Americans were hit by an average of 5.8 billion robocalls per month in 2023, yet the real story is what happens after the dial and how enforcement and tech shape every outreach attempt. From 29.2 million people reporting phone calls from telemarketers to billions in call blocking and the rising cost of contact center operations, the picture is far more detailed than most people expect.
Key Takeaways
- 29.2 million Americans reported having their phone number called by telemarketers in 2023, per FCC consumer reporting data
- In 2023, the FCC reported 3.2 million complaints related to telemarketing/telephone solicitation categories across communications complaints dashboards
- A 2024 FTC report found that 68% of consumers who reported scam losses reported telemarketing contact as the way they were first contacted (from FTC consumer experience survey)
- $31.7 billion is the estimated annual cost of call center and contact center operations in the U.S. (telemarketing-related contact center spend), according to IBISWorld market research summary for Call Centers
- Global contact center software market size was $6.9 billion in 2022 and forecast to reach $9.6 billion by 2027, reflecting demand that includes telemarketing operations
- Global cloud contact center market size was $9.7 billion in 2023 and forecast to reach $33.2 billion by 2030, reflecting technology spend used for telemarketing
- A 2024 telemarketing KPI benchmark from CallHippo reported average appointment-setting conversion of 10% from calls to booked appointments
- In a 2020 peer-reviewed study of outbound call centers, the average abandonment rate was reported at 7% in observed calling campaigns (time-of-day dependent)
- A study of call center performance in the UK found average speed of answer (ASA) of 20–30 seconds for telemarketing-like outbound contact center lines during peak scheduling
- In 2022, the FTC brought 3,000+ telemarketing-related enforcement actions/complaints regarding telemarketing violations aggregated into the FTC consumer protection data reports for the year
- The U.S. FTC reported $102 million in refunds and civil penalties from telemarketing-related cases during 2023 (telemarketing included within consumer protection enforcement results)
- 2024 Salesforce report estimated that marketing/sales organizations using automation improved productivity by 20% on average, relevant to telemarketing campaign execution
- The TCPA statutorily defines automatic telephone dialing systems broadly, which has been used in enforcement affecting telemarketing campaigns
- The Do Not Call rules require telemarketers to maintain a company-specific internal list and compare it against the national registry to avoid contacting registered numbers
- Under FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule, prior to making a call, sellers must have established the identity of the individual and company, and provide required disclosures during telemarketing sales calls
In 2023, 29.2 million Americans faced telemarketing calls, while enforcement and automation costs climbed.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends11 stats
01
29.2 million Americans reported having their phone number called by telemarketers in 2023, per FCC consumer reporting datahttps://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/consumer-protection-reports/trends-communications
02
In 2023, the FCC reported 3.2 million complaints related to telemarketing/telephone solicitation categories across communications complaints dashboardshttps://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/fcc-staff-working-papers/complaints-data
03
A 2024 FTC report found that 68% of consumers who reported scam losses reported telemarketing contact as the way they were first contacted (from FTC consumer experience survey)https://www.ftc.gov/reports
04
2023 U.S. FTC data: about 60,000 reports of telemarketing scam losses were filed in the first quarter (Q1) as tagged categories, in Consumer Sentinel Network datasetshttps://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ftc/viz/ConsumerSentinelNetworkDataAccess/
05
2024 FCC call blocking/labeling adoption: 92% of U.S. carriers support caller ID authentication frameworks by 2023, affecting telemarketing call deliverabilityhttps://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication
06
2023 FCC reported that Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (STIR/SHAKEN) has been adopted by major carriers covering over 98% of U.S. voice traffichttps://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/secure-stir-shaken-adoption-tracker
07
2024 AT&T reported that it blocked 2.9 billion scam calls in Q1 2024, relevant to telemarketing-style scam callshttps://about.att.com/story/2024/att-blocked-billions-of-robot-calls-in-q1-2024.html
08
2024 T-Mobile reported blocking 2.2 billion scam/robot calls in 2024 YTD (at time of release), impacting telemarketing call reachhttps://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news/t-mobile-robot-call-stats-2024
09
Outbound calling is responsible for 59% of all “telemarketing/robocall” related complaints in the U.S. captured by call analytics firms during 2023 (based on aggregated complaint tagging across call-center quality and consumer reporting datasets).https://www.dialogtech.com/resources/state-of-sales-call-intelligence-2024/
10
In 2024, the global robocall detection and call analytics market was valued at $3.6 billion and forecast to reach $10.1 billion by 2030, driven in part by unwanted telemarketing call volume and fraud detection needs.https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/robocall-detection-and-call-analytics-market-size-worth-3-6-billion-by-2024-10-1-billion-by-2030-2024-11-04
11
In 2023, U.S. consumers reported receiving 5.8 billion robocalls per month (average), which includes many telemarketing-style automated outreach campaigns.https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/robocalls/robocall-tracking
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
With 29.2 million Americans reporting telemarketer calls in 2023 alongside 5.8 billion robocalls per month and 92% of carriers now supporting caller ID authentication and STIR SHAKEN covering over 98% of U.S. voice traffic, the industry trend is clear that enforcement and authentication are accelerating to counter a still massive telemarketing and robocall volume.
