Global Domain Report 2026: stable growth in the domain name market
Market maturity implies selectivity
The global domain name market continues to grow, but the rate of growth has slowed, according to the Global Domain Report 2026 published by InterNetX and Sedo. By the end of 2025, the total number of registered domain names was about 387 million: the highest number ever recorded, and 2.2 per cent up on a year earlier. The market is still growing, therefore, but not as quickly as in the past.
Big differences between TLDs
Within that overall picture, there are marked differences between the various types of top-level domain (TLD). Generic TLDs (gTLDs) created since 2012, often referred to as ‘new gTLDs’, recorded the biggest year-on-year growth – nearly 30 per cent. However, that’s from a relatively low baseline. New gTLDs now account for 47 million domain names – roughly 12.4 per cent of all registered names. Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) grew by 3.4 per cent, but together represent more than a third of the world’s domain names. The big European ccTLDs remained stable for the most part, exhibiting only the minor fluctuations associated with mature markets. Amongst the ccTLDs, the biggest growers were those that also lend themselves to generic use. A good example being .ai, the domain for the British overseas territory Anguilla, which is popular with people and organisations working in artificial intelligence (AI).
Domain name aftermarket widens
The aftermarket in domain names also remained strong in 2025. Sedo traded names in a record number of TLDs: 383, compared with 350 in 2024. The average price of a domain name traded in the Sedo marketplace was about $2,750. The biggest-ticket sale was gx.com, which changed hands for $1,200,000. However, the median price was also up, from $550 to $ 800, indicating growth not only at the top end of the market, but also in the mid-range.
Domain name | Sale amount |
|---|---|
gx.com | $ 1,200,000 |
zh.com | $ 1,000,000 |
double.com | $ 980,000 |
nolimit.com | $ 725,000 |
pack.com | $ 600,000 |
dollars.com | $ 500,000 |
ferienhaus.de | $ 401,304 |
tyres.co.uk | $ 368,879 |
law.ai | $ 350,000 |
footage.com | $ 300,000 |
.ai domains even more popular
One of the most striking trends is the continuing demand for .ai domain names. Having begun as a niche market, .ai has become one of the highest-value sectors of the aftermarket. In January 2026, .ai passed 1 million registrations on the back of an annual growth rate of roughly 67 per cent. Multiple .ai domain names were traded for sums well above $100,000, with law.ai comfortably the biggest sale at $350,000. The average paid for a traded .ai domain name was $11,000, more than 40 per cent up on 2024. While extensions such as .ai and .com command high average resale prices, most TLDs lag well behind. The typical price of a .nl domain name traded through Sedo remained about €500.
Market maturity implies selectivity
The big picture to emerge from the report is of an increasingly selective market. New gTLDs are no longer experimental, but an established segment alongside .com and ccTLDs. Meanwhile, extensions and domain names with a particular application, significance or status are increasingly successful. That points to a shift from volume to quality. Value is linked not to the size of a domain, but to characteristics such as usage, trust, security and familiarity.
Want to know more?
The full Global Domain Report 2026 is available to download from the InterNetX website.
