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39+ WordPress Statistics You Need To Know in 2023

Author Alena Ulasava Published on 13 min read

The starting point of WordPress is with WordPress 0.5, or as it was known at the time, B2/Cafelog in 2001. Initially, it was established as a blogging platform, and after a while, in 2003, Matt Mullenweg took over the prog and started WordPress 0.7 that same year. WordPress is built using PHP and MySQL and licensed under GPLv2, which means it is used at liberty and can be altered by anyone. It was a cooperative effort of 151 people over a couple of years. Also, the direct costs of establishing and evolving WordPress reached around the $8 million mark. As of 2023, the total number of WordPress users worldwide reached an astonishing 835 million.

Let’s revise some of the statistics to understand better the most favored open-source CMS in the world and its community.

General WordPress Statistics

  • WordPress has significant popularity in the CMS market, boasting 65.2% of the total market share.
  • WordPress is used by 14.7% of the world’s most popular websites.
  • Over 500 sites are constructed every 24 hours using WordPress, while Shopify and Squarespace only record 60-80 new sites built in the same period.
  • There are over 55,000 available plugins on the WordPress Plugin Directory.

What’s the Percentage of WordPress Websites on the Web in 2023?

43.1% of all the websites on the internet are powered by WordPress – this is what the new statistic showed in 2023.

(Source: W3Techs, Kinsta)

The statistics done in 2020 show that WordPress is powering 34% of all websites on the internet. 

In other words, WordPress has a leading role in CMS systems. The difference in the numbers presented in the research in both years can be spotted effortlessly. So this means there is an intriguing growth in demand for WordPress.

WordPress’s market share in the CMS market has increased from 64.1% in 2021 to 65.2% in 2022.

(Source: ToolTester)

Several other open-source projects have debuted, but WordPress is still the most popular CMS due to its flexibility, affordability, and power. Its extensive library of themes and plugins provides a lot of versatility. 

WordPress is used on 14.7% of the world’s most popular websites.

(Source: Manaffera, Fortune 500 companies)

WordPress is used by a wide range of companies, including NBC, NFL, CNN, The Walt Disney Company, The PlayStation Network/Blog, and other prominent organizations. Furthermore, this shows that WordPress is a reliable and evolving CMS tool that anyone can use.

WordPress Market Share Statistics

65.2% market share for content management systems on websites with a known CMS is proudly held by WordPress.

(Source: HubSpot)

Other CMS systems such as Shopify, Joomla, Squarespace, and Wix hold the next portion of the market share:

  • Shopify 6.6%
  • Wix 2.8%
  • Squarespace 2.7%
  • Joomla 2.6%

These numbers show a huge difference in market share between WordPress and other CMS. That indicates the quality and favorability of WordPress. 

29.41% of the Top 10K Sites are using WordPress.

(Source: BuiltWith)

According to BuiltWith research, WordPress is currently the most popular CMS among the best sites worldwide. 

28.7% of the Top 1 Million Sites are using WordPress.

(Source: BuiltWith)

This study made by BuiltWith also points out that WordPress is the most popular CMS worldwide, but there is enough market share for other CMS options.

WordPress Growth Statistics

WordPress’ total market share has grown by a whopping 7.9% from 2017 – 2019.

(Source: Kinsta)

The Kinsta research discloses that from 2017, WordPress powered 27.3% of all websites. By December 2019, WordPress had reached the current market share of 35.2%. 

W3Techs analysis of WordPress’s market share growth from 2011 till 2022 shows consistently growing market share by ~1-4%.

(Source: W3Techs)

This latest research shows even more significant growth during the covid pandemic. The WordPress growth statistics point out the extended usage and usefulness of WordPress.

WordPress Usage Statistics

Over 409 million people rev over 20 billion WordPress pages, with over 70 million new posts and 77 million new comments each month.

(Source: WordPress.com)

Alongside being the most broadly – used CMS, WordPress is also the fastest growing. 

Real-time WordPress activity data shows that each month, there is a vast number of new pages built, new posts, and comments.

More than 500 new websites are created daily on the WordPress.org platform.

(Source: Techjury)

These statistics show the enormous influence that WordPress has in the CMS market. With the growth of the new business, WordPress will dictate the entire CMS market.

According to BuiltWith, 60,371,738 websites are WordPress customers, of which 35,871,158 are live websites.

(Source: BuiltWith)

The measure made for the usage of WordPress from 2013 to 2023 has shown the incredible demand for WordPress as a reliable and effective CMS system.

According to W3Techs, 12% is the average increase in WordPress usage per year since 2011.

(Source: HubSpot, W3Techs) 

In 2011, 13.1% of all websites used the WordPress software system. In 2023, the usage of WordPress will increase to 43.1% – a stunning number.

A study done by W3Techs on all CMS systems concluded WordPress as the clear winner with no nearby opposition. As for the runner-up, that spot goes to Shopify, with a market share of 4.1%.

The statistics for December 2019 show that WordPress core has had 40,785 commits, 409 releases, and 58 contributors from all around the globe.

