.Com and .info maintained consistent positive growth in 2017 (1 in 3 gTLDs contracted over 2017)

The DomainWire Global TLD Stat Report Q4/2017 has been published. The report covers the global status and registration trends in all top-level domains (legacy gTLDs, new gTLDs and ccTLDs), with additional focus on the European ccTLD market.

Highlights from the report:

• Growth in the global domain market was recorded at 1.2% YOY at the end of 2017, bringing total recorded domains to an estimated 331 million.
• The European ccTLD market saw a stabilisation after a long-term slowdown in growth. Most ccTLDs have converged to a median of 3.0% annually.
• European-based ccTLDs make up around 59% of all locally registered domains and have outpaced gTLD growth in the region. Countries where ccTLD market share increased the most were the UK (+2.3%), Lithuania (+1.9%), Sweden (+1.1%), Iceland (+1.0%) and Ireland (+0.8%).
• 1 in 3 gTLDs contracted over 2017. Of the larger legacy gTLDs, .com and .info were the only ones to maintain consistent positive growth over the past 12 months, with other long-standing gTLDs in this category in decline.
• .com grew 3.6% over 2017 and has around 70% of the global gTLD market – a figure which has not changed significantly since the roll out of new gTLDs began.

Growth in the global domain market was recorded at 1.2% YOY1 at the end of 2017, bringing total recorded domains to an estimated 331 million.
2017 may have been a turning point for for many gTLDs with at least 1 in 3 contracting in total domains over the year1. In net domains, most growth came from .com, .loan and .info.
Although domain volume is not necessarily a measure of success, for many TLDs that sell to the general public, it is a strong indication of demand and can even impact viability of a Registry. In the case of gTLDs, most global demand is directed to .com, which covers roughly 70% of al gTLDs – a figure which has not changed significantly since the roll out of new gTLDs began. .com is also the second most registered TLD (after the local ccTLD) in most developed countries3.
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ccTLDs make up around 44% of the global domain market. Of this, the largest portion is made up of European ccTLDs, which have around 72 million domains. Combined growth in ccTLDs2 was mostly stable over 2017 and finished at 3.9% with a small trend upward.
Regionally, it was the Asian ccTLD market which showed the strongest growth (3.9%) with high relative growth in .uz (Uzbekistan), .vn (Vietnam) and .ir (Iran). In other regions, high-growth ccTLDs included: .ai (Anguilla), .nu (Niue) and .cr (Costa Rica).

(1 Growth excludes brand TLDs or TLDs with < 500 domains
2 Growth excludes ccTLDs that do not update data regularly
3 Based on data from CENTR, APTLD and LACTLD)

ccTLDs, the high growth was largely driven by gains in .uk and .se (due to campaign activity). The median growth in this group was recorded at 2.7%.
Other high growth (%) ccTLDs over 2017 were .al (Albania) at 12.6%, .pt (Portugal) at 11.9%, .fi (Finland) at 7.9% and .ie (Ireland) at 6.4%.
Market Share
European ccTLDs make up an estimated 59% of all locally registered domains in Europe and as a whole have outpaced gTLD growth in the region. Eastern countries tend to have the higher ccTLD market share* rates, the highest being Russia (78%), Romania (78%) and Slovakia (73%).
Countries where ccTLD market share increased the most were the UK (+2.3%), Lithuania +1.9%), Sweden (+1.1%), Iceland (+1.0%) and Ireland (+0.8%).
New gTLD market share remains low with a country average1 of 3.6%. Over the year, total new gTLDs grew by an estimated 235K. This contrasts with legacy gTLDs, which grew by 858K, most of which was in .com.

(*Country market shares figures are estimates based on locally registered ccTLD (national and other European ccTLDs included) and gTLD domains. Market share analysis excludes countries where over 80% of the local ccTLD is registered by foreign registrants
1 Country average calculated over 37 countries.)

of the gTLD market and still growing at rates similar to the most developed ccTLDs around the world. Of the larger legacy gTLDs, .com and .info were the only ones to maintain consistent positive growth over the past 12 months with other long-standing gTLDs in this category in decline.
New gTLDs: At the end of 2017, there were around 20 million domains under management – a decrease of over 4.5 million driven in part by large declines in .xyz and .top. Excluding these TLDs, overall growth in new gTLDs was at 18% YOY. Over the year, distribution of new gTLDs has also widened with the top 10 now representing 50% of all new gTLDs (down from 67% at the start of 2017).
Over 2017, a third of new gTLDs declined in total domains2. However, several new gTLDs grew strongly whilst maintaining relatively low parking ratios3. They were .blog (+249% to 130K), .loan (+146% to 2.1 million) and .accountant +80% to 95K).
Geographic gTLDs grew at a median rate of 2.7% over the year – the highest gains were in .london, .tokyo and .nrw.
The parking ratio over all combined new gTLDs is estimated at 63% with a small decline in that trend over the past 6 months. TLDs with lowest parking ratios are .wedding, .blog, .中文网, .loan and .手机.

(1 Parked statistics sourced from ntldstats.com.
2 Excludes recently launched and brand TLDs. Sample of 425 new gTLDs that had a minimum of 1000 domains at the start of the 2017.
3 low ratios mean under 50% parked)