• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 20, 2023

North America is far from the world leader in email metrics.

It has lower open and click rates than the global average, and higher unsubscribe rates, according to breakout statistics from Sendinblue’s  Email Marketing Industry Benchmark 2023. 

The global averages were as follows:

• Open rate — 21.89%
• Click — 3.96%
• Unsubscribe — 0.15%
• Bounce — 0.51%

In contrast, North America stacks up as follows:

• Open Rate — 20.74%
• Clicks — 3.06%
• Unsubscribe — 0.17%
• Bounces — 0.57%

Why is North American lagging? Perhaps because email recipients there are “more likely to hit the subscribe button if the email content doesn’t interest them,” the study notes.

However, the lowest open and click rates are seen in the APAC region, showing that recipients are not engaging with email campaigns:

• Open Rate — 20.32%
• Clicks — 2.83%
• Unsubscribe — 0.11%
• Bounces — 0.58%

In contrast, Latin America looks this way: 

• Open Rate — 23.61%
• Clicks — 3.29%
• Unsubscribe — 0.06%
• Bounces — 0.63%

And The EMEA region, which accounts for 46% of total email volume, experiences these results:

• Open Rate — 21.34%
• Clicks — 4.88%
• Unsubscribe — 0.19%
• Bounces — 0.39%

Of course, the metrics vary by industry.  North America experiences the following:

• Open rate — Professional Services
• Click rate — Professional Services
• Lowest unsubscribe Rate — Nonprofit 
• Lowest bounce rate — Sports, Hobbies & Interests

EMEA sees these results:

• Open rate — Science
• Click Rate — Science
• Lowest unsubscribe Rate — Software/Application
• Lowest bounce rate — Marketing

APAC is different:

• Open Rate — Art, Music, Culture & Fashion
• Click Rate — News and Politics
• Lowest Unsubscribe Rate — Software/Application
• Lowest Bounce Rate — Ecommerce

And, Latin America sees these results:

• Open Rate — Travel
• Click Rate — Travel
• Lowest Unsubscribe Rate — Nonprofit
• Lowest Bounce Rate —Ecommerce

Overall, religion and spirituality is in second place in opens and clicks. 

Why should marketers track key performance indicators in email? Because this helps them “measure the effectiveness of your campaigns, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions top optimize your email marketing strategy,” the study concludes.

Sendinblue analyzed the campaign statistics of all its customers from January 2022-December 2022, excluding bots.