How Many Bengal Cats Are There in the World? (2023)

Bengal cats have been a popular pet to own since the first bengal cat in 1963.

Since then, bengals have become more and more common, with bengal cat breeders taking advantage of the increased demand for these beautiful and playful cats.

Currently, in the world there are estimated to be around 500,000-1,200,000 bengal cats.

Bengal cats are considered to be the eighth most popular breed in America and as restrictions against bengals are being lifted, more people are owning bengals as pets.

The total number of domestic cats in the world is estimated to be close to 400 million including strays, household cats, and feral cats.

Some think the number is closer to 800 million while others believe that there are less than 300 million.

Since there is not an official count of cats taken per year and it would be difficult to conduct any sort of census on a cat population, it is only theoretical and there is not a definitive number that’s been decided on.

How Many Registered Bengal Cat Breeders Are There in the World?

As of 2022, there are over two thousand registered bengal cat breeders in the world.

There are likely much more than two thousand registered bengal cat breeders in reality since the data available on this number only looks at breeders with the word ‘bengal’ in their business name.

The demand for bengal cats is only increasing so the number of registered bengal cat breeders is most likely going to increase every year significantly.

By 2025, there may be up to ten thousand registered bengal cat breeders worldwide.

This is because the costs of breeding bengal cats become lower as the number of bengal cats increase which then creates an opportunity for cat breeders to start breeding bengals as well.

What Countries Are Bengal Cats Most Popular In?

Bengal cats originated in the USA but by now are owned globally and are kept as pets in almost every country in the world.

Bengal cats are more popular in the UK than the US, in the UK bengal cats are ranked as the fifth most popular cat breed while in the US, bengal cats are the eighth most popular domestic cat to own.

The US has the largest pet cat population overall, and the bengal cat was first bred in the United States so it likely that there are more bengals owned in the US than any other country.

Overall, there are also less legal restrictions regarding bengal cats in the US, so it is easier to become a bengal owner and find bengal cats near you.

Following the US, China, Russia, Brazil, and France have the next largest domestic cat populations so they all are likely to have a large number of bengal cats as well.

Some countries like Hong Kong and Singapore only allow F5 and up bengal cats to be brought in.

These restrictions on the filial generations of bengals reduce the total number of bengal cat owners and make it harder for the bengal cat breed to gain popularity in that area.

Most of these restrictions are being pushed back against however and currently almost all countries allow the later generations of bengal cats to be owned.