GITNUXREPORT 2026

Domain Name Statistics

Domain registrations grew to over 360 million globally in 2023.

Rajesh Patel

Team Lead & Senior Researcher with over 15 years of experience in market research and data analytics.

First published: Feb 13, 2026

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Statistic 1

65% of Fortune 500 use custom domains for email.

Statistic 2

48% of websites use .com domains in 2024.

Statistic 3

Small businesses own 30 million domains globally.

Statistic 4

E-commerce sites: 25% on .com, 15% ccTLDs.

Statistic 5

Tech startups prefer .IO: 20% usage rate.

Statistic 6

Average domain age for top 1M sites: 8.5 years.

Statistic 7

52% domains renewed for 1 year, 30% multi-year.

Statistic 8

US holds 25% of global domain registrations.

Statistic 9

Mobile traffic to domains: 60% of total visits.

Statistic 10

Enterprise domains average 500 per company.

Statistic 11

Non-profits use .ORG: 80% preference rate.

Statistic 12

Gaming sites 40% on ngTLDs like .GG.

Statistic 13

Average website has 2.5 domains (aliases).

Statistic 14

China users prefer .CN: 90% local sites.

Statistic 15

Freelancers own 15 million personal domains.

Statistic 16

Top 10k sites renew 95% of domains annually.

Statistic 17

Women-owned businesses: 12% domain ownership share.

Statistic 18

Emerging markets ccTLD growth: 3% YoY.

Statistic 19

Blogs 70% on .com or WordPress.com subs.

Statistic 20

Average user visits 5 new domains daily.

Statistic 21

SaaS companies use 10+ domains per product.

Statistic 22

Educational sites: 50% .EDU, rest ccTLDs.

Statistic 23

Social media domains traffic: 40% global web.

Statistic 24

Domain portfolio size avg for investors: 1,200.

Statistic 25

HTTPS usage on domains: 85% in top 10M sites.

Statistic 26

Regional preference: Europe 60% ccTLDs.

Statistic 27

News sites 90% on legacy TLDs (.com/.net).

Statistic 28

.COM average retail price $12.99/year in 2024.

Statistic 29

Highest domain sale: Voice.com for $30 million in 2019.

Statistic 30

Average .COM aftermarket sale price: $2,500 in 2023.

Statistic 31

GoDaddy Auctions sold 45,000 domains in 2023, avg $1,200.

Statistic 32

Premium .COM domains average $8,500 at Sedo in Q1 2024.

Statistic 33

.IO domains sold for avg $3,000 in 2023 aftermarket.

Statistic 34

Total domain sales volume: $200 million in 2023 per NameBio.

Statistic 35

Cars.com sold for $872 million in 2015, record cash deal.

Statistic 36

NFT-related domains peaked sales at $500k avg in 2021.

Statistic 37

.XYZ aftermarket avg sale $1,800 in 2023.

Statistic 38

Sedo reported 12,000 sales totaling $85 million in 2023.

Statistic 39

Flippa domain marketplace avg price $2,200 per sale 2024.

Statistic 40

Voice.com remains top sale, $30M to Block.one.

Statistic 41

360.com sold for $17 million in 2015 to Qihoo.

Statistic 42

Crypto domain sales surged 300% in 2021 to $50M total.

Statistic 43

Average wholesale .COM price dropped to $8.17 in 2023.

Statistic 44

GoDaddy sold 78 million domains lifetime, many flipped.

Statistic 45

.APP domains premium sales avg $5,000 in 2023.

Statistic 46

Afternic network facilitated 150,000 sales in 2023.

Statistic 47

Sex.com historical sale $13M in 2010.

Statistic 48

Domain flipping ROI average 45% for short-term holders.

Statistic 49

Premium ngTLD sales totaled $20M in 2023.

Statistic 50

LasVegas.com sold for $90 million equivalent value.

Statistic 51

.COM hand-registrations cost avg $10.50 at Namecheap.

Statistic 52

Undeveloped.com portfolio sales hit $10M annually.

Statistic 53

Dynadot auction avg bid $1,100 per domain 2024.

Statistic 54

AI-related domains sold avg $10k in Q1 2024.

Statistic 55

10,000+ domains sold weekly on major platforms.

Statistic 56

Business.com $345M sale in 2007, inflation-adjusted $500M.

Statistic 57

In Q4 2023, the total number of registered domain names across all top-level domains (TLDs) reached 362.3 million, reflecting a 1.2% year-over-year increase.

Statistic 58

Globally, .com and .net domains totaled 158.5 million registrations as of Q1 2024, up 0.7% from the previous quarter.

