Have AKC Registrations Bottomed Out?

The failing AKC has not published dog registration statistics for many years, so it was with considerable interest that I got the above table from Hildegard von S. (thanks!)

Here are some summary numbers to gauge the overall trend:

• US POPULATION in 1992: 256.9 million
• AKC REGISTRATIONS in 1992: 1,528,393
  
  
• US POPULATION in 2019: 328.2 million
• AKC REGISTRATIONS in 2019: 587,692
  
  

During this period of time, total US dog ownership has gone up from 52 million in 1992 to 90 million in 2019.

If AKC registrations had kept pace with the growth in US dog ownership, it would be registering over 2,645,000 dogs a year.

It’s not.

Another way to think of the AKC’s decline is to ask yourself what registration numbers SHOULD BE, adjusted for US population growth alone, just to MAINTAIN what they were in 1992.

Answer: over 1,952,000 registrations per year.

It's not that.

So, while AKC registrations have, in absolute numbers, climbed out of the gravel bed below the basement in the last 5 years, the AKC is still registering FAR fewer dogs than it did 30 years ago, 20 years ago, and 10 years ago, both in absolute numbers, and as a percentage of total US dogs (which is on the increase), and when looked at in terms of US population growth.

This is a failing business.

It should be noted that over half of all AKC registrations are accounted for by the top 10 breeds, and less than 1.5 percent of AKC registrations account for the bottom 50 breeds (total) in terms of popularity.

In real-world terms, the AKC is only 30 percent (or less) of what it should be in size.