The global domain name market has reached another significant milestone, with total domain name registrations surpassing 400 million worldwide during the second quarter of 2026.
According to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB), there were 401.6 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs) at the end of Q2 2026.
This represents an increase of 9.1 million registrations, or 2.3%, compared with the previous quarter, and growth of 30.1 million registrations, or 8.1%, year-on-year.
New domain extensions continue to grow
One of the key trends highlighted in the latest report is the continued growth of new generic top-level domains (new gTLDs).
New gTLD registrations reached 52.9 million at the end of Q2 2026, an increase of 13.4 million registrations, or 34%, compared with the same period last year.
New gTLDs now represent approximately 13.2% of all domain name registrations globally, demonstrating the increasing diversity of the domain name landscape beyond traditional extensions such as .com.
Country-code domains remain strong
Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) also continued to grow, reaching 148.6 million registrations globally at the end of the quarter.
This represented year-on-year growth of 3.6%, with Australia’s .au continuing to rank among the ten largest ccTLDs globally.
What does this mean for businesses?
The continued growth of the global domain name market reinforces the importance of actively managing and protecting corporate domain portfolios.
With more than 400 million domains now registered – and new extensions continuing to grow -businesses face an increasingly complex digital environment. Organisations need to consider not only the domains they actively use, but also registrations that may be important from a brand protection, security and risk management perspective.
A well-managed domain strategy should include regularly reviewing existing registrations, identifying gaps in brand coverage, monitoring upcoming domain extensions and ensuring critical domains are appropriately secured.
As the domain name landscape continues to expand, taking a proactive approach can help organisations protect their brands, customers and digital presence.
Get in touch with Brandsec and to learn how we can help.
About brandsec
brandsec is a team of highly experienced domain name management and online brand protection experts. We provide corporate domain name management and brand enforcement services, helping brands eliminate phishing platforms across the internet. Supporting some of the largest brands in the region, we offer innovative solutions to combat threats across multiple industries.