Statistic 59

The number of gTLD registrations excluding .com, .net, and .ngTLDs stood at 35.4 million in Q2 2023.

Statistic 60

Country code TLD (ccTLD) registrations grew by 1.1% to 135.8 million domains in 2023.

Statistic 61

New .com registrations hit 8.2 million in Q4 2023, the highest quarterly figure since Q1 2022.

Statistic 62

Total domain registrations surpassed 360 million in mid-2023, driven by emerging markets.

Statistic 63

.DE ccTLD led with 17.5 million registrations as of 2023, up 2% YoY.

Statistic 64

Global domain registrations increased by 0.9% in 2022 to 348.7 million.

Statistic 65

.COM domains accounted for 44% of all TLD registrations in 2023.

Statistic 66

Active domain names (excluding parked) estimated at 250 million in 2024.

Statistic 67

.COM registrations grew 1.5% YoY to 156.8 million in Q3 2023.

Statistic 68

ccTLDs represented 37.5% of total registrations in 2023.

Statistic 69

New gTLD registrations stabilized at 35 million after peaking at 37 million in 2021.

Statistic 70

Total domains under management reached 361 million by end of 2023.

Statistic 71

.UK registrations exceeded 10.9 million in 2023, growth of 0.5%.

Statistic 72

Domain renewal rates averaged 72% for .com in 2023.

Statistic 73

Global domains grew 1% to 355 million in H1 2023.

Statistic 74

.XYZ saw 4.5 million registrations by Q4 2023.

Statistic 75

Total TLDs now number over 1,500 active extensions in 2024.

Statistic 76

.IO registrations doubled to 1.2 million since 2020.

Statistic 77

.COM added 1.1 million net new registrations in 2023.

Statistic 78

ccTLD growth rate outpaced gTLDs at 1.8% YoY in 2023.

Statistic 79

Parked domains estimated at 20% of total registrations, or 72 million.

Statistic 80

.NL registrations hit 6.3 million in 2023, up 1.2%.

Statistic 81

Global domain market added 4 million domains in 2023.

Statistic 82

.COM deletion rate was 15.2% in Q4 2023.

Statistic 83

Total active websites using domains: 1.13 billion in 2024.

Statistic 84

.CN registrations reached 20.5 million by end-2023.

Statistic 85

ngTLDs grew 0.5% to 12.8 million in Q1 2024.

Statistic 86

Domain registrars manage 95% of domains through top 10 providers.

Statistic 87

.COM and .NET combined growth: 0.8% in 2023.

Statistic 88

Phishing domains peaked at 1.5 million in Q4 2023.

Statistic 89

85% of malware campaigns use compromised legitimate domains.

Statistic 90

DNS abuse reports: 250,000 in 2023 per ICANN.

Statistic 91

Typosquatting domains: 1 in 10 users mistype .com.

Statistic 92

300,000 domains suspended for spam in 2023 by registrars.

Statistic 93

Brand abuse: 150,000 impersonation domains detected yearly.

Statistic 94

Phishing attacks via domains rose 60% to 5M in 2023.

Statistic 95

92% of websites vulnerable to DNS cache poisoning.

Statistic 96

Trademark disputes (UDRP): 5,200 cases in 2023 at WIPO.

Statistic 97

Malware domains blocked: 2 million by Google Safe Browsing.

Statistic 98

40% of new gTLDs used for malicious purposes initially.

Statistic 99

Domain generation algorithms (DGA) create 10k domains/day.

Statistic 100

SSL/TLS certificates on domains: 80% coverage in 2024.

Statistic 101

Cyber-squatting cases: 4,000 resolved via UDRP annually.

Statistic 102

Fast-flux domains used in 25% of botnets.

Statistic 103

DMARC adoption on domains: only 28% in 2023.

Statistic 104

Ransomware attacks leverage 500 new domains weekly.

Statistic 105

Bulletproof hosting domains: 50,000 registered yearly.

Statistic 106

DNSSEC enabled on 2% of .com domains in 2024.

Statistic 107

Trademark infringement domains: 100,000 taken down in 2023.

Statistic 108

Spam domains ratio: 1 in 200 new registrations.

Statistic 109

Compromised registrar accounts led to 10k domain hijacks.

Statistic 110

AI-generated phishing domains up 150% in 2023.

Statistic 111

.ML free domains host 70% of phishing sites.

Statistic 112

Domain shadowing attacks affected 1M sites in 2023.

Statistic 113

Registry lock adoption: 15% of enterprise domains.

Statistic 114

Botnet C2 domains: 20,000 unique per month.

Statistic 115

Email spoofing prevented on 60% domains with SPF.

