There are approximately 900,000 websites operating in Poland, meaning that only one in three registered domains is used to publish content online. Although Poland has a population of about 37.5 million people and, according to Statistics Poland (GUS), around 2.8 million active enterprises, only about 1.2 million unique subscribers have registered domains. This shows a relatively low level of digitalization in Poland and a significant growth opportunity for hosting providers operating in the country.
According to a report by NASK, the number of domains registered in the .pl registry at the end of 2024 was 2.59 million. Including domains registered through other Polish registries—such as ACK Cyfronet AGH, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and TASK—as well as European (.eu) and global domains, the total number of domains used by Polish entities is just under 3 million. The total number of unique domain subscribers is estimated at about 1.2 million, including approximately 800,000 business users and 400,000 individuals.
Registering a domain is the first step toward publishing content online. It allows a person or organization to reserve a unique address that can later be used for websites or other digital services. A branded domain not only increases recognition but also provides legal and business security that the published content will not disappear overnight — a problem sometimes seen with free content posted on platforms like Facebook.
Once registered, a domain may be used for publishing content, sending emails, or it may remain unused — reserved for future use. In many cases, domains are registered solely for resale. This creates challenges for the market, as resellers secure desirable domain names, making them inaccessible to regular users without paying inflated prices, sometimes reaching hundreds of thousands of PLN. To mitigate this, many subscribers choose to register their domain names under multiple extensions (e.g., .pl, .com.pl, .eu, .com, .net) to secure their brand or personal identity.
The number of registered domains alone is not a reliable indicator of how many websites are actually active. To assess the real number of operating websites, it’s necessary to analyze DNS entries, SSL certificates, and most importantly, whether the domain actually displays content when entered in a browser. Drawing on years of experience operating the top100.webhostingtalk.pl and test2speed.com services, netart.com, part of the NetArt Group, has carried out the largest study of its kind in Poland. The results clearly indicate that fewer than one in three domains currently lead to an active website.
