What the numbers are
The two tables on this page are copied from public reports by email companies. We did not make them up, round them, or fill in an industry we could not read. Each table says who published it, what period it covers, and whether the numbers are medians or averages.
- Open rate: the share of delivered emails that were opened.
- Click rate: MailerLite counts the share of people who clicked. Mailchimp counts all clicks divided by delivered emails, so one person who clicks twice counts twice.
- Unsubscribe rate: the share of delivered emails that led to an unsubscribe.
How to read them
Treat them as a rough place to stand, not a target. Reports count in different ways, so MailerLite and Mailchimp do not match, even for the same industry. A median says what the middle account gets, and an average is pulled by a few high or low ones.
Open rates are the shakiest. Apple Mail Privacy Protection opens emails for the reader, so opens are higher than real reading. A click means a person acted, so look at the click rate first.
The best benchmark is your own last six emails. If you are going up against yourself, you are doing something right, whatever the table says.
When your rate is low
- Low opens: look at the subject line and the sender name. The subject line tester takes a minute. Also check that your domain has SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
- Low clicks: one clear button, placed early, usually beats five links.
- High unsubscribes: send less often, or tell people up front what they will get.
Other reports
For a different cut, read the full reports from the sources above. Each has more industries than we show here. Other email companies publish yearly reports too, and they will be a little different, because the senders and the way of counting are different.
FAQ
What is a good open rate?
It depends on the industry, the list and how the report counts. In the MailerLite table the middle account opens between about 30 and 56 percent, depending on industry. Mailchimp's older table shows lower numbers. Compare yourself to your own history.
Why are the numbers from two sources so different?
Different senders, different years and different ways of counting. MailerLite lists medians from a year ending in November 2025. Mailchimp lists averages and was last updated in December 2023.
Why is your industry missing?
We list only the industries that we could read in a report we opened. If yours is not here, the source pages have the full lists.
Are these Postfjord's own numbers?
No. They are copied from the reports named above, with a link to each. We have no data of our own to show.
How often does this page change?
We update the tables when a new yearly report comes out.