Statistic 116

500k domains flagged malicious by VirusTotal daily.

Statistic 117

URS proceedings: 1,200 cases for ngTLDs in 2023.

Statistic 118

DDoS via DNS amplification: 30% of attacks use domains.

Statistic 119

75% of breaches start with domain compromise.

Statistic 120

.COM holds 50.3% market share among gTLDs in 2024.

Statistic 121

.DE is the largest ccTLD with 17.4 million domains as of 2024.

Statistic 122

.XYZ overtook .TOP as second-largest ngTLD with 4.6 million registrations.

Statistic 123

.TK (free domain) has 25 million registrations but low active use.

Statistic 124

.ORG registrations stable at 10.8 million in Q1 2024.

Statistic 125

.INFO holds 3.2 million domains, down 1% YoY.

Statistic 126

.ME ccTLD reached 1.1 million registrations in 2023.

Statistic 127

.CLUB ngTLD has 1.5 million domains registered globally.

Statistic 128

.RU registrations at 6.1 million, largest in Eastern Europe.

Statistic 129

.AU grew to 3.7 million domains in 2023.

Statistic 130

.VIP ngTLD surpassed 800,000 registrations by 2024.

Statistic 131

.SITE has 1.9 million domains, popular for portfolios.

Statistic 132

.ONLINE ngTLD leads with 3.4 million registrations.

Statistic 133

.STORE e-commerce TLD at 2.1 million domains.

Statistic 134

.APP security-focused TLD has 250,000 registrations.

Statistic 135

.DEV developer TLD reached 180,000 domains in 2023.

Statistic 136

.IO popular for tech, 1.5 million registrations total.

Statistic 137

.CO alternative to .COM, 2.3 million domains.

Statistic 138

.NET legacy TLD at 13.4 million registrations.

Statistic 139

.BIZ has 3.1 million domains, business focus.

Statistic 140

.CC (Cocos Islands) abused TLD with 2.7 million regs.

Statistic 141

.GAAustralia TLD .AU at 920,000 .com.au subs.

Statistic 142

.FR registrations 3.4 million in France 2023.

Statistic 143

.IT Italy TLD 3.5 million domains active.

Statistic 144

.BR Brazil ccTLD 5.2 million registrations.

Statistic 145

.XYZ market share among ngTLDs: 12.5%.

1/145

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With over 1,500 extensions now fighting for attention in a digital universe of more than 360 million domain names, the choices—and opportunities—for securing your online identity have never been more dynamic or consequential.

Key Takeaways

In Q4 2023, the total number of registered domain names across all top-level domains (TLDs) reached 362.3 million, reflecting a 1.2% year-over-year increase.
Globally, .com and .net domains totaled 158.5 million registrations as of Q1 2024, up 0.7% from the previous quarter.
The number of gTLD registrations excluding .com, .net, and .ngTLDs stood at 35.4 million in Q2 2023.
.COM holds 50.3% market share among gTLDs in 2024.
.DE is the largest ccTLD with 17.4 million domains as of 2024.
.XYZ overtook .TOP as second-largest ngTLD with 4.6 million registrations.
.COM average retail price $12.99/year in 2024.
Highest domain sale: Voice.com for $30 million in 2019.
Average .COM aftermarket sale price: $2,500 in 2023.
Phishing domains peaked at 1.5 million in Q4 2023.
85% of malware campaigns use compromised legitimate domains.
DNS abuse reports: 250,000 in 2023 per ICANN.
65% of Fortune 500 use custom domains for email.
48% of websites use .com domains in 2024.
Small businesses own 30 million domains globally.

Domain registrations grew to over 360 million globally in 2023.

Demographic and Usage Trends

65% of Fortune 500 use custom domains for email.
48% of websites use .com domains in 2024.
Small businesses own 30 million domains globally.
E-commerce sites: 25% on .com, 15% ccTLDs.
Tech startups prefer .IO: 20% usage rate.
Average domain age for top 1M sites: 8.5 years.
52% domains renewed for 1 year, 30% multi-year.
US holds 25% of global domain registrations.
Mobile traffic to domains: 60% of total visits.
Enterprise domains average 500 per company.
Non-profits use .ORG: 80% preference rate.
Gaming sites 40% on ngTLDs like .GG.
Average website has 2.5 domains (aliases).
China users prefer .CN: 90% local sites.
Freelancers own 15 million personal domains.
Top 10k sites renew 95% of domains annually.
Women-owned businesses: 12% domain ownership share.
Emerging markets ccTLD growth: 3% YoY.
Blogs 70% on .com or WordPress.com subs.
Average user visits 5 new domains daily.
SaaS companies use 10+ domains per product.
Educational sites: 50% .EDU, rest ccTLDs.
Social media domains traffic: 40% global web.
Domain portfolio size avg for investors: 1,200.
HTTPS usage on domains: 85% in top 10M sites.
Regional preference: Europe 60% ccTLDs.
News sites 90% on legacy TLDs (.com/.net).

