Count 'em up: Total .nz domains above 750,000 again

by Domains Direct 3 min read

Every now and then it’s interesting to look into statistics from the Domain Name Commission (DNC) to see how many .nz domains there are, and whether that number is growing or shrinking.

The DNC’s Market Data is the official word on these things, and right now it has numbers that go up to July 2025.

So, here are some key facts about the state of New Zealand’s domain industry.

Total .nz domains: 755,569

There are more than a quarter of a million .nz domains registered right now. That’s more than the total number of enterprises or businesses that Stats NZ counted last year (612,420), and it’s around 1 domain for every 7 New Zealanders.

Most ever: 758,495

We reached this peak in June 2023, when a period of rapid growth topped out. Whatever drove the rush disappeared fast, because the 2023 year-end total was down by around 13,000.

Chances of a domain being renewed: 86%

Of all the domains that hit their expiry in July 2025, 86% were renewed for another year or more. That means that roughly 1 out of every 7 domains expired and dropped out of the total.

This is the highest renewal rate since early 2023. But before that, it had never been so low. The long run average had been more like 90%, or only 1 in 10 domains expiring.

Growth rate: 1%

Take last July’s total domains, add another 1%, and you have this July’s total. This is a reasonably healthy rate compared to, say, Australia where the same figure for .au domains is 0.7%.

Growth has been positive for six consecutive months. The previous 12 months were all negative. In that context, 1% is a healthy number indeed.

Median retail price: $38.50

Finally, the number that makes Domains Direct customers feel very good about their choices. The DNC reports that the median registrar charges $38.50/yr (incl. GST) for .nz domains!

Register a domain with us and you’ll only pay $23.50 (excl GST, or $27.03 incl). That’s got to be the best number in this entire article.

All graphs from the Domain Name Commission. Photo by Renate Köppel on Pixabay