While email may seem like digital relic, with over 4.3 billion people worldwide hitting 'refresh' daily, it remains the beating heart of our personal and professional communication.
Key Takeaways
- As of 2023, there are approximately 4.3 billion email users worldwide, representing over 54% of the global population.
- In 2022, the United States had 213.6 million email users aged 14 and above.
- Email accounts are expected to reach 4.6 billion by 2025.
- 54% of email users are between 25 and 44 years old globally.
- Women account for 52% of email users in the US.
- In India, 65% of email users are under 35 years old.
- 72% of users aged 18-24 check email multiple times daily.
- The average user checks email 15 times per day.
- 99% of consumers check their email daily.
- Mobile devices account for 46% of email opens.
- Apple Mail holds 51.9% market share among email clients on iOS.
- Gmail dominates with 46% of email client usage globally.
- Average email open rate across industries is 21.33%.
- Click-through rate for emails averages 2.62%.
- 45% of recipients open emails based on subject line alone.
Email users are growing globally, and most people check their messages daily.
Demographics
- 54% of email users are between 25 and 44 years old globally.
- Women account for 52% of email users in the US.
- In India, 65% of email users are under 35 years old.
- 61% of email users in Europe are aged 35-54.
- Millennials (born 1981-1996) make up 40% of active email users.
- 60% of users aged 45-54 are primary email decision makers.
- In China, 80% of email users are urban dwellers.
- Gen Z (18-24) represents 22% of email opens.
- Males comprise 51% of business email users.
- 68% of seniors (65+) check email weekly.
- 56% of users 25-34 are heavy emailers.
- Africa has 250 million email users growing fast.
- 55% female email users in retail sector.
- Boomers (55-64) 28% of email traffic.
- Rural users 40% less likely to use email daily.
- 50% of users 18-24 prefer mobile-first email.
- Latin America 400 million users.
- 53% male in tech email users.
- Silent Gen (75+) 12% adoption.
- Income >$100k correlates 75% daily use.
Demographics Interpretation
Email users are a global choir of distinct voices, revealing that while millennials might be the busiest conductors and seniors the most loyal attendees, the inbox truly belongs to a complex cast where youth dominates in some theaters and experience holds the gavel in others.
Device and Client Usage
- Mobile devices account for 46% of email opens.
- Apple Mail holds 51.9% market share among email clients on iOS.
- Gmail dominates with 46% of email client usage globally.
- 55% of emails are opened on mobile devices in the US.
- Outlook has 10% market share in desktop email clients.
- iPhone users open 52% of emails on mobile.
- Android Gmail app has 35% open share.
- Desktop clients used by 41% for opens.
- Safari email client share is 12% on mobile.
- 64% of B2C emails opened on mobile.
- Webmail used by 38% for desktop opens.
- Outlook mobile 8% share.
- Tablet opens 13% of total.
- Chrome webmail 15% usage.
- Cross-device opens consistent at 65% mobile.
- Yahoo Mail 4% client share.
- Apple devices 60% mobile opens.
- Windows Outlook 9% desktop.
- Firefox webmail 2%.
- Hybrid device usage 20% opens.
Device and Client Usage Interpretation
In the ongoing email wars, Apple Mail lords over iPhone screens, Gmail reigns globally from both pockets and desks, and while Outlook clings to its corporate corner, the undeniable truth is that we are all slaves to our mobile notifications, with over half of every message being opened on a device small enough to lose between the couch cushions.
Engagement and Behavior
- Average email open rate across industries is 21.33%.
- Click-through rate for emails averages 2.62%.
- 45% of recipients open emails based on subject line alone.
- Spam complaints affect 0.09% of emails sent.
- 48% of users unsubscribe due to irrelevant content.
- B2B email open rate averages 15.14%.
- Subject lines under 60 chars get 26% opens.
- Personalized emails improve opens by 26%.
- 69% of consumers delete unread promotional emails.
- Average unsubscribe rate is 0.48%.
- E-commerce emails 24% open rate.
- Emojis in subject boost opens 45%.
- Time-specific sends peak at 8 AM 24% opens.
- 78% mark as spam if no unsubscribe link.
