Number of e-mails per day worldwide 2017-2026

With the internet becoming increasingly accessible, the number of e-mails sent and received globally has increased each year since 2017. In 2022, there were an estimated 333 billion e-mails sent and received daily around the world. This figure is projected to increase to 392.5 billion daily e-mails by 2026.

E-Mail marketing

Despite the increasing popularity of messengers, chat apps and social media, e-mail has managed to remain central to digital communication and continues to grow in uptake. By 2025, the number of global e-mail users is expected to reach a total of 4.6 billion - an approximate six hundred thousand increase in users, up from 4 billion in 2020. Not only that, when it comes to online advertising e-mail has seen higher click-through-rates than on social media. In Belgium and Germany, these were 5.5 and 4.3 percent respectively - compared to the 1.3 percent global average CTR for social media during the same time period.

Gmail

Launched in April 2004, Google’s Gmail has earned its spot as one of the most popular freemail services in the world. According to a 2019 survey, its popularity worldwide was trumped only by Apple’s native iPhone Mail app with 26 percent of all e-mail opens worldwide taking place on the platform. Millennials surveyed in the United Kingdom listed Gmail among their top 5 most important mobile apps, while a similar survey carried out in Sweden saw Gmail tie with WhatsApp for a spot among the top mobile apps nationwide.