In today’s digital world, the internet is considered in many countries to be a basic human right.
We rely on our online connections to reach loved ones, research products, find useful information, and even learn how to complete important tasks. Of course, the internet would be nothing without the infrastructure underneath it, responsible for keeping websites running.
As of 2020, the market value of the web hosting industry was a massive $62.6 billion. By the time we reach 2027, experts predict this industry will be worth $171.4 billion, with a CAGR of around 15.5 in that time. Demand for great hosting only continues to grow.
This guide to some of the most valuable web hosting statistics will give you an insight into the wonderful world of hosting.
Key Web Hosting Statistics – Editor’s Choices
- America is home to the largest number of hosting providers
- GoDaddy is responsible for about 20% of the web hosting market
- Worldwide, there are about 330,000 web hosting providers
- Currently, there are more than 1,881,331,200 websites online
- Shared hosting is the most popular type of web hosting
Web Hosting Statistics: Global Statistics
1. America has the most hosting providers
Global penetration of the internet is evident all across the globe, but the number of hosting providers is particularly high in North America and the United States.
Though Asia has the highest number of internet users overall, the United States is responsible for 51.59% of the hosting market share on its own. The next largest country for hosting is Germany, with only 11.60%
Interestingly, Iceland is the country with the highest internet penetration, with almost 100% of the population having access to the web.
2. Host popularity depends on location
The popularity of certain web hosting companies depends entirely on where you are in the world. Cloudflare and GoDaddy are popular in the US, but in Germany, the most popular host is “Strato”.
In the UK, 123-Reg ranks among the top spots, and Italy’s Aruba holds 55.49% of the market share there. Some markets are highly local, with many of the top hosting companies being owned by local brands.
Interestingly, all 10 of the top 10 hosts in the Czech Republic are local companies, and 9 out of 10 of the top hosts in Italy are local.
3. The US is responsible for most data center servers
Web hosting providers rely on data centers and servers to host websites online.
These servers are located all around the globe. Many companies even offer access to servers in multiple different locations to improve redundancy. The United States is home to the most servers overall, accounting for around 39.2% of the market share.
North America has been found to have a particularly high market share, of around 35.28% as of 2019. This higher share is often attributed to the US market, which has access to the greatest number of websites available on the web.
4. Europe could be one of the fastest-growing regions for web hosting
According to a study from Grandview Research, Europe will witness a CAGR of over 16% between the years of 2020 and 2027. Countries like the UK and Germany are currently responsible for a high level of growth in this region. Out of the total websites hosted online as of 2018, Grandview found that over 7 million domains belonged to Germany.
Extra growth in the EU may also be attributed to the European Government’s decision to build a more secure infrastructure following ransomware attacks.
5. There are more than 1.8 billion websites online right now
At the time of writing, the number of online websites active today is gradually creeping towards around 1.9 billion. This number continues to go up constantly, with new websites being published every fraction of a second. All of these websites require a host to power them.
6. In 2021 there are more than 1.21 billion hostnames registered online
Netcraft revealed around 1.21 billion host names are registered online at the moment. However, very few of these websites are active. Out of more than 1.21 billion registered names, only around 200 million in total are active and online. Active websites make up about 15.5% of all registered host names.
Web Hosting Statistics: Web Hosting Market
7. Nginx is the most popular server software for web hosting
The software responsible for turning standard computers into servers is server software. There are various types of this technology available today, including Litespeed, Apache, and Cloudflare Server. Currently, Apache and Nginx are responsible for a little over 65% of the market:
8. Enterprises are the biggest end-user of web hosting
In terms of revenue attribution, the enterprise segment accounts for the majority of the web hosting market, at around 90.46% since 2019. The reflects the growing popularity of online shopping, and the rising demand for companies to be available online with their own digital entity.
The customer inclination towards online shopping is expected to bolster increased spending in the web hosting services market from 2020 to 2027.
9. Of website builders with their own hosting solution built-in, Wix is the most popular choice.
Currently, among companies using website builders where they need to supply their own hosting, WordPress is the most popular technology for powering websites. WordPress is responsible for about 38.5% of the sites on the internet.
Among hosted solutions (where hosting is included as part of the website building package, Wix is the most popular choice, with 31% market share. Squarespace follows at 19%, and Shopify is third at a total of 13% market share.
10. 6% of all websites are hosted by one infrastructure provider
6% of all the websites hosted in the world are hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon only recently emerged above New Fold digital, which is the parenting company for a various web hosting brands like Bluehost and Host Gator.
NewFold Digital’s most popular hosting platform is Hostgator, which is responsible for about 32.9% of its share. Bluehost follows closely with around 24.78%.
11. GoDaddy is the most popular web hosting service provider
GoDaddy is the most popular web hosting service provider of all. The company currently accounts for 10.49% of all the websites worldwide, and it’s most popular in the United States. The closest competitor to GoDaddy is Google Cloud Platform, which is responsible for around 6.4% of the market share.
