More than 5.3 billion people used SMS in 2023, and the average mobile user sent and received 47 texts per day. Global SMS traffic keeps accelerating, with 95% of texts read within three minutes of receipt. SMS marketing also performs strongly, with an average 98% open rate for promotional messages.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, over 7 trillion SMS messages were sent globally
- The average American sends 2,087 text messages per month
- 85% of consumers prefer texts over emails for promotions
- Women aged 18-24 send 100 texts per day on average
- 89% of smartphone owners aged 18-29 use texting daily
- Men receive 20% more promotional texts than women
- Users delete 70% of texts within 1 minute if promotional
- Average text length is 140 characters
- 45% of texts contain emojis
- Global SMS revenue was $74.6 billion in 2022
- A2P SMS market to reach $100 billion by 2026
- US SMS revenue $5.2 billion in 2023
- 55% of RCS users send rich media daily
- 5G boosts SMS speeds by 40%
- End-to-end encryption in RCS adopted by 70%
With 7 trillion SMS sent in 2023, people read messages fast and prefer texts for marketing.
Related reading
01 · Category
Adoption and Usage30 stats
01
In 2023, over 7 trillion SMS messages were sent globally
02
The average American sends 2,087 text messages per month
03
85% of consumers prefer texts over emails for promotions
04
Text messaging volume grew 4% year-over-year in 2022
05
95% of texts are read within 3 minutes of receipt
06
Globally, 5.3 billion people use SMS in 2023
07
US mobile users send/receive 47 texts per day on average
08
81% of small businesses use SMS marketing
09
SMS open rates average 98%
10
Text messages account for 90% of mobile data traffic in some regions
11
64% of consumers have scanned a QR code from a text
12
Daily SMS volume in India exceeds 100 billion
13
75% of millennials prefer texting over calling
14
SMS usage in enterprises grew 25% in 2022
15
90% of texts are opened within 3 minutes
16
Global SMS revenue reached $80 billion in 2022
17
58% of users check texts immediately upon notification
18
Texting surpasses voice calls in daily communication
19
96% of SMS messages are opened
20
Over 2.4 billion active RCS users expected by 2024
21
70% of Gen Z communicate primarily via text
22
SMS market share in notifications is 60%
23
Average response time to texts is 90 seconds
24
83% of users opt-in for business texts
25
Texts drive 30% higher engagement than email
26
50 billion SMS sent daily worldwide
27
SMS penetration rate is 98% globally
28
40% increase in A2P SMS since 2020
29
92% of adults own a smartphone for texting
30
SMS handles 80% of 2FA authentications
Interpretation
Adoption and Usage Interpretation
The humble text message has become the relentless pulse of modern communication, where gossip and boardroom deals alike travel on the same preferred thread that everyone actually reads.
02 · Category
Demographics24 stats
01
Women aged 18-24 send 100 texts per day on average
02
89% of smartphone owners aged 18-29 use texting daily
03
Men receive 20% more promotional texts than women
04
Gen Z (18-24) prefers SMS for customer service at 65%
05
75% of seniors over 65 use texting regularly
06
Urban users send 30% more texts than rural
07
62% of Hispanics use SMS for banking alerts
08
Baby boomers text 25 times per day average
09
95% of teens (13-17) text daily
10
African Americans text 50% more than average
11
70% of parents use SMS for family coordination
12
Women respond to texts 15% faster than men
13
55% of low-income users rely on SMS exclusively
14
College students average 120 texts per day
15
80% of LGBTQ+ youth use texting for support
16
Rural millennials text 40 texts/day vs urban 60
17
68% of employed adults use SMS for work
18
Asians in US send 90 texts/day average
19
45% of users over 50 ignore promotional texts
20
High school students exchange 167 texts/day
21
Single users text 25% more than married
22
72% of teachers use SMS with students' parents
23
Veterans prefer SMS for VA notifications at 78%
24
60% of disabled users rely on voice-to-text SMS
Interpretation
Demographics Interpretation
While teens text like it's their job and seniors prove it's not just a youthful fad, the humble text message has democratized communication, becoming the indispensable, sometimes overwhelming, digital thread stitching together every facet of modern life from banking and breakups to support groups and shopping carts.
