Email open rates shift by device, email client, and audience sector—so one benchmark won’t tell the whole story. Mobile engagement rose from 48% in 2022 to 52% in 2023, while desktop results vary (Gmail averaged 35.67% open rates in 2023, and Outlook was 28.14% for B2B). We’ll also examine what drives opens, from subject-line tactics to send timing and seasonality.
Key Takeaways
- Mobile open rates grew from 48% in 2022 to 52% in 2023
- Apple Mail app captured 52.3% of mobile opens in 2023
- Gmail open rates on desktop averaged 35.67% in 2023
- The global average email open rate across all industries in 2023 was 21.33%
- In the US, the average email open rate for marketing campaigns in 2023 stood at 34.23%
- Nonprofits achieved an average email open rate of 29.26% in 2023 quarterly benchmarks
- Retail industry average email open rate was 15.68% in Q1 2023
- Healthcare sector open rate averaged 23.45% for newsletters in 2023
- Ecommerce open rates hit 14.23% average in Black Friday 2023 campaigns
- Emails with personalized subject lines saw 26% higher open rates
- Emojis in subject lines boosted opens by 45% on average in 2023
- Short subject lines (under 50 chars) had 12% higher open rates
- B2B email open rates increased by 2.3% from 2022 to 2023
- Open rates for promotional emails dropped 1.5% YoY in Q1 2023 vs 2022
- Holiday season open rates peaked at 22.1% in December 2023 vs 18.4% in January
In 2023, mobile and well timed, personalized subject lines drove higher email opens, averaging 21.33%.
Related reading
01 · Category
Device And Client Stats22 stats
01
Mobile open rates grew from 48% in 2022 to 52% in 2023
02
Apple Mail app captured 52.3% of mobile opens in 2023
03
Gmail open rates on desktop averaged 35.67% in 2023
04
Outlook desktop clients saw 28.14% open rates in B2B 2023
05
Android device open rates were 14.2% lower than iOS in 2023
06
Webmail clients accounted for 55.8% of all opens in 2023
07
iOS Mail app open rate share was 38.9% of mobile traffic in 2023
08
Desktop Gmail opens declined 5.2% YoY in 2023
09
Samsung Mail app had 12.4% of Android opens in 2023 Q4
10
Mobile opens 2021: 48%, 2022: 50.2%, 2023: 52.14%
11
Desktop share 2023: 40.23%, down from 45% in 2022
12
Gmail total opens 2023: 42.5% market share
13
Apple Mail mobile: 52.3% of iOS opens, Android Gmail: 28.1%
14
Outlook opens B2B: 28.14%, consumer: 15.2%
15
Webmail 2023: 55.8% vs app opens 44.2%
16
iPhone opens: 28.4% of total mobile, Samsung: 12.4%
17
Yahoo Mail opens: 11.2% share, lower rates 16.8%
18
Tablet opens 2023: 7.63% of total, mostly iPad
19
Chrome browser opens desktop: 18.4% share
20
iOS 17 update boosted Apple Mail opens by 3.2%
21
Android webmail opens higher 22.1% vs apps 17.9%
22
ESP-specific: Sendinblue opens 23.4%, avg ESP 21%
Interpretation
Device And Client Stats Interpretation
For Device And Client Stats, mobile usage is clearly gaining ground as open rates rose from 48% in 2022 to 52% in 2023, with Webmail and Apple Mail leading among the clients at 55.8% and 52.3% respectively.
02 · Category
General Benchmarks18 stats
01
The global average email open rate across all industries in 2023 was 21.33%
02
In the US, the average email open rate for marketing campaigns in 2023 stood at 34.23%
03
Nonprofits achieved an average email open rate of 29.26% in 2023 quarterly benchmarks
04
The overall average open rate for transactional emails in 2023 was 45.12%
05
B2C brands saw an average open rate of 20.45% for promotional emails in Q4 2023
06
Average open rate for welcome emails across industries was 50.68% in 2023
07
Global email open rate benchmark for 2022 was 21.5%, down 0.02% from 2021
08
US ecommerce open rates averaged 15.24% in 2023
09
Average open rate for all email types in Canada was 22.67% in 2023
10
UK email marketers reported 18.91% average open rate in 2023
11
Average mobile open rate globally was 52.14% of total opens in 2023
12
Desktop open rates accounted for 40.23% of total opens in 2023 benchmarks
13
Retail Q1 2023 open rate: 15.68%; Q2: 16.2%; Q3: 14.9%; Q4: 18.4%
14
US nonprofits average open rate 2023: 29.26%, Canada: 27.8%
15
Ecommerce transactional emails open rate 2023: 45.12%, promotional: 14.23%
16
B2B software open rate 2023: 29.34%, all B2B avg: 25.1%
17
Welcome series opens: 50.68% email 1, 37.2% email 2
18
Global avg open 2023: 21.33%, APAC: 19.8%, EMEA: 22.1%
Interpretation
General Benchmarks Interpretation
Under the General Benchmarks lens, email engagement is notably stronger for high-intent messages with transactional emails averaging 45.12% and welcome emails leading across industries at 50.68%, well above the global 21.33% average.
