23% of internet users aged 16 and over used a VPN in Q2 2025, based on GWI survey data published in We Are Social’s Digital 2026 Global Overview Report. That share has barely moved in three years, while app downloads fell and enterprise VPN appliances became a top target for attackers. This post separates the three ways VPN usage gets measured, because they produce different answers that most articles blend together.
VPN Provider Market Share and Usage
How Many People Use a VPN?
GWI’s quarterly survey, published through We Are Social’s Digital reports, is the most consistent series available. It shows the share of internet users aged 16 and over who use a VPN for at least some online activity sitting in a narrow band since late 2022.
| Quarter | Internet users aged 16+ using a VPN |
|---|---|
| Q1 2023 | 24.7% |
| Q4 2023 | 23.2% |
| Q1 2024 | 22.7% |
| Q4 2024 | 24.0% |
| Q1 2025 | 23.1% |
| Q2 2025 | 23.0% |
Source: We Are Social Digital 2026 Global Overview Report, citing GWI, quarterly data Q1 2023 to Q2 2025
The rate peaked at 24.7% in Q1 2023 and sat at 23.0% by Q2 2025. One methodology note applies: adults aged 65 and over entered the GWI sample from Q1 2024, which coincided with the lower 2024 and 2025 readings.
The flatness is the finding. A category often described as fast-growing has held between 22.7% and 24.7% for three years.
VPN Provider Market Share and Usage: The 1.6 Billion Question
A figure of roughly 1.6 billion VPN users circulates widely, often framed as about 30% of the world’s internet users. It frequently appears in the same articles as GWI’s 23% survey rate, and the two do not match.
The gap is definitional. “Has ever used a VPN” produces a much larger count than “uses a VPN for at least some online activity,” which is what GWI measures, and the two get printed as if they were the same thing.
When quoting a VPN user count, the percentage and the absolute number need to come from the same measurement. Otherwise they contradict each other on the page.
VPN App Downloads by Year
Cybernews tracks downloads of the 50 most popular VPN apps from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store across 126 countries. Downloads peaked in 2022 and have not returned to that level since.
| Year | Global VPN app downloads, top 50 apps |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 487 million |
| 2023 | 404 million |
| 2024 | 464 million |
| 2025 | 412.5 million |
Source: Cybernews VPN Adoption Report, download data 2022 to 2025
Cybernews is explicit that downloads are not users. One person can install several apps or reinstall after a device change, and installs say nothing about retention.
Per the same report, adoption rates in 106 of the 126 tracked countries stayed flat or fell in 2025, with Europe the only region still showing consistent growth. Security teams auditing their own remote-access setup can start with this Linux server security checklist before adding any tunnel at all.
VPN Provider Market Share and Usage by Country
Cybernews ranks countries by 2025 downloads measured against population. Gulf states dominate the top of the table, and the figures reflect repeat installs in restricted markets rather than unique users.
| Country | Download-based VPN adoption, 2025 |
|---|---|
| UAE | 85.50% |
| Qatar | 58.47% |
| Oman | 54.06% |
| Singapore | 48.09% |
| UK | 27.48% |
| United States | 16.20% |
Source: Cybernews VPN Adoption Report, 2025 download data, 50 apps across 126 countries
The UAE’s 85.50% exceeds any plausible share of individual users, which is why download-based and survey-based country rankings should never sit in the same table unlabeled. A country-by-country breakdown of both measurement types is available in this VPN usage statistics by country analysis.
US VPN Usage Trend
The United States ranks 21st globally on downloads, at 54.1 million in 2025 against 63.4 million in 2024, per Cybernews. Survey data shows a sharper picture.
| Year | US adults using a VPN |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 46% |
| 2025 | 32% |
Source: Security.org annual VPN survey, 2023 and 2025
Security.org attributes part of the decline to fewer employer-mandated work VPNs rather than falling privacy concern. That explanation, which is theirs, connects the consumer and enterprise halves of this market: as companies retire traditional remote-access VPNs, the personal-device installs that came with them drop out of consumer surveys too. Teams replacing those tunnels with direct access still need hardened endpoints, and guides like enabling SSH on Ubuntu and configuring nftables firewalls cover the basics.