While 10% might not look like a lot at first, it’s worth remembering that number adds up to millions of websites around the world.
Web Hosting Statistics: Hosting Trends
12. Shared hosting is the most dominant form of hosting
The web hosting market is growing at a rate of around 15.5% between the years 2020 and 2027. In this market, shared hosting is currently the most popular choice among all hosting services, with a revenue share of around 37.94% as of 2019.
13. Cloud hosting is replacing shared hosting
In 2018, shared hosting accounted for around 31.7% of the market share as the most popular form of online hosting. However, studies now show that between 2019 and 2025, the cloud hosting environment is growing at a much faster rate, of around 18.3% CAGR. This indicates that cloud hosting will eventually take over as the hosting service of choice.
14. Virtual Private Server hosting is growing too
Allied Market research also found that virtual private server hosting is expected to grow at a rate of 15.5% between 2020 and 2027. The managed VPS server is also expected to reach a value of around $8.39 billion by 2026. Allied Market Research notes the growth of this type of hosting might be caused by a rising demand among enterprise customers to overcome security and technical issues.
North America dominated the market for virtual private sectors in 2018, and Allied predicts this market trend will continue going forward to 2027. Managed VPS is the most popular form of VPS hosting.
15. Demand for green hosting is on the rise
As of 2021, there were around 4.66 billion active users on the internet, accounting for almost 60% of the world’s population. As the internet becomes more prevalent in our world, companies are looking for more efficient ways to run our technology.
Green hosting, which involves using renewable energy resources or creating offsets of energy, will help the digital world run more efficiently without damaging the planet. The market, according to Global Market Insights, will grow from a value of $6.5 billion in 2018, to $35 billion in 2026. APAC is predicted to embrace green data centers the most.
16. It’s predicted that 80% of companies will close down traditional data centers by 2025.
Spending on traditional data center technology is gradually decreasing as more focus is placed on cloud-based and multi-cloud servers. Organizations are less inclined to build their own data centers. Gartner believes this will mean around 80% of “traditional” environments will be shut down in 2025.
Growth of cloud-based solutions could allow for faster, more efficient hosting experiences around the world.
Web Hosting Statistics: General Statistics
17. 37.4% of domains use the .com TLD
When you do access the web hosting you need to bring your site online, you’ll need a domain name, so people can find your website. Your domain name is like an address on the web people can type to connect specifically with the data and content you want to share.
The “TLD” of your domain is the part at the end of your business name, such as .com, .net, or .org. Currently, 37.41% of all domain names use the .com TLD, though the number of available alternatives continues to increase.
18. Reliability is crucial when choosing good web hosting
When choosing a hosting provider, companies need to look for the solution capable of offering the best combination of performance, security, and speed. There are hundreds of hosting companies out there, but only a handful can offer the amazing experiences site owners are looking for.
Reliability is among the most important factors influencing site owner decisions, as the cost of IT downtime averages at around $5,600 per minute for larger companies, according to Gartner. For a company as large as Amazon, a minute of downtime could ad dup to over $220,000 in lost revenue.
19. Security is a top concern for web hosting
According to Cybersecurity ventures, by the end of this year (2021), cybercrime damages will be responsible for costing the world around $6 trillion per year. This is an increase of almost double the $3 trillion valuation in 2015.
A focus on highly secure web hosting can help companies to avoid these huge expenses and deliver a better customer experience.
20. Web hosting providers support more than 4.66 billion people worldwide
Without web hosting providers, we wouldn’t have access to the websites and applications we love online. As of January 2021, Statista reported a total of around 4.66 billion internet users worldwide. Around 4.32 billion people are active mobile internet users, and 4.2 billion are active social media account holders.
More than half of the population of the globe is connected to the internet, with Northern Europe currently boasting the highest penetration levels for total internet access at around 95%.
21. Improving website’s loading time improves conversion rates
Portent found improving your site’s loading time with the right web hosting provider can improve conversion rates significantly. Website conversion rates drop an average of 4.42% with each additional second of loading time. What’s more, Portent also discovered that the first five seconds of page loading time seem to have the biggest impact on conversion rates.
22. Demand for hosting will increase as internet usage accelerates
Though the demand for excellent internet hosting solutions is huge today, it’s set to explode even further in the years to come. Cisco’s study into the future of networking and internet usage notes that by 2022, 60% of the population will be internet usage. Additionally, more than 28 billion connections and devices will happen online.
By 2022, Cisco also believes the busiest hours of internet traffic will be six times more active than the average today. Tomorrow’s hosting solutions will need to account for this increasing spike in demand.
Web Hosting Statistics – Summary
Your web hosting solution will be the most important tool you invest in at the start of your digital journey. Today, there are dozens of hosting solutions available to support the modern business. If you’re planning on making the transition into the digital world, make sure you have the right web hosting solution in place.
Want to Learn More?
- The Ultimate List of Cloud Computing Statistics
- The Ultimate List of Cybersecurity Statistics
- Best Web Hosting Services
