Gmail alone handles about 1 billion attachments every day, yet 3.6 billion people still rely on email daily for personal and business communication, creating a massive shared surface for both productivity and abuse. Meanwhile, stolen credentials and phishing drive a large share of real breaches, with average phishing campaign costs reaching $1.0 million per company. Let’s break down the latest Mail Industry signals behind spam, malware, webmail habits, and the security and delivery volumes that keep systems under pressure.
Key Takeaways
- 2.8 trillion spam emails were sent per day globally in 2019, according to Symantec (Broad scope estimates of daily spam).
- 16.7% of messages were reported as unsolicited bulk in 2022 in the U.S. (FCC reporting on unwanted communications categories).
- In 2023, 93% of organizations used at least one cloud service for security operations (survey share).
- 3.2% of emails were flagged as malware in 2023 by Google Workspace security reports (percentage of emails).
- 1 in 5 Americans reported they had been victims of phishing or had been tricked by a phishing email in the past 12 months (survey).
- In 2023, 35% of breaches involved the use of stolen credentials (Verizon DBIR credentials data).
- 25.0% of U.S. adults use a web-based email service rather than an email client (survey-based webmail share).
- 4.4 billion people worldwide are expected to use email in 2024
- As of 2023, 3.6 billion individuals used email daily for personal or business communications (consumer usage estimate)
- USPS delivered 43.7 billion packages in FY 2023 (USPS packages metric in FY 2023).
- USPS delivered 129.7 billion pieces of mail in FY 2022 (FY 2022 delivery volume).
- The U.S. Postal Service processed 1.8 billion packages in December 2023 (monthly peak processing volume).
- The average email phishing campaign cost per company was $1.0 million in 2023 (estimated breach cost per phishing).
- Time to contain a breach averaged 73 days in 2023 (IBM data breach study).
- A 2019 study found that 23% of phishing emails included attachments that carried malware
Spam and phishing keep escalating as billions of emails move daily and organizations pour more into security and marketing automation.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends5 stats
01
2.8 trillion spam emails were sent per day globally in 2019, according to Symantec (Broad scope estimates of daily spam).
02
16.7% of messages were reported as unsolicited bulk in 2022 in the U.S. (FCC reporting on unwanted communications categories).
03
In 2023, 93% of organizations used at least one cloud service for security operations (survey share).
04
In 2024, 64% of organizations said they use marketing automation to personalize emails (survey)
05
In 2024, 70% of marketers reported using AI for at least one marketing task (survey)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry trends show that email remains heavily targeted with 2.8 trillion spam emails sent daily in 2019, while organizations increasingly rely on advanced tools to respond, with 93% using cloud security operations in 2023, 64% using marketing automation to personalize emails in 2024, and 70% of marketers leveraging AI for at least one task.
02 · Category
Security & Risk3 stats
01
3.2% of emails were flagged as malware in 2023 by Google Workspace security reports (percentage of emails).
02
1 in 5 Americans reported they had been victims of phishing or had been tricked by a phishing email in the past 12 months (survey).
03
In 2023, 35% of breaches involved the use of stolen credentials (Verizon DBIR credentials data).
Interpretation
Security & Risk Interpretation
For the Security & Risk angle, the data shows that while only 3.2% of emails were flagged as malware in 2023, phishing remains widespread with 1 in 5 Americans reporting they were tricked in the past year and stolen credentials drove 35% of breaches in 2023.
03 · Category
User Adoption3 stats
01
25.0% of U.S. adults use a web-based email service rather than an email client (survey-based webmail share).
02
4.4 billion people worldwide are expected to use email in 2024
03
As of 2023, 3.6 billion individuals used email daily for personal or business communications (consumer usage estimate)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
In the user adoption space, email continues to reach massive scale with 4.4 billion people expected to use it in 2024 and 3.6 billion using it daily as of 2023, while in the US 25.0% of adults already prefer web-based email over traditional email clients.
04 · Category
Market Size10 stats
01
USPS delivered 43.7 billion packages in FY 2023 (USPS packages metric in FY 2023).
02
USPS delivered 129.7 billion pieces of mail in FY 2022 (FY 2022 delivery volume).
03
The U.S. Postal Service processed 1.8 billion packages in December 2023 (monthly peak processing volume).
04
The global email marketing software market was valued at $5.1 billion in 2020 (base year valuation).
05
The global enterprise email security market was valued at $7.7 billion in 2023
06
The global email security market was valued at $8.7 billion in 2022 and forecast to reach $22.0 billion by 2030
07
The global email marketing software market reached $5.4 billion in 2023 (vendor and analyst estimates)
08
The global email marketing services market was valued at $12.8 billion in 2022
09
The global transactional email market size was $6.3 billion in 2023
10
The global marketing automation market was valued at $7.7 billion in 2018
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
Mail-related market demand is expanding across multiple layers, from USPS moving massive volumes like 43.7 billion packages in FY 2023 to email security rising from $8.7 billion in 2022 to a forecast of $22.0 billion by 2030, underscoring how large-scale delivery and growing security spend together shape the market size picture.
More related reading
05 · Category
Cost Analysis2 stats
01
The average email phishing campaign cost per company was $1.0 million in 2023 (estimated breach cost per phishing).
02
Time to contain a breach averaged 73 days in 2023 (IBM data breach study).
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
In the Cost Analysis of mail industry security, phishing breach costs averaged $1.0 million per company in 2023 while it took about 73 days to contain, underscoring how rapidly expenses can escalate during prolonged recovery.
06 · Category
Security & Abuse2 stats
01
A 2019 study found that 23% of phishing emails included attachments that carried malware
02
A 2020 paper reported that phishing kits reduce attacker cost by enabling rapid “drop-in” campaign setup
Interpretation
Security & Abuse Interpretation
From a Security and Abuse perspective, the numbers show that phishing is still dangerous even with only 23% of phishing emails carrying malware attachments in 2019 while 2020 findings suggest phishing kits further scale abuse by cutting attacker setup costs through rapid drop in campaign deployment.
07 · Category
Performance Metrics2 stats
01
In a 2022 study, average time-to-report a phishing email after training was 30 minutes
02
In 2023, Gmail handled an average of 1 billion attachments per day (Google Workspace operational metric reported by a third-party analyst)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance Metrics show that after training people reported phishing emails in just 30 minutes on average in 2022, while by 2023 Gmail was processing about 1 billion attachments per day, indicating both faster response and massive daily throughput in mail operations.
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
Henrik Dahl. (2026, February 13). Mail Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/mail-industry-statistics
MLA
Henrik Dahl. "Mail Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/mail-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Henrik Dahl. 2026. "Mail Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/mail-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
27 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+6 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)