(Source: Kinsta)

Such a turnaround puts WordPress firmly on the pedestal as the common convergence point for e-commerce owners and bloggers alike. 

The up-to-date numbers indicate that WordPress 6.0 has been downloaded 92,273,131 times and is growing.

(Source: CounterWordPress.org)

As more and more people get involved in the SEO side of things, the number of WordPress users keeps rising. For many, WordPress took much of the guesswork away, allowing them to set the stage for running their online business.

WordPress Version Statistics

To date, over 19 million installations of Gutenberg have been made, with 24 million posts written using the program.

(Source: Kinsta)

WordPress 5.0, also known as Gutenberg, was released to the Internet on December 6, 2018. With 157.000+ postings written daily, it is clear that people are using it due to its efficacy. 

 71% of WordPress sites have English set as their primary language.

(Source: Kinsta)

According to WordPress, the platform is available in 72 languages and counting. However, most sites use English by default as a universal language. 

There have been a lot of different versions of WordPress throughout the years. Here are some of them:

(Source: WordPress.org)

  • WordPress 5.6, December 8, 2020
  • WordPress 5.6.1, February 3, 2021
  • WordPress 5.6.2, February 22, 2021
  • WordPress 5.6.3, April 14, 2021
  • WordPress 5.6.4, May 12, 2021
  • WordPress 5.7, March 9, 2021
  • WordPress 5.7.1, April 14, 2021
  • WordPress 5.7.2, May 12, 2021
  • WordPress 5.9, January 25, 2022
  • WordPress 6.0, May 24, 2022
According to W3Techs, version 6.0 is the most popular version of WordPress and is used by 54.3% of all WordPress websites.

(Source: W3techs)

This number shows that more than half of WordPress users follow the recommendation to use the latest version of WordPress for their websites. Version 6.0 has made significant advancements in terms of usability and performance. Adding new blocks and comprehensive site editing makes it simpler to modify your WordPress theme without having to write code.

Let’s check the usage of other WordPress versions below:

  1. Version 5 – 38.6%
  2. Version 4 – 6.6%
  3. Version 3 – 0.4%
  4. Version 2 – less than 0.1%
Over one-fifth of all WordPress sites use WooCommerce.

(Source: Hubspot)

Various WordPress subcategories are also employed on many websites. The second most popular subcategory is Elementor, and after that comes WPBakery.

WordPress Plugin Statistics

With over 55,000 plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory, you’re sure to find one that fits your needs.

(Source: Kinsta)

In recent years these plugins have been downloaded over 1 billion times. 

Plugins are add-ons that allow customers to customize their CMS with the basic features of WordPress CMS. 

After analyzing data from April 2016 to April 2019, it was found that there were 18,262 published plugins.

(Source: Kinsta)

The mentioned years have seen only 30 published plugins with over 100,000 installations. It shows that there should be fresh updates launched at regular intervals.

Classic Editor has the most active installations with over 5 million hits.

(Source: WordPress.org)

The Classic Editor is a WordPress plugin developed by the team that restores the older version of the WordPress editor and Edit Post screen. Out of all plugins available, nearly half feature a donate button.

The Elementor Website builder is a close second, with over 5 million active installations.

(Source: Elementor.com)

Elementor is the most popular WordPress website builder, allowing anyone to create beautiful pixel-perfect websites with its easy-to-use visual builder.

According to the most recent data, about 57% of active installations have never been rated.

(Source: Ilovewp.com)

The rates usually are ‘reserved’ for the highest ranking in popularity, such as Classic Editor, Elementor Page builder, Duplicate page, etc.

So, these are the most used and actively rated by the users.

WordPress Theme Statistics

There are over 11,000 themes on the Envato market, with 70% of searches focusing on specialized categories.

(Sorice: Kinsta, Fastcomet.com)

The Envato market is home to many designers who sold over one million themes. WordPress themes comprise different types of files, codecs, graphics, and style sheets. These files come together to create the look and feel of your website.

WordPress has over 31,000 themes.

(Source: Hubspot, Coideinwp)

The ten most popular free themes on WordPress.org come from developers, including Hello, Astra, OceanWP, Neve, and Kadence. 

The average price of a paid theme is $57.54.

(Source: Codeinwp)

There is also different pricing for a pervasive range of themes. For example, you can buy some of them for as cheap as $10, while others will cost you north of $200. Hence, consider your budget when picking a theme.

It is estimated that there are over 9000 free WordPress themes available.

(Source: ThemeGrill)

A free WordPress theme may be a wonderful place to begin when creating your website. Also, there are many free themes to choose from the WordPress themes.

The Avada theme has been downloaded over 200,000 million times and has generated more than $12 million.

(Source: Thrievemyway)

For $69, you may acquire the Avada theme from the Theme Forest and get an unlimited license to use it on your website.

Divi, Avada, and the Genesis Framework are the most popular WordPress themes, with a combined market share of 17%.

(Source: Codeinwp, Builtwith)

Divi is used on 14,111 websites, Avada on 6,418 websites, and Genesis on 5,891 websites.

To create a unique WordPress design, your budget must be between $500 and $52,800.

