Belgium is a cat country

Euromonitor, an international market research firm, carried out research to determine the pet dog and cat populations in 54 countries. According to the results, Belgians show a clear preference for cats: There are 2 million in the country, compared with 1.3 million dogs.

Cats are more popular across Western Europe in general, with the exception of Spain, Portugal and Ireland, where dogs are more abundant. In the United States, South America and much of Asia, too, more households own dogs than cats. Other regions such as the Middle East, have a history with cats that goes back thousands of years.

The data also revealed a number of trends. For example, the more developed a country, the more balanced the number of dogs versus cats. And Brazil has a strange preference for small dogs — it has more small dogs per capita than any other country. The reasons behind these trends, however, remain a mystery.