Demographic and Usage Trends Interpretation

The internet’s real estate is a story of power, profit, and habit: Fortune 500 companies command with custom addresses while small businesses and freelancers carve out their own corners, yet everyone still obsesses over the .com while navigating a world where the average person visits five new domains a day and a single company might manage a small village of them.

Domain Aftermarket and Sales

.COM average retail price $12.99/year in 2024.
Highest domain sale: Voice.com for $30 million in 2019.
Average .COM aftermarket sale price: $2,500 in 2023.
GoDaddy Auctions sold 45,000 domains in 2023, avg $1,200.
Premium .COM domains average $8,500 at Sedo in Q1 2024.
.IO domains sold for avg $3,000 in 2023 aftermarket.
Total domain sales volume: $200 million in 2023 per NameBio.
Cars.com sold for $872 million in 2015, record cash deal.
NFT-related domains peaked sales at $500k avg in 2021.
.XYZ aftermarket avg sale $1,800 in 2023.
Sedo reported 12,000 sales totaling $85 million in 2023.
Flippa domain marketplace avg price $2,200 per sale 2024.
Voice.com remains top sale, $30M to Block.one.
360.com sold for $17 million in 2015 to Qihoo.
Crypto domain sales surged 300% in 2021 to $50M total.
Average wholesale .COM price dropped to $8.17 in 2023.
GoDaddy sold 78 million domains lifetime, many flipped.
.APP domains premium sales avg $5,000 in 2023.
Afternic network facilitated 150,000 sales in 2023.
Sex.com historical sale $13M in 2010.
Domain flipping ROI average 45% for short-term holders.
Premium ngTLD sales totaled $20M in 2023.
LasVegas.com sold for $90 million equivalent value.
.COM hand-registrations cost avg $10.50 at Namecheap.
Undeveloped.com portfolio sales hit $10M annually.
Dynadot auction avg bid $1,100 per domain 2024.
AI-related domains sold avg $10k in Q1 2024.
10,000+ domains sold weekly on major platforms.
Business.com $345M sale in 2007, inflation-adjusted $500M.

Domain Aftermarket and Sales Interpretation

The digital real estate market is a land of staggering extremes, where you can pay $12.99 for a vacant lot next door to a $30 million penthouse, but the real money is in knowing exactly which plot the next gold rush will start on.

Registration and Growth

In Q4 2023, the total number of registered domain names across all top-level domains (TLDs) reached 362.3 million, reflecting a 1.2% year-over-year increase.
Globally, .com and .net domains totaled 158.5 million registrations as of Q1 2024, up 0.7% from the previous quarter.
The number of gTLD registrations excluding .com, .net, and .ngTLDs stood at 35.4 million in Q2 2023.
Country code TLD (ccTLD) registrations grew by 1.1% to 135.8 million domains in 2023.
New .com registrations hit 8.2 million in Q4 2023, the highest quarterly figure since Q1 2022.
Total domain registrations surpassed 360 million in mid-2023, driven by emerging markets.
.DE ccTLD led with 17.5 million registrations as of 2023, up 2% YoY.
Global domain registrations increased by 0.9% in 2022 to 348.7 million.
.COM domains accounted for 44% of all TLD registrations in 2023.
Active domain names (excluding parked) estimated at 250 million in 2024.
.COM registrations grew 1.5% YoY to 156.8 million in Q3 2023.
ccTLDs represented 37.5% of total registrations in 2023.
New gTLD registrations stabilized at 35 million after peaking at 37 million in 2021.
Total domains under management reached 361 million by end of 2023.
.UK registrations exceeded 10.9 million in 2023, growth of 0.5%.
Domain renewal rates averaged 72% for .com in 2023.
Global domains grew 1% to 355 million in H1 2023.
.XYZ saw 4.5 million registrations by Q4 2023.
Total TLDs now number over 1,500 active extensions in 2024.
.IO registrations doubled to 1.2 million since 2020.
.COM added 1.1 million net new registrations in 2023.
ccTLD growth rate outpaced gTLDs at 1.8% YoY in 2023.
Parked domains estimated at 20% of total registrations, or 72 million.
.NL registrations hit 6.3 million in 2023, up 1.2%.
Global domain market added 4 million domains in 2023.
.COM deletion rate was 15.2% in Q4 2023.
Total active websites using domains: 1.13 billion in 2024.
.CN registrations reached 20.5 million by end-2023.
ngTLDs grew 0.5% to 12.8 million in Q1 2024.
Domain registrars manage 95% of domains through top 10 providers.
.COM and .NET combined growth: 0.8% in 2023.

