European ccTLDs see reduced growth

Growth is slower, but it’s still growth. Not all TLDs can claim that.

CENTR, an organization representing country code top level domain operators primarily in Europe, has released its latest Global TLD note.

The note indicates that European ccTLDs are still seeing growth, albeit much slower than during the pandemic.

Year-over-year growth in these TLDs was 1.4% in 2023. When looking at monthly year-over-year rates, the market seemed to have hit a bottom in January 2023 and grew from there, but it fell back in the latter part of the year:

CENTR states strong renewal rates in the existing base have helped maintain this growth:

While deletions have increased over 2023, they are still relatively low compared to longer-term averages. This means that while the base of domains in European ccTLDs are often being maintained, fresh registrations are struggling. Based on analysis of registrations and in particularly average demand ratios, we expect average growth rates to remain similar for 2024. The challenge for ccTLD registries will be to ensure their by now high renewal rates are maintained whilst still attracting a sufficient number of fresh registrations over the year.

This is encapsulated in another chart that shows fresh registrations divided by deletions:

As stated by CENTR, European ccTLDs are more likely to be developed than .com domains and other gTLDs, which results in higher renewal rates.

Verisign, the registry for .com and .net domains, notes a blended renewal rate for .com and .net domains that hovers in the low-to-mid 70% range.

The Demand Ratio for .com is below 1.0, resulting in a decline in the base of registered .com domains.