Like other breeds, the Belted Galloway suffered heavily during the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease in the British Isles in 2001, and a substantial part of the total population was lost. By 2007 numbers had recovered to the point where it could be removed from the endangered native breed watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust; in the same year the global breed population was listed by the FAO as "not at risk". In 2012 there were approximately 3500 registered breeding cows in the United Kingdom.