Registration and Growth Interpretation

While the internet's real estate market continues its steady, unglamorous expansion—led by the ever-dominant .com—the true story lies in the bustling activity of ccTLDs and the surprising resilience of newcomers like .io, proving that even in a mature digital landscape, there's always room for new neighborhoods to flourish.

Security and Cybersecurity

Phishing domains peaked at 1.5 million in Q4 2023.
85% of malware campaigns use compromised legitimate domains.
DNS abuse reports: 250,000 in 2023 per ICANN.
Typosquatting domains: 1 in 10 users mistype .com.
300,000 domains suspended for spam in 2023 by registrars.
Brand abuse: 150,000 impersonation domains detected yearly.
Phishing attacks via domains rose 60% to 5M in 2023.
92% of websites vulnerable to DNS cache poisoning.
Trademark disputes (UDRP): 5,200 cases in 2023 at WIPO.
Malware domains blocked: 2 million by Google Safe Browsing.
40% of new gTLDs used for malicious purposes initially.
Domain generation algorithms (DGA) create 10k domains/day.
SSL/TLS certificates on domains: 80% coverage in 2024.
Cyber-squatting cases: 4,000 resolved via UDRP annually.
Fast-flux domains used in 25% of botnets.
DMARC adoption on domains: only 28% in 2023.
Ransomware attacks leverage 500 new domains weekly.
Bulletproof hosting domains: 50,000 registered yearly.
DNSSEC enabled on 2% of .com domains in 2024.
Trademark infringement domains: 100,000 taken down in 2023.
Spam domains ratio: 1 in 200 new registrations.
Compromised registrar accounts led to 10k domain hijacks.
AI-generated phishing domains up 150% in 2023.
.ML free domains host 70% of phishing sites.
Domain shadowing attacks affected 1M sites in 2023.
Registry lock adoption: 15% of enterprise domains.
Botnet C2 domains: 20,000 unique per month.
Email spoofing prevented on 60% domains with SPF.
500k domains flagged malicious by VirusTotal daily.
URS proceedings: 1,200 cases for ngTLDs in 2023.
DDoS via DNS amplification: 30% of attacks use domains.
75% of breaches start with domain compromise.

Security and Cybersecurity Interpretation

The internet’s address book has become a cheat sheet for criminals, where typos, impersonations, and neglected security turn the simple act of typing a domain name into a high-stakes game of chance.

Top Level Domains

.COM holds 50.3% market share among gTLDs in 2024.
.DE is the largest ccTLD with 17.4 million domains as of 2024.
.XYZ overtook .TOP as second-largest ngTLD with 4.6 million registrations.
.TK (free domain) has 25 million registrations but low active use.
.ORG registrations stable at 10.8 million in Q1 2024.
.INFO holds 3.2 million domains, down 1% YoY.
.ME ccTLD reached 1.1 million registrations in 2023.
.CLUB ngTLD has 1.5 million domains registered globally.
.RU registrations at 6.1 million, largest in Eastern Europe.
.AU grew to 3.7 million domains in 2023.
.VIP ngTLD surpassed 800,000 registrations by 2024.
.SITE has 1.9 million domains, popular for portfolios.
.ONLINE ngTLD leads with 3.4 million registrations.
.STORE e-commerce TLD at 2.1 million domains.
.APP security-focused TLD has 250,000 registrations.
.DEV developer TLD reached 180,000 domains in 2023.
.IO popular for tech, 1.5 million registrations total.
.CO alternative to .COM, 2.3 million domains.
.NET legacy TLD at 13.4 million registrations.
.BIZ has 3.1 million domains, business focus.
.CC (Cocos Islands) abused TLD with 2.7 million regs.
.GAAustralia TLD .AU at 920,000 .com.au subs.
.FR registrations 3.4 million in France 2023.
.IT Italy TLD 3.5 million domains active.
.BR Brazil ccTLD 5.2 million registrations.
.XYZ market share among ngTLDs: 12.5%.

Top Level Domains Interpretation

.COM remains the undeniable king of the internet hill, while .DE reigns over its national peers and .XYZ ascends the new extension ranks, proving that even in a crowded digital neighborhood, some addresses still hold more prestige than others.

Sources & References

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