(Sorice: Kinsta)

When it comes to WordPress, you have a lot of options for your website design. You can find free and premium themes, as well as custom-made designs. If you want a truly unique WordPress design, you’ll need to be prepared to spend some money.

WordPress Security Statistics

On average, there are around 2,800 attacks on WordPress sites every second.

(Source: Wordfence)

WordPress sites are constantly under attack by hackers and malware. This statistic should be enough to convince anyone that website security is no laughing matter.

As per WordpRess White security, 30.95% of Alexa’s top 1 million sites are running the outdated version 3.06 of WordPress, putting them at risk of hacking.

(Source: WP Manage Ninja)

You must be sure that your site is running on an up-to-date version of WordPress to provide greater security.

A recent study found that 4,000 websites were infected with malware because they used a fake SEO plugin.

(Source: WP Manage Ninja)

Ensure that the plugin you’re using comes from a trustworthy source and is up to date. More than half of WordPress vulnerabilities are caused by WordPress plugins, as WP Scans reports.

Outdated versions of WordPress software are utilized in 39% of hacked WordPress websites.

(Source: WP Manage Ninja)

To be always in control, you must know how to protect your website and check for updates. You can be easily targeted for cybercrime with high traffic and many users, particularly with shared hosting servers.

Around 8% of WordPress sites get hacked because their passwords are easy to guess.

(Source: Cminds.com)

To secure your site, you must ensure that your chosen password has different characters. In that way, you will prevent being hacked. 

According to one Kinsta research, 41% of the attacks happen due to platform vulnerabilities.

(Source: Kinsta)

Over half of WordPRess attacks come from hosting platforms vulnerabilities. Furthermore, WordPress Plugins are responsible for 52% of all WordPress security flaws. More than 4 out of 5 security vulnerabilities on the internet can be traced back to cross-site scripting or XSS.

WordPress websites are particularly vulnerable to XSS fatalities comprising 39% of all WordPress vulnerabilities. 37% are caused by the exploitation of the WordPress core, and 11% originate from hacked WordPress themes. The most common reason for such flaws is the domain’s age.

WordPress Profit Statistics

WordPress drove global revenue of $596.7 billion in the year 2020.

(Source: App My Site)

Economic analysis shows WordPress contributed a worldwide revenue of almost 600 billion last year.

The financial analysts predicted an astonishing $635 billion for 2021. 

Automattic, the marker of WordPress, managed to pull in $1.3 billion in sales.

(Source: App My Site, Wedevs.com)

Despite being a nonprofit organization, WordPress has even reached more than a billion dollars as an isolated platform. 

The Envato platform brought in $95 million of revenue.

(Source: App My Site, Wedevs.com)

People from all corners of the globe use Envato to make creative assets, design templates, develop skills, and even train freelancers.

WP Engine, a WordPress company that provides website maintenance and updates as part of its services, earned $74 million.

(Source: App My Site, Wedevs.com)

WP Engine is a WordPress-specific web host that sells managed plans that are completely optimized for the platform. They are not exactly cheap, meaning their starting prices are on par with many other WordPress hosts.

Conclusion

These facts tell us that the WordPress CMS platform has exceeded everyone’s expectations.

From a blogging platform, it has become the world’s leading giant in CM tools. Used by bloggers at first, WordPress is now the go-to site for e-commerce businesses, news sites, entertainment venues, etc.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much of the market does WordPress have?

WordPress holds a 65.2% market share for content management systems on websites with a known CMS. 

W3Techs found out that WordPress has a market share of 82.4% among websites in Japan and around 43.9% among German domains. Such data indicates that it has a much stronger market presence than its competitors. Additionally, WordPress is used by 14.07% of the world’s top and most popular websites.

What percentage of WordPress sites are prone to be hacked?

Currently, the most used CMS is WordPress. Because of that, it can be an interesting target for data breaches, hacking attempts, malware, and Trojan attacks. Statistics show that 8% of WordPress websites are hacked because of weak passwords. Another common reason is the usage of outdated versions of WordPress, the culprit for 39% of such break-ins. More often than not, it’s a result of users neglecting to upgrade the software to the newest version. Similarly, Scurri discovered that over 4,000 sites were hacked because of an unsafe plugin.

How much do WordPress developers earn?

WordPress development is in high demand in today’s industry.

This is the gist according to relevant HubSpot data:

  • Junior WordPress Developer Salary – $40,000 on average
  • Expert WordPress Developer Salary – $150,000 on average
  • Freelance WordPress Developer Salary – $70,000 on average, with rates ranging between $30 to $175 per hour

However, keep in mind that different companies offer various rates and bonuses.

Sources

Posted by
Alena Ulasava

Alena Ulasava is a customer success specialist at wp-stack.co. She's a pro at helping people get the most out of their WordPress. Alena has an uncanny knack for understanding what makes her clients tick, and she loves nothing more than turning first-time website owners into lifelong fans of her product. When she's not busy making the world a better place, one happy customer at a time, Alena enjoys spending time with her enjoys reading books, practicing yoga, and spending time with her cat, Tosho.

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