Today Afnic is publishing the 2021 edition of the .fr review which details the activity of the French TLD over 2021 and analysis its market. The finding: the .fr TLD has maintained its momentum and corroborates the digital transformation.
Key figures
.fr growth has been sustained, and largely exceeds that of the market and its competitors.
The market share of the .fr TLD is rising steadily and accounted for 38.75% of domain names in France in 2021.
776,514 new .fr domain names were created in 2021.
Towards consolidated uses
Domain name creations reached remarkable levels in 2020 and 2021, significantly above those of the last “normal” benchmark year, that is to say 2019. The adoption of digital technology to counter the effects of the crisis played a substantial role in this trend, and has entered into real use.
Following on from a historic record in .fr domain name creations in 2020 (793,441), the 776,514 in 2021 have confirmed the take-up of digital benefits by French users, with create operations still up 12% on 2019.
There were 3,882,448 .fr names in stock at 31 December 2021, compared to 3,670,372 in the same period in 2020, i.e. growth of 5.8% (compared to 7.0% in 2020 and 3.7% in 2019).
This performance also outstrips that of the French market for all TLDs combined, which stood at +3.6%, and exceeds that of the EU zone (+2.9%) and the global market (+0.7%).
.fr still on the rise in France with 38.75% of market share
Avec une croissance plus importante que le marché local, le .fr voit sa part de marché continuer sa progression et s’afficher à 38,75 % en 2021 (contre 38,0 % en 2020). Cette augmentation de 0,8 point est supérieure au .com qui est de 0,6 point. Il est également intéressant de noter que la part de marché du .FR est en augmentation constante depuis les 5 dernières années, avec un gain total de 3,1 points, tandis que le .com a lui gagné 1,9 point.
Variations des parts de marché en France (2017 – 2021)
A TLD working towards the digital transformation of small businesses
The acceleration of the digital transition continues, but beyond this observation, the choice of TLD has favoured .fr. A particularly motivating situation for Afnic which works on a daily basis to raise the awareness of and provide support for SMEs/VSEs, retailers and tradespersons in their digital transition. This also reflects the perception these professionals have of the .fr domain as a secure, reliable and affordable TLD that promotes French know-how.
Thanks to Réussir-en.fr (“Succeed with .fr”) and other initiatives like Je Passe au Numérique (“I’m going digital”) and Tous en Ligne Maintenant (‘All Online Now’), the .fr domain is more than ever committed alongside the public authorities and institutional partners to enabling all small businesses to take the leap and make the most of digital technology.
Download the Report of .fr in 2021
About Afnic
Afnic is the acronym for Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération, the French Network Information Centre. The registry has been appointed by the French government to manage domain names under the .fr Top Level Domain. Afnic also manages the .re (Reunion Island), .pm (Saint-Pierre and Miquelon), .tf (French Southern and Antarctic Territories), .wf (Wallis and Futuna) and .yt (Mayotte) French Overseas TLDs.
In addition to managing French TLDs, Afnic’s role is part of a wider public interest mission, which is to contribute on a daily basis, thanks to the efforts of its teams and its members, to a secure and stable internet, open to innovation and in which the French internet community plays a leading role. As part of that mission, Afnic, a non-profit organization, has committed to devoting 11% of its Revenues from managing .fr Top Level Domain to actions of general interest, in particular by transferring €1.3 million each year to the Afnic Foundation for Digital Solidarity.
Afnic is also the back-end registry for the companies as well as local and regional authorities that have chosen to have their own TLD, such as .paris, .bzh, .alsace, .corsica, .mma, .ovh, .leclerc and .sncf.
Established in 1997 and based in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Afnic currently has nearly 90 employees.
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