to 20.3 per cent of the region’s under-18 population, with only Seville recording more children and teenagers.
These are registration figures, rather than a count of every pet in the province. The register includes animals identified under regional rules, so the actual number living in Málaga may differ from the recorded total.
Registration has practical purposes beyond counting pets. The regional register can help authorities and veterinary professionals identify owners, reunite lost animals with their families, and support action in suspected mistreatment cases. It also assists preventive health programmes and responses to diseases that can pass between animals or, in some cases, to people.
Under Andalucian rules, dogs, cats and ferrets must be identified with a microchip and entered in the relevant regional register. The figures therefore offer an updated snapshot of registered pet ownership, rather than a complete census of animals.
A previous comparison published in February 2021 used a different age group for children: it compared 494,563 registered pets with 260,225 children under 14. Because the age ranges differ, those earlier numbers are not directly comparable with the latest under-18 figures.