The DNIB Quarterly Report Q1 2026

Data and Analysis

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Q1 2026

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The first quarter of 2026 closed with 392.5 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), an increase of 5.6 million domain name registrations, or 1.4% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. Domain name registrations increased by 24.1 million, or 6.5%, year over year.

The .com and .net TLDs had a combined total of 176.1 million domain name registrations in the domain name base at the end of the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 2.5 million domain name registrations, or 1.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. The .com and .net TLDs had a combined increase of 6.2 million domain name registrations, or 3.7%, year over year. As of March 31, 2026, the .com domain name base totaled 163.6 million domain name registrations and the .net domain name base totaled 12.4 million domain name registrations.

New .com and .net domain name registrations totaled 11.5 million at the end of the first quarter of 2026, compared to 10.1 million domain name registrations at the end of the first quarter of 2025. The preliminary combined renewal percentage for the .com and .net TLDs is 76.3% for the first quarter of 2026.

Total country-code TLD (ccTLD) domain name registrations were 146.3 million at the end of the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 0.7 million domain name registrations, or 0.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. ccTLDs increased by 3.4 million domain name registrations, or 2.4%, year over year. Available data is insufficient to estimate a combined quarterly renewal percentage across ccTLDs.

Total new generic TLD (ngTLD) domain name registrations were 49.6 million at the end of the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 1.8 million domain name registrations, or 3.7%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. ngTLDs increased by 11.8 million domain name registrations, or 31.3%, year over year. The most recent combined renewal percentage estimate for ngTLDs was 30.9%.

Total other legacy generic TLD (gTLD) domain name registrations, not including .com and .net, were 20.5 million at the end of the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 0.6 million domain name registrations, or 2.9%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. Other legacy gTLDs increased by 2.6 million domain name registrations, or 14.6%, year over year. The most recent combined renewal percentage estimate for legacy gTLDs was 67.6%.

More information, including comprehensive gTLD historical data, visualizations of long-term trends and regional ccTLD data, is available on DNIB.com’s Global Domain Name Base Trends dashboard. Expanded data and visualizations for renewal percentages, renewals and new registrations are available on DNIB.com’s gTLD Registration and Renewal Trends dashboard.

Top 10 Largest TLDs by Number of Reported Domain Names

As of March 31, 2026, the 10 largest TLDs by number of reported domain names were .com, .cn, .de, .net, .org, .uk, .xyz, .ru, .top and .nl. For the top 10 TLDs with available data, recent quarterly renewal percentage estimates ranged from 80.0% for .net to 19.6% for .top.

For each TLD, bar height indicates total registrations and circle diameter indicates quarterly renewal percentage estimate, when available. Source: ZookNIC, Q1 2026; Verisign, Q1 2026; Centralized Zone Data Service, Q1 2026. For further information on The Domain Name Industry Brief methodology, please see https://dnib.com/methodology.

Top 10 Largest ccTLDs by Number of Reported Domain Names

The top 10 ccTLDs, as of March 31, 2026, were .cn, .de, .uk, .ru, .nl, .br, .fr, .au, .in and .eu. As of March 31, 2026, there were 316 global ccTLD extensions delegated in the root zone, including internationalized domain names, with the top 10 ccTLDs comprising 57.6% of all ccTLD domain name registrations. For the top 10 ccTLDs with available data, recent quarterly renewal percentage estimates ranged from 82.1% for .fr to 72.0% for .ru.

For each TLD, bar height indicates total registrations and circle diameter indicates quarterly renewal percentage estimate, when available. Source: ZookNIC, Q1 2026.

Top 10 Largest gTLDs by Number of Reported Domain Names

The top 10 gTLDs, as of March 31, 2026, were .com, .net, .org, .xyz, .top, .info, .shop, .online, .store and .site. As of March 31, 2026, there were 1,265 extensions delegated in the root zone, including IDNs, with the top 10 gTLDs comprising 88.6% of all gTLD domain name registrations and 55.6% of all TLD registrations. New gTLDs collectively accounted for 12.6% of all TLD registrations as of March 31, 2026. For the top 10 gTLDs, recent quarterly renewal percentage estimates ranged from 80.0% for .net to 14.3% for .shop.

For each TLD, bar height indicates total registrations and circle diameter indicates quarterly renewal percentage estimate. Source: ZookNIC, Q1 2026; Centralized Zone Data Service, Q1 2026. For further information on The Domain Name Industry Brief methodology, please see https://dnib.com/methodology.

About DNIB

DNIB.com, sponsored by Verisign, builds on Verisign’s 20-year history of regularly providing global domain name statistics and analytical research to the DNS industry, analysts, media and businesses. DNIB.com continues and expands on this foundation, publishing the Domain Name Industry Brief Quarterly Report as a timely review of domain name trends, key performance indicators and growth opportunities, and providing new, comprehensive, monthly data dashboards and thoughtful articles analyzing key policy, security and technology trends impacting the DNS industry. The latest quarterly report, articles, interactive dashboards and previous reports are all available at DNIB.com.

Learn More

To access archives for The Domain Name Industry Brief Quarterly Report, please go to https://dnib.com/listing/report. Email your comments or questions to [email protected].

Methodology

For information about the statistical methodology used in creating the Domain Name Industry Brief Quarterly Report and DNIB.com’s dashboards, visit https://dnib.com/methodology/.