Teens in the United States send 167 text messages each day on average. SMS messages achieve a 98 percent open rate worldwide. The following sections detail usage patterns by age group, region, and economic segment.
Key Takeaways
- In the US, millennials send 75 SMS daily on average.
- SMS revenue generated $100 billion globally in 2023.
- In 2023, global SMS traffic reached 5.7 trillion messages annually, marking an 8% increase from 2022.
- In the US, 2.2 trillion SMS messages were sent in 2022.
- SMS volume grew 5% YoY globally from 2022 to 2023.
SMS usage remains steady as businesses rely on it for fast, reliable customer communication.
Related reading
01 · Category
Demographic Statistics22 stats
01
In the US, millennials send 75 SMS daily on average.
02
Globally, 18-24 year olds send 109.5 texts per day.
03
Women send 20% more SMS than men worldwide.
04
65+ age group in US sends only 5 SMS per day.
05
Teens (13-17) in US text 167 times daily.
06
Urban users send 45% more SMS than rural globally.
07
Gen Z prefers SMS for quick responses 78% of time.
08
Males aged 25-34 send longest SMS averaging 145 chars.
09
55% of parents use SMS to communicate with kids daily.
10
Low-income users rely on SMS 60% more than high-income.
11
Hispanic Americans text 25% more than average.
12
Boomers (55-64) have 82% SMS opt-in rate.
13
Students send 85 SMS per day during school hours.
14
Females 18-24 open SMS marketing 15% faster than males.
15
Rural women over 50 send 30% fewer SMS.
16
Gamers use SMS 40 times daily for coordination.
17
Employed adults send 50 SMS work-related daily.
18
LGBTQ+ youth prefer SMS for support 70%.
19
Parents aged 30-44 send 90 SMS to family weekly.
20
African American users text 110 times daily in US.
21
SMS usage among 65+ increased 25% post-2020.
22
College students average 200 SMS per day.
Interpretation
Demographic Statistics Interpretation
The entire social ecosystem hums on the frantic pinging of the young, the urban, and the connected, a digital divide measured in characters per second where a grandparent's five daily texts are a quiet rebellion against silence, and a teen's 167 are a manifesto.
02 · Category
Economic Metrics23 stats
01
SMS revenue generated $100 billion globally in 2023.
02
A2P SMS market valued at $82.9 billion in 2023.
03
Global SMS gateway market size $5.2 billion in 2023.
04
Average cost per SMS globally is $0.015in 2023.
05
Enterprise SMS ROI averages 29:1 globally.
06
SMS marketing generates $8return per $1 spent.
07
Global A2P SMS payments market $45 billion in 2023.
08
US SMS advertising spend $4.5 billion annually.
09
Cost savings from SMS alerts: 80% vs calls.
10
Global SMS platform market CAGR 22% to 2030.
11
Average SMS campaign CTR 19%, vs email 6%.
12
RCS to disrupt SMS market by $10B by 2025.
13
SMS reduces customer service costs 30%.
14
Global bulk SMS service market $15B in 2023.
15
SMS opt-out rate 1.3%, low churn cost.
16
A2P SMS finance sector revenue $20B globally.
17
SMS boosts sales conversion 20-30%.
18
Global SMS fraud losses $1.2B in 2023.
19
CPaaS SMS revenue $25B projected 2025.
20
SMS customer retention cost $0.01per message.
21
Healthcare SMS savings $5B annually worldwide.
22
SMS e-commerce revenue lift 45%.
23
Global SMS resale market $3.8B in 2023.
Interpretation
Economic Metrics Interpretation
While old-fashioned SMS might seem like a digital dinosaur, its $100 billion skeleton is still the surprisingly sturdy and lucrative backbone of a global empire, quietly generating fortunes from finance to healthcare while newer, flashier tech scrambles to catch up.
03 · Category
Global Statistics30 stats
01
In 2023, global SMS traffic reached 5.7 trillion messages annually, marking an 8% increase from 2022.
02
Over 5 billion people worldwide used SMS in 2022, representing 62% of the global population.
03
Daily global SMS volume averaged 15.6 billion messages per day in Q4 2023.
04
SMS open rates globally stand at 98%, compared to 20-30% for email.
05
In 2023, 81% of consumers preferred SMS for two-factor authentication over other methods globally.
06
Global enterprise SMS spending hit $12.5 billion in 2023.
07
4.6 trillion SMS messages were sent globally in 2021 for transactional purposes.
08
Worldwide, SMS accounts for 45% of all mobile messaging traffic as of 2023.
09
Global SMS delivery success rate averaged 99.2% in 2023 across major carriers.
10
In 2022, SMS was used by 90% of mobile subscribers globally for notifications.
11
Global A2P SMS revenue reached $82 billion in 2023.
12
95% of global SMS messages are delivered within 5 seconds on average.
13
In 2023, over 7 trillion SMS/P2P messages were exchanged globally.
14
SMS constitutes 50% of global mobile data traffic for messaging in emerging markets.
15
Global SMS penetration rate hit 95% among mobile users in 2023.
16
3.5 billion active SMS users worldwide as of mid-2023.
17
Global SMS market CAGR projected at 4.2% from 2023-2028.
