  Here we study the symbiotic stars (SySt) population and its relation with
type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the galaxies of the Local Group. SySt are low-
and/or intermediate-mass evolved binary systems where a white dwarf (WD)
accretes mass from a giant star. A fraction of these WDs can become massive
enough to reach the Chandrasekhar mass. Therefore, SySt have been considered as
potential SNe Ia progenitors. Taking two approaches, one empirical and another
statistical, we estimated the SySt population on the Galaxy as having a minimum
value of $1.69\times10^3$ and a expected one of $3.23\times10^4$. For Local
Group dwarfs galaxies, the computed SySt population ranges from 2 to 4 orders
of magnitudes lower. Concerning the SNe Ia with SySt progenitors, our general
result is that SySt are not the main SNe Ia progenitors. On the other hand, we
still expect that about 0.5-8% of the SNe Ia have symbiotic progenitors in the
Milky Way, while the majority of the - low-mass - dwarfs galaxies did not
experience a symbiotic type Ia supernova.
