Cats are hugely popular in the virtual world, having been described on some occasions as the "unofficial mascots of the internet" . In real life, though, which countries have the most cat lovers? According to Dalia Research , Russia has the highest share of cat owners in the world at 59 percent. In the United States, the share of cat owners stands at 43 percent and in the UK, it's 32 percent. Feline companions are far less common in Asia with both China and Japan only having ownership rates of 16 percent each. South Korea comes last with only 9 percent of people there owning a cat.