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The .pl domain market developed steadily in the second quarter of 2024, recording increases in new registrations, renewals and users. A report by NASK’s National Research Institute provides detailed data on registrations, transfers and additional services such as DNSSEC security.
In the article, we will look at the most important indicators and trends of this period, which show how the market is growing and users are increasingly concerned about security and professional management of their domains.
Growth in the number of domains in the .pl Registry
At the end of the second quarter of 2024, there were 2,576,972 active names in the .pl domain registry. This represents an increase of 12,384 compared to the end of the previous quarter. This is a great result, which shows that .pl domains continue to enjoy great popularity and interest among users.
From the beginning of April to the end of June 2024, 182,524 new domains were registered. On average, 2006 new names were registered daily, an increase of 4% compared to the second quarter of 2023. Although interest in registering new domains in the second quarter of 2024 was slightly lower than in the first quarter (almost 30,000 more names were registered then), there is still a clear upward trend. It has been apparent for several years that the second quarter has had less interest in registering new domains, but nevertheless the results in 2024 were better than in the same period in 2023 – 7.5 thousand more domains were registered.
Subscribers increasingly willing to renew their domains
In the second quarter of 2024, the renewal rate of domains remained stable at 72.19%, a result similar to that of the first quarter of this year. Compared to the second quarter of 2023, the number of renewed domains increased by 2.49%, which shows the growing commitment of subscribers to renew their existing names. In the second quarter of 2024, 418,285 .pl domains were renewed, which contributed to maintaining a large number of active names. In addition, for 2,955 domains, the billing period was extended by an individually determined number of days, a service tailored to the needs of specific users. This allows subscribers to better manage their domains according to their specific requirements and schedules.
Customer loyalty on the rise: domain transfers decline in Q2 2024
Domain name transfers show customer loyalty to registrars and changes in the market. There were 33,529 transfers in the second quarter of 2024, down 6,600 from the previous quarter. On average, 368 transfers were made per day, which may suggest that customers are more satisfied with their registrars. One of the key players is Kru.pl, which manages more than 20,000 domains and serves 10,000 customers, offering transparent policies and professional technical support.
.pl domains popular among companies
At the end of June 2024, the number of unique .pl domain name registrants reached 1,138,003, an increase of 1,377 registrants compared to the previous quarter. The average number of domain names per subscriber was 2.26, showing that many users register more than one domain.
The data shows that 64.25% of.pl domain registrants are companies and organizations, and 35.75% are individuals. This means that domains are being used more frequently by businesses, which are increasingly turning to them for marketing and strategic purposes. Companies often register domains to build their online presence, demonstrating the growing role of domains in business promotion and communication strategies.
90% of .pl domains belong to Poles: international interest grows
Most .pl domains are registered by Poles – as many as 90.67% of the names come from Polish users. Only 9.33% of the domains belong to foreign registrants, most of which come from Germany(1.54%), the US(1.08%) and the Netherlands(0.81%). Although the share of foreign users is small, their presence shows that the .pl domain is also in demand outside Poland, which increases its international value.
Additional services
DNSSEC
At the end of the second quarter of 2024, 431,411 domains were secured with the DNSSEC protocol, indicating growing security awareness. DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is an additional domain security feature that protects against popular attacks, such as fake website impersonation. This allows users to be sure they are visiting the right websites. Most of the secured domains (83.9%) are direct .co.uk domains, while the rest are functional and regional domains.
IDN
IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names) are names containing national diacritics, such as “ą”, “ł” and “ę”. Although they are not that popular, 2116 new IDN names were registered in the second quarter of 2024, and a total of 25,470 such domains were active, accounting for 0.99% of all .pl domains. Examples of such domains include “mąż.pl” or “żółw.pl”, which allow full use of Polish characters in web addresses, which can be important for local businesses or individuals.
Domain options
Domain Options is a service that allows you to “reserve” a domain name before it becomes available for registration. It’s a useful solution if someone wants to buy a domain that is currently occupied, but may soon become vacant. In the second quarter of 2024, 2,089 such agreements were concluded, of which 740 ended up making the domain available for registration. In addition, 362 contracts were extended for another three years, giving users more time to wait for the domain of their choice.
Domain Registrars and the NASK Partner Program.
At the end of June 2024, 207 registrars from 23 countries participated in the NASK Partner Program, which means that many companies worldwide are involved in the registration and maintenance of .pl domains. Most of them operate in Poland – 135 registrars handle nearly 1.6 million domain names. Registrars from Europe manage more than 602 thousand domains, and companies from outside Europe are responsible for almost 390 thousand domains. This makes .pl domains available globally, increasing their reach and popularity internationally.
Conclusions and outlook
The second quarter of 2024 brought stable growth in the .pl domain market, with a moderate increase in registrations and renewals. The decline in the number of transfers indicates greater loyalty of subscribers to registrars, and the growing interest in additional services, such as DNSSEC and domain options, shows a growing concern for security. Kru.pl, which handles more than 20,000 domains, stands out in this dynamic environment. The company offers a wide range of services, such as hosting and SSL certificates, taking care to provide an individual approach to customers. Its flexible offerings and cost transparency are attracting an increasing number of users, both businesses and individual customers. Kru.pl, as an accredited NASK registrar, has a strong position in the market and plays a significant role in the development of the .pl domain market.
As a result, the .pl domain market remains dynamic and competitive, which means that the value of domains as a marketing tool continues to grow. Observing current trends, further growth can be expected in both the number of registrations and the introduction of new, innovative services by NASK and partners such as Kru.pl. Kru.pl is a company in the ITH group which is responsible for creating and delivering hosting services – shared hosting, dedicated servers and public cloud – its own Kru.pl solution. Kru.pl’s services can be very easily integrated with ITH’s telecommunications network, including, for example, connecting cloud resources via a dedicated fiber-optic link to the client’s office.