VPN Provider Market Share in Enterprise Deployment
6sense tracks corporate VPN deployments through technographic detection. This is a different market from consumer subscriptions: Cisco and Check Point sell remote-access infrastructure to companies, while NordVPN and ExpressVPN sell consumer apps, and no single share table covers both.
| Provider | Share of tracked companies | Customers |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco VPN | 33.33% | 7,353 |
| OpenVPN | 18.16% | 4,006 |
| Check Point VPN | 18.14% | 4,003 |
| Microsoft Azure Virtual Network | 13.55% | Not stated |
Source: 6sense Virtual Private Network (VPN) category data, 2026
Two caveats limit the picture. The sample covers roughly 22,000 companies that 6sense can detect, not the full enterprise universe, and it skews American: 58.67% of tracked companies are US-based, against 8.33% in the UK and 6.95% in India.
Within that sample, though, the concentration is real. These four vendors account for the large majority of tracked deployments, a far tighter market than the consumer side. Similar concentration patterns show up in adjacent categories like password manager market share and CDN market share.
Why Enterprise VPN Appliances Are Under Pressure
Mandiant’s M-Trends 2026 report, built on more than 450,000 hours of incident response conducted during 2025, names edge devices including VPNs and routers among the most targeted systems for initial access, because they typically lack endpoint detection and response telemetry.
| Metric | Finding |
|---|---|
| Exploits as share of initial infection vectors, 2025 | 32%, sixth consecutive year as top vector |
| Mean time to exploit vulnerabilities | Estimated -7 days |
| Median time from access to handoff, 2025 | 22 seconds |
| Median time from access to handoff, 2022 | Over 8 hours |
| Voice phishing as initial infection vector, 2025 | 11%, second most common |
Source: Mandiant M-Trends 2026, incident response data from 2025
The negative mean time to exploit is the sharpest number here. Exploitation is routinely occurring before a patch exists.
Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report recorded a 34% jump in vulnerability exploitation against perimeter devices and VPNs. Between the two reports, the practical response window for a compromised VPN appliance is now effectively zero, and attack outcomes vary sharply by platform, as data on ransomware attacks by operating system shows.
What the VPN Provider Market Share and Usage Data Shows
Three things hold across independent measures. Consumer usage is flat at 23% of internet users in Q2 2025, inside the same band since late 2022, and app downloads sit below their 2022 peak of 487 million.
Enterprise deployment is concentrated among four vendors led by Cisco at 33.33% of tracked companies. And the security data from Mandiant and Verizon shows VPN appliances at the top of the initial-access target list, with exploitation frequently preceding the patch.
Any user count near 1.6 billion is inconsistent with the 23% survey share it usually appears next to. Pick one measurement and stay with it.
FAQs
How many people use a VPN in 2026?
23% of internet users aged 16 and over used a VPN in Q2 2025, the latest reading in We Are Social’s Digital 2026 report citing GWI. The share has stayed between 22.7% and 24.7% since late 2022.
Is the 1.6 billion VPN user figure quoted on Reddit accurate?
It conflicts with survey data. The 1.6 billion figure is usually framed as roughly 30% of internet users, while GWI’s Q2 2025 survey puts VPN usage at 23%. The larger number likely reflects “ever used” rather than active use.
Which VPN provider has the largest enterprise market share?
Cisco VPN, with 33.33% of tracked enterprise deployments and 7,353 customers, per 6sense 2026 data. OpenVPN follows at 18.16% and Check Point VPN at 18.14%. The sample covers roughly 22,000 detectable companies and skews American.
Why do VPN statistics shared on Reddit contradict each other?
Threads mix three measurements: surveys (23% of internet users, GWI Q2 2025), app downloads (412.5 million in 2025, Cybernews), and enterprise deployment tracking (6sense). Each covers a different population, so their numbers rarely reconcile.
Is VPN usage growing or declining?
Neither, by survey. GWI data shows 23.0% in Q2 2025 versus 24.7% in Q1 2023. Downloads declined, from 487 million in 2022 to 412.5 million in 2025 per Cybernews, and US survey usage fell from 46% in 2023 to 32% in 2025.
Sources
https://wearesocial.com/us/blog/2025/10/digital-2026-global-overview-report/
https://cybernews.com/best-vpn/vpn-usage-by-country/
https://6sense.com/tech/virtual-private-networks
https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/m-trends-2026
