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.ee Domain Outpaces Europe with Strong Growth and Rising International Interest

In total, 9,174 new .ee domains were added to the registry in 2025. The highest number of registrations took place in August, while May saw the lowest activity. At the same time, more than 25,000 domains expired and were released to the public domain auction platform. The adoption of the DNSSEC security extension, which enhances website security, continued to increase, with one in five .ee domains now protected by DNSSEC.

Estonia continues to perform strongly in international comparison. Across Europe, the market for country-code top-level domains is showing signs of declining demand, with average growth at just 0.85%. At the same time, a broader trend is emerging: while the pace of new registrations has slowed, existing domains are being used and renewed more actively than before.

In Estonia, there are 12.6 registered domains per 100 residents, and .ee remains the most popular extension, accounting for 47.2% of the domestic domain market. Other extensions such as .eu and .com have also gained new users, alongside country-code domains from neighbouring countries. By contrast, the use of traditional generic domains such as .org, .net and .info has declined significantly, with registrations dropping by 16.7% year on year.

Domain names increasingly reflect changes in the local business landscape. Keywords used in domain registrations provide direct insight into the sectors in which new companies are being established. For several years, the most popular keywords have included “24”, “auto” and “Eesti”. Strong positions are also held by terms related to housing, construction and renovation. In 2025, the keyword “ai” saw a notable rise, appearing in 142 domain names. At the same time, the use of words related to rental services, energy and education declined, giving way to keywords such as padel, casino and online shopping. This suggests that Estonian entrepreneurs are actively responding to emerging trends and opportunities in society.

Location-based names also continue to gain traction online. Among Estonian cities, Tallinn and Tartu are used most frequently in domain names. In addition to local references, companies are increasingly incorporating terms such as “Nordic” and “Baltic” into their branding. Domain names also highlight a strong emphasis on expertise, with words like “smart”, “expert” and “pro” appearing frequently. Overall, the diversity of .ee domain names has increased, and their use has become noticeably more international and multilingual.

Most frequently used words in .ee domains in 2025:

• 24
• auto
• eesti
• ai
• ehitus
• kodu
• pg
• keskus
• my
• pood

The .ee domain is also becoming increasingly popular internationally. While foreign registrants account for around 20% of the total registry, they represented 45.4% of all newly registered .ee domains in 2025, nearly 10 percentage points more than the previous year. The highest number of new registrations came from China, Lithuania and the United States, followed by Germany and Latvia.