Who actually runs the world's email, and how much of it is protected?

Only 12.0% of domains publish a DMARC policy asking for enforcement

24.3% publish a DMARC record at all, and 49.6% of those set a policy stronger than "do nothing". Publication rates are the figure usually quoted; this is the one that describes what a receiver is actually told to do.

Almost none of the variation in mail authentication is organizations deciding differently. It is whoever provisioned the domain deciding for them.

SPF is published 1.9× as often as DMARC

44.9% of resolving domains publish SPF against 24.3% publishing DMARC — most of the estate has taken the first step and not the second.

Source: Datazag corpusas of 2026-09-24363.6M resolving domains

Go deeper

ProvidersWhich mail providers run the world's email, and what do they enforce?OpenEnforcementHow much published DMARC is actually enforced?OpenParked domainsWhat do parked domains publish, and does it protect anyone?Open

What the MX records themselves say

2.58%

Formally declare they accept no mail

4,520,763 of 175.5M domains publishing MX

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

4,520,763 domains publish the RFC 7505 null MX — deliberate, correct, and confirmed against live DNS.

1.23%

Publish an MX that cannot deliver

2,162,728 of 175.5M domains publishing MX

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

2,162,728 domains where every MX host is undeliverable. 80% are parked — one platform default, not organizations breaking their own mail.

Every mail figure, citable

Free to quote with attribution. Open the notes on a card before you do.

44.93%
no prior period

Domains publishing an SPF record

163,361,319 of 363.6M resolving domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is email authentication?
24.26%
no prior period

Domains publishing a DMARC record

88,217,792 of 363.6M resolving domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is email authentication?
0.09%
no prior period

Domains publishing MTA-STS

319,063 of 363.6M resolving domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is MTA-STS?
0.06%
no prior period

Domains publishing BIMI

209,157 of 363.6M resolving domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is email authentication?
42.51%
no prior period

Domains publishing an SPF record, excluding parked domains

140,864,837 of 331.4M resolving domains not detected as parked

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

25.18%
no prior period

Domains publishing a DMARC record, excluding parked domains

83,439,551 of 331.4M resolving domains not detected as parked

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

69.86%
no prior period

Parked domains publishing an SPF record

22,496,482 of 32.2M parked domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

14.84%
no prior period

Parked domains publishing a DMARC record

4,778,241 of 32.2M parked domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

88.37%
no prior period

Parked domains publishing DMARC that set p=none

4,222,664 of 4.8M parked domains publishing DMARC

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is domain parking?
48.51%
no prior period

Domains publishing an MX record

176,365,240 of 363.6M resolving domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

49.35%
no prior period

Domains publishing an MX record, excluding parked domains

163,543,445 of 331.4M resolving domains not detected as parked

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

39.82%
no prior period

Parked domains publishing an MX record

12,821,795 of 32.2M parked domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

46.63%
no prior period

Domains with an MX that can actually receive mail

169,523,515 of 363.6M resolving domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

47.87%
no prior period

Domains with a working MX, excluding parked domains

158,632,366 of 331.4M resolving domains not detected as parked

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

33.82%
no prior period

Parked domains with an MX that can actually receive mail

10,891,149 of 32.2M parked domains

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

49.63%
no prior period

DMARC records at enforcement (p=quarantine or p=reject)

43,781,239 of 88.2M domains publishing DMARC

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is email authentication?
50.31%
no prior period

DMARC records set to p=none

44,379,368 of 88.2M domains publishing DMARC

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is email authentication?
0.06%
no prior period

DMARC records with an invalid policy value

57,185 of 88.2M domains publishing DMARC

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is email authentication?
40.59%
no prior period

DMARC records that neither enforce nor report

35,809,473 of 88.2M domains publishing DMARC

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

72.76%
no prior period

MTA-STS domains with a policy mode on record

232,140 of 319,063 domains publishing MTA-STS

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is MTA-STS?
47.94%
no prior period

MTA-STS domains whose policy is set to enforce

152,958 of 319,063 domains publishing MTA-STS

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

What is MTA-STS?
1.23%
no prior period

Domains whose MX record cannot deliver mail

2,162,728 of 175.5M domains publishing MX

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

2.58%
no prior period

Domains that formally declare they accept no mail

4,520,763 of 175.5M domains publishing MX

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

80.31%
+0.33pp since 2026-09-23

Mail-operating domains with no named provider whose primary MX is under their own domain

26,293,212 of 32.7M mail-operating domains with no named provider

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

12.63%
+0.03pp since 2026-09-23

Mail-operating domains with no named provider whose primary MX is a third-party domain the catalog does not name

4,134,106 of 32.7M mail-operating domains with no named provider

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

6.85%
+0.02pp since 2026-09-23

Mail-operating domains with no named provider whose primary MX cannot take mail

2,241,128 of 32.7M mail-operating domains with no named provider

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

438,151
+389 since 2026-09-23

Third-party MX domains serving mail-operating domains with no named provider

438,151 of across Datazag corpus measurement over gold.dns_wide: primary MX resolved to its registrable domain through lake.ref.public_suffix and matched against lake.ref.provider_catalog

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

2.08%
no prior period

Mail-operating domains with no named provider served by the 1,000 largest uncataloged MX domains

680,912 of 32.7M mail-operating domains with no named provider

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

45.87%
-0.01pp since 2026-09-23

Domains on a third-party MX serving 100 or more of them

1,896,303 of 4.1M mail-operating domains with no named provider on a third-party MX

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

33.85%
no prior period

Domains on a third-party MX serving 10 to 99 of them

1,399,221 of 4.1M mail-operating domains with no named provider on a third-party MX

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

20.28%
+0.01pp since 2026-09-23

Domains on a third-party MX serving fewer than 10 of them

838,582 of 4.1M mail-operating domains with no named provider on a third-party MX

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

5,058
+4 since 2026-09-23

Domains served by the largest uncataloged third-party MX domain

5,058 of across Datazag corpus measurement over gold.dns_wide: primary MX resolved to its registrable domain through lake.ref.public_suffix and matched against lake.ref.provider_catalog

Source: Datazag · as of 2026-09-24

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