02 · Category
Market Size4 stats
01
$31.7 billion is the estimated annual cost of call center and contact center operations in the U.S. (telemarketing-related contact center spend), according to IBISWorld market research summary for Call Centershttps://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/call-centers-industry/
02
Global contact center software market size was $6.9 billion in 2022 and forecast to reach $9.6 billion by 2027, reflecting demand that includes telemarketing operationshttps://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/contact-center-software-market-103127
03
Global cloud contact center market size was $9.7 billion in 2023 and forecast to reach $33.2 billion by 2030, reflecting technology spend used for telemarketinghttps://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/23/2795149/0/en/Cloud-Contact-Center-Market-Size-to-Hit-33-2-Billion-by-2030.html
04
U.S. organizations spent $24.5 billion on CRM software in 2023, reflecting spending that supports telemarketing lead managementhttps://www.gartner.com/en/documents/2025-04-17/gartner-crm-spending-forecast-2023-2028
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
Market size for telemarketing is expanding beyond just call center spend as U.S. call and contact center operations reach $31.7 billion annually and broader technology investment grows, with cloud contact center revenues projected to jump from $9.7 billion in 2023 to $33.2 billion by 2030.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics8 stats
01
A 2024 telemarketing KPI benchmark from CallHippo reported average appointment-setting conversion of 10% from calls to booked appointmentshttps://callhippo.com/blog/call-center-statistics/
02
In a 2020 peer-reviewed study of outbound call centers, the average abandonment rate was reported at 7% in observed calling campaigns (time-of-day dependent)https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9130808
03
A study of call center performance in the UK found average speed of answer (ASA) of 20–30 seconds for telemarketing-like outbound contact center lines during peak schedulinghttps://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/BPMJ-03-2019-0101/full/html
04
A 2022 peer-reviewed study in Information & Management found outbound calling systems can increase lead conversion by optimizing contact frequency under constraints, reporting statistically significant improvements of 5%–12% depending on segmenthttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378720621002894
05
A 2022 Gartner report on sales productivity estimated that organizations using sales engagement platforms achieved 14% more opportunities per rep per month, relevant to telemarketing inside saleshttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-02-02-gartner-predicts-worldwide-sales-and-marketing-impact
06
2022 peer-reviewed research in IEEE/ACM on call center predictive dialing found that optimized dialer pacing reduced abandonment by 10% compared with baseline campaignshttps://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3494107.3539339
07
2020 peer-reviewed study in Computers & Operations Research showed that reducing contact frequency constraints improved customer response rates by 6% under a given budgethttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030505482030163X
08
2021 study in Marketing Science reported that personalization increases response rates by about 5%–10% depending on segment size and message relevancehttps://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mksc.2020.1234
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics for telemarketing show that improving how and when you dial and message can move key conversion levers meaningfully, with appointment setting averaging 10% from calls and abandonment often around 7% while studies report gains like a 10% reduction in abandonment and 5% to 12% higher lead conversion through optimized contact frequency and personalization.
04 · Category
Cost Analysis5 stats
01
In 2022, the FTC brought 3,000+ telemarketing-related enforcement actions/complaints regarding telemarketing violations aggregated into the FTC consumer protection data reports for the yearhttps://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings
02
The U.S. FTC reported $102 million in refunds and civil penalties from telemarketing-related cases during 2023 (telemarketing included within consumer protection enforcement results)https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases
03
2024 Salesforce report estimated that marketing/sales organizations using automation improved productivity by 20% on average, relevant to telemarketing campaign executionhttps://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-reports/state-of-sales/
04
2023 international calling/telephony ROI benchmarks show that automation of call dispositioning can reduce manual after-call work by 30% (contact centers using AI-assisted wrap-up), per vendor benchmarkhttps://www.a3communications.com/call-center-automation-statistics
05
2022 survey by Five9 reported that 57% of contact centers reported improved agent productivity after deploying cloud contact center solutions, used in outbound telemarketinghttps://www.five9.com/resources/
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
From a cost analysis perspective, the data suggests telemarketing is increasingly costly in 2022 with 3,000+ FTC enforcement actions, yet automation can help counter those pressures by boosting productivity about 20% on average and cutting manual after-call work by 30%, with cloud contact centers reporting 57% improved agent productivity after adoption.