03 · Category
Industry Specific26 stats
01
Retail industry average email open rate was 15.68% in Q1 2023
02
Healthcare sector open rate averaged 23.45% for newsletters in 2023
03
Ecommerce open rates hit 14.23% average in Black Friday 2023 campaigns
04
Education industry newsletters had 28.91% open rate in 2023
05
Real estate emails opened at 19.67% average rate in 2023
06
Travel industry open rate was 17.82% for promotional emails in 2023
07
Finance sector achieved 20.15% open rate for B2B emails in 2023
08
Software/SaaS open rates averaged 29.34% in 2023
09
Food & Beverage emails had 16.45% open rate in Q3 2023
10
Media & Entertainment open rate benchmark was 21.78% in 2023
11
Education open rates 2023: newsletters 28.91%, course promos 24.5%
12
Healthcare patient newsletters: 23.45% opens, appts reminders: 48.2%
13
Travel promo emails 2023: 17.82%, loyalty: 32.1%
14
Real estate listings emails: 19.67% opens, market updates: 26.3%
15
Finance alerts: 38.9% opens, newsletters: 20.15%
16
Food & Bev promo: 16.45%, recipes: 29.7%
17
Media newsletters: 21.78%, event invites: 34.2%
18
SaaS product updates: 31.4% opens, upsell: 22.8%
19
Retail industry open rate averaged 17.2% across 2023 campaigns
20
B2B tech sector open rates reached 27.8% in mid-2023
21
Hospitality emails had 18.9% open rates for promotions
22
Automotive newsletters opened at 21.3% average in 2023
23
Non-profit fundraising emails: 31.4% opens
24
Fashion ecommerce: 13.8% promotional open rate 2023
25
Legal services B2B: 24.7% open rates
26
Gaming industry promo emails: 19.2% opens
Interpretation
Industry Specific Interpretation
Across the Industry Specific benchmarks, newsletter and promotional performance varies sharply, with Education leading at 28.91% in 2023 and Retail trailing at 15.68% in Q1 2023, showing why industry-tailored email strategies matter.
More related reading
04 · Category
Influencing Factors22 stats
01
Emails with personalized subject lines saw 26% higher open rates
02
Emojis in subject lines boosted opens by 45% on average in 2023
03
Short subject lines (under 50 chars) had 12% higher open rates
04
Time sent at 10 AM increased opens by 20% vs evenings
05
Segmented lists improved open rates by 14.31% in 2023 tests
06
Preview text optimization raised opens by 8.7%
07
Mobile-optimized emails had 15% higher open rates on phones
08
Re-engagement campaigns achieved 35.2% open rates vs 18% standard
09
Numbers in subject lines increased opens by 20% per A/B tests
10
Personalized subjects: 26% lift, non-personalized: baseline 18%
11
Emojis: 45% boost, avg emoji subjects opens 24.3% vs 16.8%
12
10 AM sends: 20% higher than 8 PM (22% vs 18.3%)
13
Segmentation: 14.31% uplift, lists >10k: 12% less effective
14
Preview text >100 chars: 8.7% higher opens
15
Mobile opt: 15% lift on phones, desktop same
16
Numbers in subjects: 20% increase (23.5% vs 19.6%)
17
Re-engagement: 35.2% vs standard 18%, inactive lists 8%
18
Questions in subjects: 22% higher opens than statements
19
Subject urgency words like "now" +18% opens
20
List hygiene: clean lists 29% higher opens
21
A/B testing subjects: winners 15-30% better
22
Video thumbnails in preview: +10% opens
Interpretation
Influencing Factors Interpretation
For the influencing factors angle, the biggest takeaway is that subject line choices matter most since emojis in 2023 boosted open rates by an average of 45% and personalized subject lines followed closely with 26% higher opens.
05 · Category
Time Based Trends20 stats
01
B2B email open rates increased by 2.3% from 2022 to 2023
02
Open rates for promotional emails dropped 1.5% YoY in Q1 2023 vs 2022
03
Holiday season open rates peaked at 22.1% in December 2023 vs 18.4% in January
04
Q4 2023 open rates were 3.2% higher than Q1 across industries
05
From 2021 to 2023, average open rates declined by 0.8% globally
06
Newsletter open rates rose 4.1% in 2023 compared to 2022
07
Post-pandemic open rates stabilized at 21% average in late 2023
08
Early 2023 open rates were 19.5%, rising to 23.2% by year-end
09
Open rates 2020-2023: 22.1%, 21.8%, 21.6%, 21.33%
10
Q1 2023 opens: 19.5%, Q2: 20.8%, Q3: 21.2%, Q4: 23.2%
11
Black Friday opens 2023: 22.1% vs Cyber Monday: 20.8%
12
Newsletter opens 2022: 24.5%, 2023: 28.6% (+4.1%)
13
Promotional drops 2023 vs 2022: -1.5% Q1, +0.8% Q4
14
B2C opens 2023: 20.45%, up 1.2% from 2022 avg
15
Open rates peaked Wednesday 10 AM at 24.1% weekly avg 2023
16
2023 vs 2021: opens down 0.77%, clicks stable
17
Summer 2023 opens 2.1% lower than winter
18
Transactional opens steady 45-48% across 2023 quarters
19
B2B opens Q1 23%: 24.5%, Q4: 27.3%
20
Global opens Jan 2023: 19.2%, Dec: 24.5% (+27.6%)
Interpretation
Time Based Trends Interpretation
Within these time based trends, email engagement appears to be getting more seasonal and uneven, with holiday open rates peaking at 22.1% in December 2023 compared with 18.4% in January and overall average open rates still down 0.8% globally from 2021 to 2023.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Lars Eriksen. (2026, February 13). Email Open Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/email-open-statistics
MLA
Lars Eriksen. "Email Open Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/email-open-statistics.
Chicago
Lars Eriksen. 2026. "Email Open Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/email-open-statistics.
Sources & references
6 sources cited across this report