- Forward rates average 1.2%.
- Newsletter opens 28% average.
- Mobile-optimized boost clicks 15%.
- Tuesday sends highest 22% opens.
- 92% check spam folder weekly.
- Bounce rate averages 1.5%.
Engagement and Behavior Interpretation
Despite email marketing's delicate dance where subject lines are the seductive opener and relevance is the lasting charm, the sobering truth is that nearly half of users will ghost you if you don't actually know them.
Market Penetration
- Email penetration rate is 96% among internet users.
- 91% of B2B organizations use email as primary customer channel.
- In the UK, 85% of adults use email daily.
- Brazil has 150 million email users, 70% of population.
- Email accounts for 124.5 emails/user/day globally.
- 89% of marketers say email ROI positive.
- 59% of consumers prefer email for promotions.
- Email list size grew 30% for SMBs in 2022.
- 4 in 5 consumers check email for info.
- Email drives 20% of e-commerce purchases.
- 97% of businesses use email marketing.
- Open rates declined 2% in 2022.
- 64% prefer email over social for deals.
- 4x ROI for segmented email lists.
- 95% retailers send email campaigns.
- CTR improved 5% with AMP.
- 73% say email best for updates.
Market Penetration Interpretation
Email is the internet's steadfast, slightly ignored workhorse, quietly feeding 20% of e-commerce carts, delighting ROI-obsessed marketers, and stubbornly remaining the channel where most of the world, from Brazilian consumers to British adults, prefers to be spoken to directly, even if they open the message a fraction less often.
Market Size and Growth
- As of 2023, there are approximately 4.3 billion email users worldwide, representing over 54% of the global population.
- In 2022, the United States had 213.6 million email users aged 14 and above.
- Email accounts are expected to reach 4.6 billion by 2025.
- By 2026, there will be over 347 billion daily emails sent globally.
- The average office worker receives 121 emails per day.
- Global email users grew by 3.4% from 2021 to 2022.
- By 2025, daily email traffic to hit 376.4 billion.
- US email users increased to 214 million in 2023.
- Asia-Pacific region has 2.1 billion email users.
- Average email user has 1.8 accounts.
- Global email volume up 4.3% YoY in 2023.
- Projected 4.89 billion users by 2027.
- Consumer emails/day average 107.
- Enterprise email storage averages 107 GB/user.
- Email users to grow 1.3% annually to 2026.
- 50.1% of emails promotional in 2023.
- Workers send 40 emails/day avg.
- Spam volume 50% of total emails.
- Daily emails to reach 392.5B by 2026.
- Email marketing spend $17B in 2023.
- 14.5 emails/user/day business.
- Phishing emails 3.4B daily.
Market Size and Growth Interpretation
If we ever truly achieved global democracy, it might ironically be through a chain of "reply-all" emails, given that over half of humanity now has an inbox, receives over a hundred messages a day, and collectively drowns in nearly 400 billion daily dispatches, half of which are spam and a concerning portion of which are phishing attempts.
Usage Frequency
- 72% of users aged 18-24 check email multiple times daily.
- The average user checks email 15 times per day.
- 99% of consumers check their email daily.
- Office workers spend 28% of their workday on email.
- 47% of users check email within 5 minutes of waking up.
- Users check email 20 times/day on average in offices.
- 74% of smartphone users access email daily.
- Weekend email checks drop to 8 times per user.
- 30% of users never delete emails.
- Average session time on email apps is 4 minutes.
- 81% of users aged 30-49 use mobile email.
- 25% check email every hour at work.
- Vacation email checks average 5/day.
- 60% report email addiction symptoms.
- App notifications boost checks by 40%.
- 77% of 50-64 yo check email 10+ times/day.
- 35% check email before bed.
- Push notifications increase opens 30%.
- 52% say email interrupts workflow.
- Average daily time 2.5 hours on email.
Usage Frequency Interpretation
It seems humanity has officially swapped the morning stretch for an inbox refresh, as we've collectively pledged nearly a third of our workdays to an endless scroll of digital correspondence, a compulsion so strong that over half of us admit it's disrupting our actual jobs yet we still check it before our first conscious thought and after our last.
Sources & References
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