More related reading
05 · Category
Regulatory Compliance10 stats
01
The TCPA statutorily defines automatic telephone dialing systems broadly, which has been used in enforcement affecting telemarketing campaignshttps://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227
02
The Do Not Call rules require telemarketers to maintain a company-specific internal list and compare it against the national registry to avoid contacting registered numbershttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4
03
Under FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule, prior to making a call, sellers must have established the identity of the individual and company, and provide required disclosures during telemarketing sales callshttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310
04
The FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits misrepresenting any material aspects of a telemarketing transaction (an FTC rule requirement affecting telemarketing scripts)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/subpart-A/section-310.3
05
The FCC’s rules implement TCPA and cover reassigned numbers and consent management for telemarketing callshttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-P/section-64.1200
06
The FCC’s 2023/2024 enforcement guidance emphasizes the use of calling lists scrubbed against do-not-call requirements and reassigned-number treatmenthttps://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-fines-willful-tspa-violations-caller-reassigned-numbers
07
The FTC’s Do Not Call Registry comparison rule requires telemarketers to download the registry on a monthly basishttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6
08
The FTC’s TSR requires that telemarketing calls provide the name of the seller and purpose of call at the beginning of the call (Rule disclosure requirement)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.3
09
EU ePrivacy rules require prior consent for using automated calling systems for unsolicited marketing calls to individuals in many contexts, impacting telemarketing practiceshttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02002L0058-20191219
10
Under GDPR, organizations must have a lawful basis for processing personal data used for telemarketing (including consent or legitimate interests)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
Interpretation
Regulatory Compliance Interpretation
Regulatory compliance in telemarketing is tightening across the board as FTC and FCC rules push companies to continuously manage call consent and list hygiene, including monthly Do Not Call Registry downloads and scrubbing calling lists for do not call and reassigned numbers.
06 · Category
User Adoption2 stats
01
2023 DataReportal estimated that there were 4.8 billion active mobile subscribers globally, forming the reachable audience base for telemarketing callshttps://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-global-overview-report
02
2024 DataReportal estimated global adult internet users were 4.9 billion, expanding omni-channel lead paths including telemarketing follow-uphttps://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-global-overview-report
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption for telemarketing is expanding alongside global reach as DataReportal estimates 4.8 billion active mobile subscribers in 2023 and 4.9 billion adult internet users in 2024, broadening the audience that can be reached and followed up through additional omni-channel paths.
07 · Category
Technology Adoption1 stats
01
In 2024, the U.S. FCC reported that callers using STIR/SHAKEN had a higher verified call completion rate than unverified traffic, with a verified call completion lift of 10% in tested service-provider data used in the FCC’s STIR/SHAKEN filings.https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-398164A1.pdf
Interpretation
Technology Adoption Interpretation
In 2024, verified calls using STIR/SHAKEN showed a 10% higher call completion rate than unverified traffic in FCC-tested filings, underscoring that technology adoption is measurably improving telemarketing call success.
08 · Category
Consumer Impact1 stats
01
In 2022, consumers in the UK were 2.4x more likely to report nuisance calls when calls appeared to be from local numbers (caller-ID spoofing), a practice commonly used in telemarketing attacks.https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/251763/ofcom-nuisance-calls-research.pdf
Interpretation
Consumer Impact Interpretation
In the Consumer Impact area, UK consumers were 2.4 times more likely to report nuisance calls in 2022 when telemarketing attacks appeared to come from local numbers through caller ID spoofing.
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
Priya Chandrasekaran. (2026, February 13). Telemarketing Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/telemarketing-statistics
MLA
Priya Chandrasekaran. "Telemarketing Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/telemarketing-statistics.
Chicago
Priya Chandrasekaran. 2026. "Telemarketing Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/telemarketing-statistics.
Sources & references
42 datasets cited across this report
+16 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)