Despite the relentless churn of the internet, the domain name landscape quietly reached a record-breaking 362.3 million registrations in 2023, a testament to its foundational role in our digital lives.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, the total number of registered domain names across all TLDs reached 362.3 million, marking a 0.8% increase from 2022
- As of Q4 2023, .com and .net domains totaled 156.8 million registrations, up 0.7% year-over-year
- Generic TLDs (gTLDs) excluding .com/.net grew to 35.4 million domains by end of 2023, a 2.1% rise
- .com holds 43% market share of all domains in 2023
- .tk commands 8.3% of global domain registrations in 2023
- ccTLDs represent 47% of total domains registered worldwide in 2023
- Global domain registrations grew 1.2% YoY in 2023, slowest pace since 2017
- .com TLD renewals dropped to 74.5% rate in Q4 2023
- New gTLDs saw 4.5% growth in 2023 vs 1% for legacy gTLDs
- Domain phishing attacks rose 25% to 1.2 million incidents in 2023
- Malware domains blocked totaled 15 million by DNS services in 2023
- 8.4% of new domains classified as malicious in Q4 2023
- Global domain industry generated $4.5 billion revenue in 2023
- .com TLD alone worth $2.1 billion annually in 2023 fees
- Aftermarket domain sales totaled $210 million in 2023
Global domain registrations grew slowly in 2023, reaching a record 362 million total.
Economic Impact
- Global domain industry generated $4.5 billion revenue in 2023
- .com TLD alone worth $2.1 billion annually in 2023 fees
- Aftermarket domain sales totaled $210 million in 2023
- Registrar services market valued at $3.2 billion globally 2023
- Premium domain auctions averaged $50k per sale top tier 2023
- Web hosting bundled with domains: $1.8B revenue 2023
- DNS services market hit $1.5B driven by domain traffic 2023
- ICANN fees from domains: $150M collected in 2023
- GoDaddy revenue from domains: $1.2B in FY2023
- Verisign .com/.net revenue up 0.5% to $1.5B in 2023
- New gTLD registry fees generated $400M in 2023
- Domain privacy services add-on revenue: $300M 2023
- ccTLD economic contribution: $1B across Europe 2023
- Job creation in domain industry: 50,000 direct jobs 2023
- Average domain value in portfolio: $15 for investors 2023
- EPP protocol transactions: 500M processed costing $50M 2023
- WHOIS query infrastructure spend: $200M globally 2023
- Domain escrow services fees: $25M in 2023 transactions
- Legal disputes under UDRP: 5,000 cases costing $10M 2023
Economic Impact Interpretation
While this $4.5 billion digital real estate market proves we're all still paying a surprisingly steep rent just to have an address on the internet, the real estate agents, lawyers, and security guards are making a pretty penny too.
Market Trends
- Global domain registrations grew 1.2% YoY in 2023, slowest pace since 2017
- .com TLD renewals dropped to 74.5% rate in Q4 2023
- New gTLDs saw 4.5% growth in 2023 vs 1% for legacy gTLDs
- Domain aftermarket sales volume increased 15% in 2023 to $200M
- Average domain registration price rose 3% to $10.50 in 2023
- ccTLD growth accelerated to 1.5% in H2 2023
- Premium domain sales hit record $150M in 2023 auctions
- .com deletions reached 28.5 million in 2023, 18% renewal rate drop
- Hand-registration drop-catching market valued at $50M in 2023
- AI-driven domain generation tools boosted registrations 20% in 2023
- Domain flipping profits averaged 300% ROI for top 10% investors 2023
- Web3 domains (.crypto, .nft) grew 50% to 2M in 2023
- Registrar market consolidation: top 10 control 80% in 2023
- GoDaddy held 31% gTLD market share end-2023
- Porkbun registrar registrations up 40% to 3M domains 2023
- Dynadot grew 25% in new gTLDs to 1.5M 2023
- Namecheap overtook 1&1 as #4 registrar with 18M domains 2023
- Alibaba Cloud registrar share doubled to 5% in Asia 2023
- IONOS registrar stable at 4M domains despite acquisitions 2023
- Tucows shed 500k domains post-GoDaddy sale in 2023
- Newfold Digital (Bluehost/WP) at 12M domains end-2023
Market Trends Interpretation
The domain market in 2023 felt like a cautious gambler hedging their bets, with stalwart .com showing fatigue while speculative AI and Web3 names surged, the aftermarket boomed, and scrappy registrars scrambled for position as the giants tightened their grip.
