The Domain Name Industry Brief

Q4 2022 Data and Analysis

DNIB Staff Volume 20, Issue 1 | Download pdf

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The fourth quarter of 2022 closed with 350.4 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), an increase of 0.5 million domain name registrations, or 0.1%, compared to the third quarter of 2022.^1,2 Domain name registrations have increased by 8.7 million, or 2.6%, year over year.^1,2

The .com and .net TLDs had a combined total of 173.8 million domain name registrations in the domain name base³ at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, a decrease of 0.4 million domain name registrations, or 0.2%, compared to the third quarter of 2022. The .com and .net TLDs had a combined increase of 0.3 million domain name registrations, or 0.2%, year over year. As of Dec. 31, 2022, the .com domain name base totaled 160.5 million domain name registrations, and the .net domain name base totaled 13.2 million domain name registrations.

New .com and .net domain name registrations totaled 9.7 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 10.6 million domain name registrations at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021.

Total country-code TLD (ccTLD) domain name registrations were 133.1 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of 0.7 million domain name registrations, or 0.5%, compared to the third quarter of 2022.1,2 ccTLDs increased by 5.7 million domain name registrations, or 4.5%, year over year.^1,2

Total new generic TLD (ngTLD) domain name registrations were 27.4 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of 0.1 million domain name registrations, or 0.5%, compared to the third quarter of 2022. ngTLDs increased by 2.7 million domain name registrations, or 11.1%, year over year.

TOP 10 LARGEST TLDs BY NUMBER OF REPORTED DOMAIN NAMES

As of Dec. 31, 2022, the 10 largest TLDs by number of reported domain names were .com, .cn, .de, .net, .uk, .org, .nl, .ru, .br, and .au.^1,2,4

Source: ZookNIC, Q4 2022; Verisign, Q4 2022; Centralized Zone Data Service, Q4 2022

TOP 10 LARGEST ccTLDs BY NUMBER OF REPORTED DOMAIN NAMES

The top 10 ccTLDs, as of Dec. 31, 2022, were .cn, .de, .uk, .nl, .ru, .br, .au, .eu, .fr, and .it.^1,2

As of Dec. 31, 2022, there were 308 global ccTLD extensions delegated in the root zone, including internationalized domain names, with the top 10 ccTLDs comprising 59.4% of all ccTLD domain name registrations.^1,2

For further information on The Domain Name Industry Brief methodology, please see the Editor’s Note contained in Vol. 19, Issue 1 of The Domain Name Industry Brief Source: ZookNIC, Q4 2022

ngTLDs AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL TLDs

The top 10 ngTLDs represented 51.6% of all ngTLD domain name registrations. The following chart shows ngTLD domain name registrations as a percentage of overall TLD domain name registrations, of which they represent 7.8%. In addition, the chart on the right highlights the top 10 ngTLDs as a percentage of all ngTLD domain name registrations for the fourth quarter of 2022.

Source: ZookNIC, Q4 2022; Verisign, Q4 2022; and Centralized Zone Data Service, Q4 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL ngTLDs AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL CORRESPONDING GEOGRAPHICAL TLDs

As of Dec. 31, 2022, there were 50 ngTLDs delegated that met the following criteria: 1) had a geographical focus and 2) had more than 1,000 domain name registrations since entering general availability. The chart on the left summarizes the domain name registrations as of Dec. 31, 2022, for the listed ccTLDs and the corresponding geographical ngTLDs within the same geographic region. In addition, the chart on the right highlights the top 10 geographical ngTLDs as a percentage of the total geographical TLDs.

Source: ZookNIC, Q4 2022 and Centralized Zone Data Service, Q4 2022

METHODOLOGY

The data presented in this brief, including quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year metrics, reflects information available to Verisign at the time of this brief and may incorporate changes and adjustments to previously reported periods based on additional information received since the date of such prior reports, so as to more accurately reflect the growth rate of domain name registrations. In addition, the data available for this brief may not include data for all of the 308 ccTLD extensions that are delegated to the root zone, and includes only the data available at the time of the preparation of this brief. Beginning with Vol. 19, Issue 1 of The Domain Name Industry Brief, the .tk, .cf, .ga, .gq, and .ml ccTLDs have been excluded from all applicable calculations. The historical data has been adjusted from Vol. 19, Issue 1 forward.

For generic TLD and ccTLD data cited with ZookNIC as a source, the ZookNIC analysis uses a comparison of domain name root zone file changes supplemented with other authoritative data sources and independent approximations. For more information, see zooknic.com.

¹ 1 Per the Editor’s Note in Vol. 19, Issue 1 of The Domain Name Industry Brief, all figure(s) exclude domain names in the .tk, .cf, .ga, .gq, and .ml ccTLDs operated by Freenom. Quarterly and year-over-year trends have been calculated relative to historical figures that have also been adjusted to exclude these five ccTLDs.

² The generic TLD, ngTLD, and ccTLD data cited in this brief: (i) includes ccTLD internationalized domain names, (ii) is an estimate as of the time this brief was developed and (iii) is subject to change as more complete data is received. Some numbers in this brief may reflect standard rounding.

³ The domain name base is the active zone plus the number of domain names that are registered but not configured for use in the respective TLD zone file plus the number of domain names that are in a client or server hold status. The .com and .net domain name registration figures are as reported in Verisign’s most recent SEC filings.

⁴ Line break indicates that the .com line has been shortened for display considerations.