Verisign domain report: global registrations pass 400 million, new gTLDs lead growth
Verisign's domain industry brief (DNIB) shows that as of June 30, 2026, total domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs) reached 401.6 million, an increase of 9.1 million (+2.3%) quarter over quarter and 29.9 million (+8.1%) year over year. The global domain market has now firmly crossed the 400 million mark, extending several consecutive quarters of steady growth. Published quarterly, the DNIB is one of the most frequently cited authoritative data sources in the domain industry; registrar pricing and many investment decisions reference it.
Core data: .com and .net remain the anchor
The combined base of .com and .net stood at 179.1 million — 166.6 million for .com and 12.5 million for .net. New .com/.net registrations reached 12.7 million in Q2 2026, up from 10.4 million a year earlier, and the combined renewal rate was about 75.2%, underscoring the stability of these mature extensions.
Country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) totaled 148.6 million, up 3.6% year over year. The ten largest ccTLDs were .cn, .de, .uk, .ru, .nl, .br, .fr, .au, .in and .eu, with .eu posting the highest renewal rate (82.5%). The root zone now has 316 delegated ccTLD extensions, including internationalized domain names (IDNs).
Segment overview
| Segment | Registrations | YoY growth | Renewal rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com + .net | 179.1M | ~4-5% | 75.2% |
| ccTLD | 148.6M | 3.6% | Varies (.eu 82.5%) |
| New gTLD | 52.9M | 34.0% | ~31.0% |
| All TLDs | 401.6M | 8.1% | — |
Worth noting: while .com/.net hold the largest installed base, quarterly growth is driven mainly by new gTLDs and ccTLDs in select emerging markets — which explains why segment growth rates diverge so sharply: the overall market isn't growing evenly, it's pulled by a few high-growth blocks.
New gTLDs: 34% growth, growing share
The most striking figure comes from the new gTLD segment: 52.9 million registrations, up a remarkable 34.0% year over year — the fastest-growing block of the market. As of June 30, 2026, new gTLDs accounted for 13.2% of all TLD registrations, and the root zone hosts 1,265 delegated extensions (including IDNs). Note that the new gTLD renewal rate is about 31.0%, far below the 75.2% seen for .com/.net, which shows new extensions still lean toward experimental and project-based registrations.
Among the top ten TLDs — .com, .cn, .de, .net, .org, .uk, .xyz, .ru, .top and .nl — renewal rates vary enormously, from 81.6% for .uk down to 17.5% for .xyz. This divergence is a reminder for investors: registration growth does not equal asset value, and renewal rate is the hard metric for judging a suffix's long-term worth.
How to use this report
For site owners, the genuinely useful parts are two decision signals, not the headline growth numbers:
- Renewal rate is more honest than growth rate. A suffix with a ~20% renewal rate means most registrations aren't kept past expiry — better for short-term projects than for brand assets.
- Local businesses should look at ccTLDs first. When your audience is concentrated in one country, the matching ccTLD usually wins on trust and local search performance.
Before choosing a suffix, compare renewal prices at the registrar — many new gTLDs cost only a few dollars in year one but renew at 5-10x that price. Factor that gap in before you buy.
An investor's perspective
A reader once shared a real experience: years ago, riding new-suffix first-year promos, they hoarded dozens of "great names," only to find at renewal that prices were close to ten times year one; in the end they kept just two core business domains and dropped the rest — the first-year fees became sunk costs. Map the renewal rates in this report onto that story and the conclusion is direct: the higher a suffix's renewal rate, the more registrants are willing to hold it long-term and the stronger its "staying power" as a brand asset. Conversely, a suffix renewing at only ~20% is mostly propped up by marketing campaigns and short-term projects — not a long-term asset. One more dimension worth checking: whether the registry has raised renewal prices over time — suffixes that have repeatedly hiked prices tend to see renewal rates fall. For anyone running a site seriously, a domain isn't a one-time purchase that ends at registration; it's a yearly budget line. Count it into your cost planning, and you won't pick a suffix on first-year price alone.
16IDC observations
For individual site owners and startup teams, this report offers a few actionable signals:
- Stick with .com/.net for primary brands: their renewal rates and brand recognition remain hard to replace at a manageable cost;
- Use ccTLDs for local markets: when targeting a single country, the matching ccTLD is often easier to obtain and closer to local users;
- Be cautious with fast-growing new gTLDs: they suit project-based or marketing sites, but core brand assets should not sit on suffixes with very low renewal rates.
A domain is the entry point of any website asset. Evaluating suffix and renewal costs before registering saves a lot of detours. For selection guidance, see ccTLD selection strategy and TLD comparison.