Since Verisign latest Domain Industry Brief (March 08) it is common knowledge that country code domains (ccTLD’s) are the fastest growing segment in the domain industry. But not that many people are really familiar with the >250 country code extensions and with the trends in these markets.

In the run-up to the launch of .co.nl, the operator validated its predictions about the ccTLD market with extensive research. The statistics resulting delivered a strong support for the start up and the summary below might provide you with some new ccTLD insights as well:

• The number of ccTLD name registrations increased last year with 33% globally to 58 Million
• Of all ccTLD registrations world wide, almost 1 out of every 5 names has a co.xx extension
• 45 countries actively promote their co. extension as the national domain standard
• The largest co.xx extension is the .co.uk with about 6 Million registrations
• High growth rates are coming from ccTLD’s such as .cn, .ru and .co.kr
• The Dutch ccTLD .nl is the fourth largest in the world (total nr of registrations)
• The .nl is expected to grow towards 3.25 Million registrations in 2008
• About 70% of the .nl domains has been registered for business purposes
• The Netherlands have the highest amount of registered domains (>20) per 100 inhabitants in the world

Following the International preference for .co.xx domains, the Netherlands will get a version of its own in 2008! Further advantages are the new availability of key word domain names with a Dutch flavour, and the possibility to register a Dutch domain without an address in the Netherlands.
>> The expectations are high, so get yours soon!