2020 ended with 366.3 million domains on all TLDs

According to Verisign’s Domain Name Industry Brief, the .com and .net registry, the fourth quarter of 2020 closed with 366.3 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), a decrease of 4.4 million domain name registrations, or 1.2 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2020.^1,2 Domain name registrations have grown by 4.0 million, or 1.1 percent, year over year.^1,2

Total country-code TLD (ccTLD) domain name registrations were 158.9 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, a decrease of 1.7 million domain name registrations, or 1.0 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2020.^1,2 ccTLDs increased by 1.3 million domain name registrations, or 0.8 percent, year over year.^1,2

The .com and .net TLDs had a combined total of 165.2 million domain name registrations in the domain name base³ at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 1.5 million domain name registrations, or 0.9 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2020. The .com and .net TLDs had a combined increase of 6.3 million domain name registrations, or 4.0 percent, year over year. As of Dec. 31, 2020, the .com domain name base totaled 151.8 million domain name registrations, and the .net domain name base totaled 13.4 million domain name registrations.

New .com and .net domain name registrations totaled 10.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to 10.3 million domain name registrations at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019.

Total new gTLD (ngTLD) domain name registrations were 26.0 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, a decrease of 4.2 million domain name registrations, or 13.8 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2020. ngTLDs decreased by 3.3 million domain name registrations, or 11.2 percent, year over year.

1. The figure(s) includes domain names in the .tk ccTLD. .tk is a ccTLD that provides free domain names to individuals and businesses. Revenue is generated by monetizing expired domain names. Domain names no longer in use by the registrant or expired are taken back by the registry and the residual traffic is sold to advertising networks. As such, there are no deleted .tk domain names. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131216006048/en/Freenom-Closes-3M-Series-Funding#.UxeUGNJDv9s

2. The generic top-level domain (gTLD), ngTLD and ccTLD data cited in this brief: (i) includes ccTLD Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), (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.

TOP 10 LARGEST TLDS BY NUMBER OF REPORTED DOMAIN NAMES

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

TOP 10 LARGEST CCTLDS BY NUMBER OF REPORTED DOMAIN NAMES

 

Total ccTLD domain name registrations were 158.9 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, a decrease of 1.7 million domain name registrations, or 1.0 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2020.^1,2 ccTLDs increased by 1.3 million domain name registrations, or 0.8 percent, year over year.^1,2 Excluding .tk, ccTLD domain name registrations increased by 1.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, or 0.9 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2020. ccTLDs, excluding .tk, increased by 1.7 million domain name registrations, or 1.3 percent, year over year.

The top 10 ccTLDs, as of Dec. 31, 2020, were .cn, .tk, .de, .uk, .nl, .ru, .br, .fr, .eu and .it.^1,2 As of Dec. 31, 2020, there were 307 global ccTLD extensions delegated in the root zone, including IDNs, with the top 10 ccTLDs comprising 65.4 percent of all ccTLD domain name registrations.^1,2

New gTLDs As Percentage of Total TLDs

Total ngTLD domain name registrations were 26.0 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, a decrease of 4.2 million domain name registrations, or 13.8 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2020. ngTLDs decreased by 3.3 million domain name registrations, or 11.2 percent, year over year. The top 10 ngTLDs represented 57.3 percent 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 7.1 percent, as well as the top 10 ngTLDs as a percentage of all ngTLD domain name registrations for the fourth quarter of 2020.

Geographical ngTLDs As Percentage of Total Corresponding Geographical TLDs

As of Dec. 31, 2020, there were 47 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 (GA). The chart on the left summarizes the domain name registrations as of Dec. 31, 2020, 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.

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