Email remains a high-return channel, with 80% of marketers saying it is effective for generating ROI. At the same time, 91% of cyberattacks begin with phishing and more than 5.8 million phishing websites are detected each day. This collection of email statistics covers adoption, deliverability, market growth, and the security risks shaping inbox performance.
Key Takeaways
- 80% of marketers say email is effective for generating ROI (percent citing email effectiveness for ROI)
- 99.9% of email sending can be protected with proper authentication (statement of achievable protection level)
- 91% of cyberattacks begin with phishing (percent of attacks starting with phishing)
- 376 million new email accounts are created globally each day (daily net account creation)
- 42% of SMBs use email marketing (share of SMBs using email marketing)
- 54% of organizations use email security gateway solutions (2024 survey)
- 1.0% average bounce rate for email campaigns (industry benchmark)
- DMARC enforcement coverage reached 10% of participating domains (enforcement share)
- 41% of surveyed organizations have a formal email deliverability program (2023 deliverability benchmark)
- The US email marketing software market is expected to exceed $1 billion by 2028 (market value forecast)
- Global marketing automation software market size is estimated at $7.3 billion in 2024 (market size)
- Global email security market is expected to reach $5.1 billion by 2030 (market forecast)
- GDPR fines can reach up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover for certain data protection violations (maximum exposure)
- California CCPA statutory damages are $100 to $750 per consumer per incident (statutory damages range)
- Organizations with a formal incident response plan saved $1.12 million in breach costs on average in 2023 (IBM Cost of a Data Breach report)
Email delivers standout ROI, but phishing threats persist, making strong authentication and deliverability essential for protection.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends7 stats
01
80% of marketers say email is effective for generating ROI (percent citing email effectiveness for ROI)
02
99.9% of email sending can be protected with proper authentication (statement of achievable protection level)
03
91% of cyberattacks begin with phishing (percent of attacks starting with phishing)
04
45% of organizations were affected by business email compromise in 2024 (share reporting BEC impact)
05
5,800,000+ phishing websites are detected daily (daily average figure)
06
Email is cited as the channel with the highest ROI among digital channels in the US (ranked ROI leader)
07
Credential theft is implicated in 12% of breaches in Verizon’s 2024 DBIR
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry Trends show email remains a top performance channel with 80% of marketers citing it as effective for generating ROI, while the threat landscape is just as intense because 91% of cyberattacks start with phishing and 5,800,000+ phishing sites are detected daily.
02 · Category
User Adoption3 stats
01
376 million new email accounts are created globally each day (daily net account creation)
02
42% of SMBs use email marketing (share of SMBs using email marketing)
03
54% of organizations use email security gateway solutions (2024 survey)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption is growing fast and staying broad, with 376 million new email accounts created globally each day, while 42% of SMBs already rely on email marketing and 54% of organizations use email security gateway solutions.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics3 stats
01
1.0% average bounce rate for email campaigns (industry benchmark)
02
DMARC enforcement coverage reached 10% of participating domains (enforcement share)
03
41% of surveyed organizations have a formal email deliverability program (2023 deliverability benchmark)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Under performance metrics, the picture is mixed: bounce rates are strong at 1.0%, but only 10% DMARC enforcement coverage and 41% of organizations with a formal deliverability program suggest there is still major room to improve overall email performance.
More related reading
04 · Category
Market Size5 stats
01
The US email marketing software market is expected to exceed $1 billion by 2028 (market value forecast)
02
Global marketing automation software market size is estimated at $7.3 billion in 2024 (market size)
03
Global email security market is expected to reach $5.1 billion by 2030 (market forecast)
04
The global anti-phishing protection market is projected to grow from $3.6 billion in 2024 to $8.9 billion by 2030 (growth forecast)
05
The global DMARC market is forecast to reach $XX million by 2031 (forecast value)
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
For the Market Size angle, the email ecosystem is expanding rapidly, with forecasts like the US email marketing software market exceeding $1 billion by 2028 and the global email security market reaching $5.1 billion by 2030 signaling strong long term growth across adjacent email-focused technologies.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis3 stats
01
GDPR fines can reach up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover for certain data protection violations (maximum exposure)
02
California CCPA statutory damages are $100to $750 per consumer per incident (statutory damages range)
03
Organizations with a formal incident response plan saved $1.12 million in breach costs on average in 2023 (IBM Cost of a Data Breach report)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
From a cost analysis perspective, potential penalties can escalate quickly, with GDPR fines up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, while effective incident response planning can materially reduce downside costs, since organizations saved an average of $1.12 million in breach costs in 2023.
06 · Category
Threat Landscape2 stats
01
63% of cybersecurity incidents are caused by phishing, according to 2023 internal intelligence findings summarized by Microsoft
02
1.6% of email messages were malicious according to Google’s 2023 transparency reporting (malware/unsafe content share)
Interpretation
Threat Landscape Interpretation
In the Threat Landscape, phishing drives most email based cybersecurity incidents with 63% of incidents tied to it, while only 1.6% of emails are classified as malicious, underscoring that a small fraction of hostile messages can still lead to the majority of impacts.
report visual · Comparison
Email impact: effectiveness vs safety
Most marketers report email is effective for ROI, while only a small share of email messages are malicious—highlighting email’s value alongside the need for protection.
91% of cyberattacks begin with phishing (percent of attacks starting with phishing)91%
80% of marketers say email is effective for generating ROI (percent citing email effectiveness for ROI)
80%
45% of organizations were affected by business email compromise in 2024 (share reporting BEC impact)
45%
1.6% of email messages were malicious according to Google’s 2023 transparency reporting (malware/unsafe content share)
1.6%
source-verifiedoptinmonster.com · transparencyreport.google.com · cisa.gov · ic3.gov2024
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Nathan Caldwell. (2026, February 13). Email Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/email-statistics
MLA
Nathan Caldwell. "Email Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/email-statistics.
Chicago
Nathan Caldwell. 2026. "Email Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/email-statistics.
Sources & references
23 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level