Registration Numbers
- In 2023, the total number of registered domain names across all TLDs reached 362.3 million, marking a 0.8% increase from 2022
- As of Q4 2023, .com and .net domains totaled 156.8 million registrations, up 0.7% year-over-year
- Generic TLDs (gTLDs) excluding .com/.net grew to 35.4 million domains by end of 2023, a 2.1% rise
- Country code TLDs (ccTLDs) accounted for 170.1 million registrations in 2023, with a 0.9% growth rate
- .tk registrations surged to over 30 million in 2023, making it the largest ccTLD by volume
- Total domain registrations hit a record 361.1 million in Q2 2023, per SIDN report
- .de overtook .cn as the largest ccTLD with 17.5 million domains in 2023
- New gTLD registrations reached 38.2 million by mid-2023, up 5% from prior year
- .com added 1.4 million net new registrations in 2023
- Total active domains excluding IDNs stood at 350 million in 2022, per ZookNIC
- .xyz registrations exceeded 4.5 million in 2023, driven by blockchain projects
- .online gTLD grew to 3.8 million domains by Q4 2023
- Global domain market added 2.8 million domains in Q1 2023
- .shop TLD reached 2.1 million registrations in 2023
- .app domains totaled 1.2 million by end-2023, focused on mobile apps
- .io ccTLD registrations hit 1.9 million in 2023, popular in tech
- .co registrations stood at 2.3 million in 2023
- .me TLD had 320,000 domains in 2023
- .club gTLD registrations at 1.5 million end-2023
- .site reached 2.9 million domains in 2023
- .top TLD had 3.6 million registrations by Q4 2023
- .org domains totaled 10.5 million in 2023, stable growth
- .info at 3.2 million domains end-2023
- .biz registrations 3.1 million in 2023
- .uk ccTLD at 11.2 million domains in 2023
- .cn dropped to 20.3 million from peak due to regulations
- .nl registrations 6.4 million stable in 2023
- .au grew to 3.5 million domains in 2023
- .fr at 3.7 million end-2023
- .jp registrations 3.9 million in 2023
Registration Numbers Interpretation
Despite the internet's endless frontiers feeling increasingly crowded, with .tk bizarrely becoming the digital world's most populous territory and everyone clamoring for a .io or .xyz, the domain kingdom still managed a modest, empire-wide growth of less than 1%, proving that even in a land grab, the law of diminishing returns applies.
Security Incidents
- Domain phishing attacks rose 25% to 1.2 million incidents in 2023
- Malware domains blocked totaled 15 million by DNS services in 2023
- 8.4% of new domains classified as malicious in Q4 2023
- Domain hijackings reported up 40% to 2,500 cases in 2023
- Phishing sites using compromised legit domains: 65% in 2023
- DGA-generated domains detected: 10 million unique in 2023
- Typosquatting domains active: 1.1 million targeting top 1k brands 2023
- RDP brute-force via domains led to 500k breaches in 2023
- Certificate transparency logs abused for 20k rogue domains 2023
- Fast-flux domains used in 30% of botnet C2 in 2023
- Homoglyph attacks via IDN domains: 150k instances 2023
- DNS tunneling via domains exfiltrated 10TB data in 2023
- 4.2 million domains suspended for abuse by registrars 2023
- Spam domains generated 45% of email spam in 2023
- Bulletproof hosting domains: 50k active in 2023
- Registry takedowns: 300k malicious domains removed 2023
- .tk hosted 40% of free phishing domains in 2023
- .ru ccTLD malware share doubled to 15% in 2023
- New gTLD abuse rate 12% higher than legacy in 2023
- Registrar compliance suspensions: 1,200 actions by ICANN 2023
- Domain shadow banning affected 5% of legit sites 2023
Security Incidents Interpretation
In 2023, the internet's so-called "domain" of safety was relentlessly ambushed, with every statistic reading like a disgruntled cybercriminal's "to-do" list cleverly disguised as a progress report.
TLD Usage
- .com holds 43% market share of all domains in 2023
- .tk commands 8.3% of global domain registrations in 2023
- ccTLDs represent 47% of total domains registered worldwide in 2023
- New gTLDs account for 10% of total gTLD market in 2023
- .de holds 4.8% share among ccTLDs in 2023
- .net comprises 3.2% of legacy gTLDs in 2023
- .org at 2.9% of total gTLD registrations end-2023
- .xyz is the top new gTLD with 1.2% market share in 2023
- .cn retains 5.6% of global ccTLD share despite decline
- .uk at 3.1% of all domains in 2023
- .online gTLD holds 1.0% of new gTLDs in 2023
- .top represents 0.9% of total domains end-2023
- .site at 0.8% market penetration in new gTLDs 2023
- .shop comprises 0.6% of e-commerce related domains in 2023
- .io popular in tech with 0.5% share among startups 2023
- .club at 0.4% of community TLDs in 2023
- .app holds 0.3% of mobile-focused domains end-2023
- .co at 0.6% alternative to .com in 2023
- .me TLD 0.09% share, personal branding focus 2023
- .info legacy gTLD at 0.9% share 2023
- .biz 0.8% of business TLDs end-2023
- .nl ccTLD 1.8% European share 2023
- .au 1.0% Oceania domains 2023
- .fr 1.0% share in Europe 2023
- .jp 1.1% Asia-Pacific ccTLD share 2023
- .nl 1.8% of total European domains 2023
TLD Usage Interpretation
The internet's domain landscape is a fascinating empire where .com reigns supreme with a massive 43% crown, propped up by a sprawling feudal system of ccTLDs and a few ambitious new gTLD upstarts trying to carve out their own tiny, often hilariously specific, duchies.
Sources & References
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