18
98.5% global SMS read rate within 3 minutes of receipt in 2023.
19
Over 2.4 trillion SMS messages sent monthly worldwide in 2023.
20
SMS accounts for 70% of global two-way messaging volume.
21
Global P2P SMS volume was 4.2 trillion in 2022.
22
92% of global businesses use SMS for customer communication in 2023.
23
Worldwide SMS failure rate dropped to 0.8% in 2023 due to improved networks.
24
Global SMS for banking alerts reached 1.8 trillion messages in 2023.
25
85% of global mobile users send at least one SMS per week.
26
SMS global market size valued at $95 billion in 2023.
27
99% global SMS compatibility across all mobile devices.
28
Global average SMS length is 140-160 characters in 2023.
29
75% of global SMS traffic is A2P in developed markets.
30
Worldwide, 6.1 trillion SMS messages in H1 2023.
Interpretation
Global Statistics Interpretation
Despite the endless parade of shiny new apps, the humble text message remains the stubborn, reliable workhorse of global communication, moving trillions of critical missives with near-perfect certainty while everything else just buzzes impatiently in its pocket.
More related reading
04 · Category
Regional Statistics24 stats
01
In the US, 2.2 trillion SMS messages were sent in 2022.
02
UK SMS usage averaged 40 messages per person per month in 2023.
03
India sent 1.5 trillion SMS messages monthly in 2023.
04
Brazil's A2P SMS volume hit 50 billion messages in 2022.
05
In China, SMS usage declined to 900 billion messages annually by 2023.
06
Germany records 85 SMS per user per month on average in 2023.
07
Australia's SMS traffic was 12 billion messages in 2022.
08
South Africa's P2P SMS volume reached 45 billion in 2023.
09
France sent 25 billion SMS during New Year's Eve 2022-2023.
10
Japan's SMS usage dropped 15% YoY to 300 billion in 2023.
11
Canada's SMS open rate for marketing is 92% in 2023.
12
Mexico's A2P SMS market grew 12% to 80 billion messages in 2023.
13
Nigeria processes 200 million SMS daily in 2023.
14
In the Philippines, 95% of population uses SMS regularly.
15
Italy's SMS volume was 18 billion in Q1 2023.
16
Indonesia sent 400 billion SMS in 2022.
17
Spain averages 50 SMS per user monthly in 2023.
18
Russia's SMS traffic hit 1 trillion in 2023 despite sanctions.
19
In the US, 96% of consumers have SMS enabled on phones.
20
Kenya's SMS for M-Pesa transactions: 1.2 billion monthly.
21
UAE SMS volume per capita is 120 messages monthly.
22
In Saudi Arabia, 70 billion A2P SMS in 2023.
23
Turkey sent 250 billion SMS in 2022.
24
Argentina's SMS usage: 30 billion annually in 2023.
Interpretation
Regional Statistics Interpretation
While the world is busy swiping left on apps and chasing the next shiny notification, the humble SMS, that digital workhorse, is quietly and reliably moving trillions of messages, proving that sometimes the most boring technology is also the most indispensable.
05 · Category
Temporal Trends24 stats
01
SMS volume grew 5% YoY globally from 2022 to 2023.
02
P2P SMS declined 10% annually since 2015 worldwide.
03
A2P SMS surged 15% from 2020-2023 due to pandemic.
04
US SMS per subscriber dropped from 47 to 32 monthly 2018-2023.
05
Global SMS market revenue up 7% YoY in 2023.
06
SMS delivery speed improved 20% from 2019-2023.
07
India SMS volume doubled from 2015-2023.
08
Open rates for SMS marketing rose 3% 2021-2023.
09
Global SMS failure rates fell from 2% to 0.5% 2015-2023.
10
A2P SMS in Europe grew 9% annually 2020-2023.
11
Worldwide P2P SMS down 22% since 2012 peak.
12
SMS for OTP usage up 30% post-2019.
13
US millennial SMS frequency stable since 2018.
14
Global enterprise SMS adoption rose 18% 2022-2023.
15
SMS length increased 10% average from 2010-2023.
16
Africa SMS growth slowed to 2% YoY in 2023.
17
RCS messaging overtook SMS trials in 2023.
18
SMS revenue in APAC up 6.5% 2022-2023.
19
Global SMS per user peaked in 2012 at 170 monthly.
20
Post-COVID, SMS notifications up 25% sustained.
21
Global A2P SMS CAGR 8.1% projected 2023-2030.
22
SMS opt-in rates increased 12% 2020-2023.
23
US SMS traffic flat since 2019 decline.
24
Global SMS market to grow 4% annually to 2028.
Interpretation
Temporal Trends Interpretation
The ancient art of person-to-person texting is gracefully retiring while automated SMS, now the reliable workhorse of digital authentication and marketing, gallops ahead with improved performance and revenue, proving the humble text message is far from dead but merely undergoing a professional reinvention.
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
Rachel Svensson. (2026, February 13). Sms Usage Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sms-usage-statistics
MLA
Rachel Svensson. "Sms Usage Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/sms-usage-statistics.
Chicago
Rachel Svensson. 2026. "Sms Usage Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sms-usage-statistics.
Sources & references
75 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level