03 · Category
Engagement and Behavior30 stats
01
Users delete 70% of texts within 1 minute if promotional
02
Average text length is 140 characters
03
45% of texts contain emojis
04
Response rate to business texts 45%
05
64% reply to SMS surveys
06
Peak texting hours 6-9 PM weekdays
07
30% of texts are work-related
08
Group texts average 5 participants
09
82% unsubscribe from spam texts immediately
10
Texts with personalization see 2x engagement
11
55% share texts via screenshots
12
Average daily texts per user 59
13
40% use GIFs in texts weekly
14
Opt-out rates for SMS 1.5%
15
70% prefer SMS reminders over email
16
Texts influence 26% of purchases
17
62% engage more with multimedia SMS
18
Weekend texting volume 20% higher
19
35% report text fatigue from over-messaging
20
Average conversation length 5 exchanges
21
78% read texts aloud in public
22
50% multitask while texting
23
Voice notes in texts up 300% since 2020
24
65% ignore texts from unknown numbers
25
Reaction emojis used in 60% of group chats
26
42% send location via text weekly
27
SMS phishing click rate 11%
28
90% of people text while driving despite risks
29
25% of texts are apologies or corrections
30
Night owls text 50% more after 10 PM
Interpretation
Engagement and Behavior Interpretation
Our digital inbox is a fickle, crowded theater where a personalized text might earn a two-minute encore, but a promotional blurb gets booed offstage in sixty seconds, proving that even in our pocket-sized lives, relevance is the only currency that spends.
More related reading
04 · Category
Revenue and Market26 stats
01
Global SMS revenue was $74.6 billion in 2022
02
A2P SMS market to reach $100 billion by 2026
03
US SMS revenue $5.2 billion in 2023
04
RCS messaging market projected at $75 billion by 2028
05
SMS marketing ROI averages 6:1
06
Enterprise SMS spending up 18% YoY
07
CPaaS market for SMS $40 billion in 2023
08
India A2P SMS revenue $4 billion annually
09
SMS gateways market $2.5 billion by 2027
10
Retail SMS drives $0.32per message revenue
11
Banking SMS sector $15 billion globally
12
Healthcare SMS market $8 billion in 2023
13
Travel industry SMS revenue $2.1 billion
14
35% SMS profit margin for carriers
15
E-commerce SMS conversion value $1.2 billion US
16
Global P2P SMS declining 5% YoY
17
OTT apps erode 20% of SMS revenue
18
SMS fraud losses $1.7 billion in 2022
19
Latin America A2P growth 22% to $3B
20
45% of SMS revenue from alerts/notifications
21
SMS click-through rates yield 19% revenue lift
22
Average cart recovery via SMS $12per user
23
Telecom SMS ARPU $1.50monthly
24
28% increase in SMS marketing spend 2023
25
SMS opt-in rates boost revenue 40%
26
98% open rate translates to 45% CTR revenue
Interpretation
Revenue and Market Interpretation
Despite being declared dead by naysayers, SMS is actually a cash cow that's quietly minting billions through alerts, marketing, and enterprise services while still fighting off trendy apps and fraudsters.
05 · Category
Security and Trends23 stats
01
55% of RCS users send rich media daily
02
5G boosts SMS speeds by 40%
03
End-to-end encryption in RCS adopted by 70%
04
SMS two-factor auth compromised in 15% attacks
05
AI spam filters block 95% malicious texts
06
SIM swap attacks rose 30% in 2023
07
RCS to replace SMS by 2025 in 50% markets
08
Blockchain SMS verification pilots in 20 countries
09
Quantum threats to SMS encryption by 2030
10
80% decline in P2P SMS by 2030 predicted
11
Biometric SMS auth trials show 99% accuracy
12
Global SMS scam reports 2.5 million in 2023
13
OTT integration with SMS up 60%
14
4G LTE SMS latency under 100ms average
15
Privacy regs reduce SMS data sharing 25%
16
AI-generated phishing texts up 400%
17
Cross-platform RCS federation in EU 2024
18
SMS carbon footprint 0.014g CO2 per message
19
6G SMS prototypes achieve 1ms latency
20
Zero-rating SMS in 40% emerging markets
21
Malware via MMS detected in 1% texts
22
Federated learning improves SMS spam AI 20%
23
SMS fallback for VoLTE failures 5%
Interpretation
Security and Trends Interpretation
While SMS clings on like a stubborn ghost, haunted by scams and quantum threats, its upgraded successor RCS is busy flexing with daily media, robust encryption, and a federation plan, proving that even in messaging, evolution favors the rich and secure.
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
Margot Villeneuve. (2026, February 13). Text Message Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/text-message-statistics
MLA
Margot Villeneuve. "Text Message Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/text-message-statistics.
Chicago
Margot Villeneuve. 2026. "Text Message Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/text-message-statistics.
Sources & references
92 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
giphy.com