Rarest recorded categories, including tiesYour selection
12 entries shown; 14 breed entries had zero registrations and 0 had no reported count. They remain in the full table. Zero registrations cannot establish extinction.
No matching entries. Clear the search to see the full table.
GCCF, registered cats by breed, 2024–2025. Annual registrations, not a census of living animals. Zero means no registrations in that year; a blank remains “Not reported”. Breed and coat/size varieties follow the source. Eight nonbreed categories stay in the table and download but are excluded from ranks.
Which cat breeds have the smallest counts?
Nebelung, with one registration, has the lowest positive count in the GCCF’s 2025 table. LaPerm Shorthair follows with two; Thai and Transylvanian Shorthair have three each. Fourteen breed or coat entries have recorded zeros.
The GCCF’s official 2024–2025 table is the source for every number above. It lists annual registrations, so it cannot establish how many cats of a breed are alive. A zero does not mean extinction, and one registration does not mean one living cat.
Compare the same entry across years
The year selector changes the table and rarity order. A breed’s history keeps both counts visible. Nebelung changes from four registrations in 2024 to one in 2025; LaPerm Shorthair changes from thirteen to two. These are counts in two registry years, not estimates of a shrinking living population.
The table also contains entries that rise from zero. Balinese goes from zero to fifteen, and Transylvanian Shorthair from zero to three. A percentage increase from zero is undefined. The explorer shows the counts directly instead of repeating the source’s 1,500% and 300% change figures.
Breeds, coat varieties and other registrations
Longhair and shorthair varieties remain separate where GCCF publishes them separately. For example, combining LaPerm’s varieties would produce a different count from either published row. The displayed names make that distinction visible before you compare them.
The source marks eight categories as not registered breeds, including pedigree pets, non-pedigree pets and unrecognized entries. They remain in the complete table and download, preserving its totals, but are excluded from the breed ranking. The source contains 58 breed or coat entries in addition to those eight categories.
Use the number for the question it answers
This comparison answers which entries received few registrations with one named registry in a particular year. It does not rank breeds worldwide or recommend a pet by scarcity. The dog-breed explorer applies the same distinction to UK dog registrations. For the frequency of a cat’s name rather than its breed, use the separate cat-name lookup.
Good questions
What was the rarest registered cat breed in 2025?
Nebelung had the lowest positive count in the GCCF table, with one registration. Fourteen breed or coat entries had zero registrations; those zeros are listed separately.
Are LaPerm longhair and shorthair combined?
No. The GCCF table lists them separately, with 20 longhair and two shorthair registrations in 2025. The explorer preserves the source’s coat varieties.
Does this show how many cats of a breed exist?
No. It shows cats registered with the GCCF during each year, not all living cats in the UK or worldwide.