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20+ Essential Email Statistics [2023]

By Jack Flynn
Jan. 11, 2024

Email statistics research summary. Since the time of AOL, emails have been a part of our everyday lives. Far from fading into the background, businesses and workers now use email more than ever to market and keep up to date in the workplace. We’ve gathered all the latest email-related statistics, and according to our extensive research:

  • The average professional receives 120 new emails each day.

  • The average worker spends 23% of their workday checking an email inbox.

  • 99% of professional email users check their work inboxes every day.

  • The average worker checks their email 15 times per day.

  • The number of emails sent per day increased by 29% between 2017-2023.

For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways: Professional Emails | Personal Emails | Facts and Figures

number of daily emails over time

Professional email statistics

Professionals rely on email to communicate with and market to others. The simple task can consume a large chunk of their day, but at what cost? To find out more, we’ve gathered valuable professional email statistics:

  • The average professional sends 40 emails per day.

    Between sending 40 emails and receiving 120, professionals are truly swamped with email reading, sending, and receiving.

  • The average employee spends 11 hours per week handling emails.

    That’s the equivalent of nearly 50 hours per month, or 600 hours per year, meaning that, on average, a professional will spend 25 days worth of time checking emails annually!

  • 38% of office workers say email fatigue could cause them to quit.

    This is even more pronounced for those under 40, with 51% of this demographic saying email fatigue makes them consider leaving their jobs.

  • Email makes up 31% of workplace interactions.

    This is followed closely by online chat tools (30%), showing just how digital workplace communication has become.

  • 86% of professionals cite a lack of effective communication as the leading cause of workplace failure.

    While digital communication is the most common, it’s not necessarily the most effective. The vast majority of professionals think there’s a lack of communication in the workplace.

Personal email statistics

Email hasn’t only taken over the workplace, it’s a part of almost any person’s day-to-day lives. Here are some examples of how prevalent email is for the everyday person:

  • The average person receives more than 100 emails per day.

    People receive a lot of emails, even outside of the office, with the vast majority of them being spam.

  • 40% of email users have 50+ unread messages in their inbox.

    If you’ve ever had your friend’s phone in your hand and witnessed the horror of “236 unread emails,” you know how common this is. Or maybe you are that friend.

  • 75% of Gmail users check their inboxes on mobile devices.

    With our phones in our pockets wherever we go, it’s no wonder people spend so much time checking emails.

  • 20% of employees receive 40+ emails a day that require immediate attention.

    With only so much time in the day, having to respond to 40+ emails can be very stress-inducing. This is part of why so many employees consider leaving their jobs.

  • 78% of people will mark email spam if it “looks like spam.”

    No one likes spam, and people are quick to dismiss and report emails that look like spam. 54% say they would report the email as spam if the sender did not ask permission to send it.

  • 99% of people check their email inboxes daily.

    More common than a morning coffee, nearly all global email users check their emails on a daily basis.

  • 62% of all emails are not important.

    Many email users suspect spam simply because it’s so common. While they’re being bombarded with emails, they also know most aren’t important.

General email statistics

To drive home just how prevalent email is in the 21st century, we’ve gathered some key facts you should know:

  • There are 4.26 billion email users globally.

    That number is only expected to grow, estimated to reach 4.73 billion users by 2026.

  • 347.3 billion emails were sent daily in 2023.

    That’s up 29% from 2017, when 269 billion emails were sent each day. Further, a projected 392.5 billion emails will be sent daily in 2026.

    Number of emails sent per day over time

    Year Number of emails (in billions)
    2017 269.0B
    2018 281.1B
    2019 293.6B
    2020 306.4B
    2021 319.6B
    2022 333.2B
    2023 347.3B
    2024* 361.6B
    2025* 376.4B
    2026* 392.5B
  • People open 36.48% percent of emails across all industries.

    top 5 industries by email open rates

    Faith-based organizations have the highest open rates, at 45.49%, while Technology Services has the lowest at 20.77%.

    Average email open rate by industry

    Industry Average email open rate
    Faith-Based Organizations 45.49%
    Child Care Services 44.77%
    Family and Social Services 42.66%
    Nonprofit Membership Organizations 42.27%
    Nonprofit Services 41.82%
    Recreation, Sports & Entertainment 41.80%
    Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers 41.36%
    Education 40.15%
    Travel & Tourism 39.71%
    Home & Building Services 39.34%
    Dining and Food Services 37.58%
    Health and Wellness 37.03%
    Personal Care Services 36.39%
    Transportation Services 36.16%
    Real Estate 35.03%
    Legal Services 33.16%
    Retail 33.14%
    Administrative & Business Support Services 31.08%
    Financial Services 30.36%
    Consulting Services 30.06%
    Manufacturing and Distribution 30.05%
    Repair and Maintenance 29.44%
    Technology Services 20.77%
  • 40% of people say they have at least 50+ unread emails.

    A large share of all the emails being sent go unread, cluttering up millions of inboxes across the globe.

Email statistics FAQ

  1. How much time is wasted on email?

    Workers waste an average of 23% of their workday on emails each day. In hours, the employee spends 11 hours per week handling emails. That’s the equivalent of nearly 50 hours per month, or 600 hours per year, meaning that employees waste 25 days worth of time checking emails annually.

  2. What is the average number of emails received per day at work?

    The average worker receives 120 emails per day at work. These same workers also send roughly 40 emails per day, contributing to an endless cycle of email clutter.

  3. What percentage of emails never make it to the inbox?

    20% of emails fail to reach the recipient’s inbox. This is often caused by spam misplacement, where important emails are improperly sorted into the spam pile.

  4. What is email fatigue?

    Email fatigue is when email users become overwhelmed by the constant presence and volume of emails they deal with day to day. This fatigue often causes people to disengage from email, or even think about quitting their jobs. 38% of office workers say email fatigue could cause them to quit their jobs.

  5. Is email communication unproductive?

    Yes, email communication is generally unproductive. With employees checking their email 36 times per hour to glean information that could have been discussed in a 10-minute meeting, there’s a huge loss in productivity.

    On top of that, with all the misplaced or unread emails, there is a considerable problem with miscommunication.

Conclusion

A daily part of life for over 4 billion people email is truly everywhere. Today, 347.3 billion emails are sent daily, and 99% of professional email users check their work inboxes every day.

This prevalence has dramatically impacted the workplace, with workers spending 23% of their workday simply sifting through emails. These workers receive 120 emails daily and send up to 40 themselves.

However, more and more workers are also reporting email fatigue. For some, this feeling has become so severe that they’ve considered leaving their jobs. Companies need to look into these concerns and foster an environment as positive and productive as possible.

References

  1. HBR – How to Spend Way Less Time on Email Every Day

  2. Statista – Number of sent and received e-mails per day worldwide from 2017 to 2026

  3. CTech – Electronic Excess: Microsoft research finds employees spend 11 hours a week handling emails

  4. Forbes – Survey Finds Email Fatigue Could Lead 38% Of Workers To Quit Their Jobs

  5. Constant Contract – Average industry rates for email as of November 2023

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Author

Jack Flynn

Jack Flynn is a writer for Zippia. In his professional career he’s written over 100 research papers, articles and blog posts. Some of his most popular published works include his writing about economic terms and research into job classifications. Jack received his BS from Hampshire College.

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