How Many Websites Use Joomla? A Data-Driven Analysis

As a leading open-source CMS platform, Joomla powers millions of websites across the globe. But how widely is it actually used? Which countries, industries and categories show the highest Joomla adoption? How does it fare against competitive CMS solutions?

This in-depth 2600+ word guide analyzes Joomla‘s usage and market share through a data-driven lens to answer such questions. With rich statistics, trends and insights, it showcases precisely how popular Joomla is as a CMS option based on current and historical adoption data.

Joomla Usage Overview

• Over 4 million total websites use Joomla, with close to 2 million live sites
• 1.8% of all websites currently use Joomla
• 5th most used CMS platform globally

These numbers highlight that despite strong competition, Joomla occupies a firm spot among the top CMS choices for building websites. Thousands of site owners still prefer it for key strengths like extension ecosystem, design flexibility, SEO capabilities and ease of use.

Now let‘s analyze the trends and data in detail across various metrics and dimensions.

Historical Website Growth

• Total sites using Joomla CMS:

  • 2018 – Over 3 million
  • 2020 – Over 3.5 million
  • 2022 – Over 4 million

• Live websites using Joomla:

  • 2018 – Over 1.5 million
  • 2020 – Over 1.7 million
  • 2022 – Close to 2 million

The numbers indicate gradual but steady increase in usage over the years. Between 2018 to 2022, total Joomla sites have grown from 3 million to over 4 million.

Considering that top CMS platforms like WordPress and Shopify have grown explosively in the past 5 years, Joomla‘s growth appears modest. Yet, an addition of over 1 million websites in 4 years highlights its continued relevance.

Year-Wise Market Share

• CMS market share of all websites using known platform:
  • 2016 – 7.5%
  • 2019 – 5.4%
  • 2022 – 2.6%
  • 2023 – 2.7%

The statistics show that Joomla‘s share has dropped over the past 5+ years as competing CMS platforms see higher adoption growth globally.

Still, it retains market share of over 2.5%, which equates to millions of sites choosing Joomla for their technology needs. Noteworthy considering how new players like Wix, Squarespace and Shopify have now surpassed it.

Usage Percentage Trends

• Websites using Joomla:
  • Jan 2022 – 1.7%
  • Sep 2022 – 1.6%
  • Feb 2023 – 1.8%

No major fluctuations in site percentage here as well. Joomla CMS usage holds firm in the 1.6% to 1.8% range throughout 2022.

This aligns with the market share data indicating stability despite intensifying competition. The core Joomla community and user base is still going steady.

Most Used Joomla Version

• Joomla 3.x – 82.4% of sites
• Within 3.x – Joomla 3.10.x has 51.6% share
• Joomla 2.x – 10.2% of sites
• Joomla 1.x – 7.3% of sites

The breakup highlights that majority of websites run the latest major version i.e. Joomla 3.x for access to improved features and security updates. Also, over half of 3.x sites are on the newest 3.10.x release.

Evidently, most site owners make efforts to upgrade to newer Joomla versions. This is a healthy trend reflecting stronger security and lower vulnerability across a majority of Joomla CMS installs.

Countries With Most Joomla Sites

1. United States – 364,631
2. Germany – 203,777
3. Russia – 138,495
4. Italy – 77,523
5. Poland – 51,286

America leading here is expected given the broader web technology adoption. European countries like Germany, Russia, Italy and Poland showing high usage highlights Joomla‘s popularity there.

Drilling down further – within US the states with most Joomla sites are California, Texas, New York and Florida based on higher density of businesses and organizations.

Usage by Industries

• Arts & Entertainment – 5.8%
• Business – 4.3%
• Computers & Internet – 6.5%
• News & Media – 4.9%

We see decent adoption across these segments known for active digital presence through websites and online platforms.

Specifically, the tech space has maximum usage indicating developers and tech companies leveraging Joomla for building their own sites. The creative industries also show above average usage due to flexible designs.

Usage by Website Categories

• Business Sites – 3.47%
• Blogs – 1.17%
• Directories – 5.21%
• Forums – 2.76%

Comparison across categories reveals that:

• Joomla powers a higher share of directories and business sites
• For blogs, WordPress has emerged as the platform of choice over the years
• Forum software like phpBB and vBulletin dominate that space pushing down Joomla‘s share

This showcases how Joomla adoption varies based on website categories and their specific technology requirements.

Joomla Usage in Top Sites

Among the top 1 million websites globally, 14,854 use Joomla which equates to 1.49% share.

Within the websites ranked in the top 100,000 positions, Joomla usage increases to 2.05% with 2,046 sites using it.

The numbers indicate that while top million has overall alignment with total usage share, Joomla enjoys slightly higher adoption among top-tier websites in the 1-100k range.

Notable Big Brands Using Joomla

• Harvard Business Review
• MTV
• Peugeot
• Eurosport
• Panasonic Mexico
• Dominos Pizza Russia
• Baskin Robbins
• Tesla Israel

Presence of such big brands highlights trust in Joomla for running key website properties across geographies and languages.

The combination of user-friendliness, built-in multi-linguality and SEO combine for continued adoption by many global enterprises despite tough competition.

Joomla Usage Versus Leading CMS Platforms

Let‘s analyze how Joomla usage and trends stack up against main alternative options:

WordPress:

• Websites using platform:

  • Joomla – 1.8%
  • WordPress – 43.1%

• CMS Market share:

  • Joomla – 2.7%
  • WordPress – 63.4%

Being the world leader, WordPress overshadows Joomla significantly across usage and market share. Open source roots similar to Joomla while stronger ecosystem attract site owners.

Shopify:

• Websites using platform:

  • Joomla – 1.8%
  • Shopify – 3.8%

• CMS Market share:

  • Joomla – 2.7%
  • Shopify – 5.5%

Shopify has rapidly risen up the ranks through the booming ecommerce industry. Its share of sites and market dominance exceeds Joomla based on specialized commerce capabilities.

Squarespace:

• Websites using platform:

  • Joomla – 1.8%
  • Squarespace – 2.1%

• CMS Market share:

  • Joomla – 2.7%
  • Squarespace – 3.1%

Squarespace challenges Joomla through strong growth fueled by rising no-code site builder demand. Focused exclusively on the website builder space gives it an edge.

Wix:

• Websites using platform:

  • Joomla – 1.8%
  • Wix – 2.5%

• CMS Market share:

  • Joomla – 2.7%
  • Wix – 3.7%

Similarly, as a top site builder platform, Wix surpasses Joomla across usage share and market dominance based on user-friendly visual site creation capabilities.

The Bottom Line

Despite strong headwinds, Joomla shows decent resilience with:

• Millions of websites continuing to use it
• 1.8% share of total sites
• Ranking among the top 5 CMS platforms

Core strengths around customizability, extensions library and engaged community keep it entrenched as a viable player.

While growth has slowed down, data indicates continued trust in Joomla for critical website infrastructure powering businesses, organizations and personal portfolios across geographies.