QR Code Statistics 2026

Dynamic QR code scans recorded on the QRStuff platform in 2025 (88,206,725).

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (platform data). qrstuff.com/scan-report/

Dynamic QR code scans on QRStuff in 2024 (100,470,117) — the highest single-year total on record for the platform.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (platform data).

Compound annual growth rate of QRStuff dynamic scans from 2018 to 2025 — using 2018 as the mature pre-pandemic baseline. A credible long-run growth rate that avoids 2009 early-base distortion.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (derived from platform scan data).

QRStuff's 2025 scan volume versus the 2018–2019 pre-pandemic average — demonstrating that the 12.2% decline from 2024 is normalisation, not collapse.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026.

Approximate number of QR codes in the QRStuff platform corpus (68,067,810), spanning code creation from 2008 through 2025.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (corpus scale metrics).

Raw scan log rows in the QRStuff dataset spanning 2009–2025 (578,175,162) — the data foundation behind this report.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (corpus scale metrics).

Year-over-year change in QRStuff dynamic scans from 2024 to 2025. The decline is normalisation after an unusually strong 2024 peak (+28%), not channel collapse.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026.

Q4 2025 QRStuff scan growth year-over-year — the only quarter in 2025 to post positive growth, suggesting platform stabilisation after the H1 correction.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026.

Scans per newly created QR code on QRStuff in 2025 — the ratio of annual scan volume to annual new code creation (ex-Visualead). Rising as creation slows faster than scan activity.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (derived metric).

New QR codes created on QRStuff in 2025 (1,402,449), excluding Visualead-linked accounts — a 33.4% decline from 2.1M in 2024, consistent with a maturing installed base. Includes anonymous/guest creation (platform-wide minus Visualead); not restricted to registered accounts.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (code_creation_trend_2024_2025_ex_visualead.json; platform-wide scope including anonymous, Visualead excluded).

Share of QR codes created in January 2025 (ex-Visualead) that were Website URL type — the dominant content type, with vCard, PDF, WiFi, and Google Review codes as significant secondary types.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (January 2025 snapshot, ex-Visualead).

Busiest scan day of the week on QRStuff (seasonal index 1.10 vs Sunday 0.85). Weekday scans exceeded weekend scans by 17.3% on average — consistent with workplace, retail, and B2B QR usage patterns.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (2024–2025 pooled seasonality).

Of external QR destinations in QRStuff's Q1 2025 sample (n=63,691) pointed to deep pages — specific URLs with meaningful path components — not generic homepages. QR codes are bridges to specific digital experiences.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, Q1 2025 destination sample. See Destination chapter.

Deep-page share in combined 2025 quarterly destination samples (n=26,808 external URLs). Largest labelled categories: documents & files (9.9%), forms & lead capture (7.6%), real-estate tours (2.6%). Sample counts, not platform-wide totals.

Source: destination_treemap_2025.json. See Destination chapter.

Of external QR destinations in Q1 2025 pointed to a homepage (domain root) — the minority pattern. Among the top 1,000 most-scanned short URLs (January 2025), this rises to 31.5%.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, Q1 2025 destination sample.

Of QR destinations classified as owned/general website — the largest functional category. Confirms that most QR codes drive traffic to the creator's own digital property.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, Q1 2025 destination categories (n=63,691).

Of QR destinations pointed to social platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp) — the second largest functional category in Q1 2025.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, Q1 2025 destination categories.

Of QR destinations linked to forms or surveys in Q1 2025 — a rising use case, growing from 7.5% of deep-page destinations in January to 11.0% in October 2025 across sampled months.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, destination categories and use-case stability analysis.

Of external QR destinations in the Q1 2025 QRStuff sample used HTTPS — confirming that basic destination security is largely normalised on the platform.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, destination analysis.

Of external QR destinations in the Q1 2025 QRStuff creation sample carried visible campaign tracking parameters (UTM codes, gclid, etc.) at the point of code creation. The QR measurement gap in one number.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, Q1 2025 destination analysis. See Measurement Gap chapter.

Campaign tracking prevalence among the top 1,000 highest-traffic QR short URLs on QRStuff (January 2025 scan-weighted) — a 3.2× lift over the 3.9% creation average, showing where mature measurement is concentrated.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, January 2025 scan-weighted destination analysis.

Scan-weighted lift in campaign tracking prevalence versus creation-weighted (3.9% → 12.5%). Operators who generate the most scans are also the ones most likely to have attribution in place.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026.

Of marketers report connecting QR code scans to revenue — a finding from Uniqode's 2025 survey of 524 U.S. marketers, directionally consistent with the QRStuff measurement gap data.

Source: Uniqode State of QR Codes 2026. uniqode.com (survey of 524 U.S. marketers).

Half-life of a dynamic QR code created by a registered user in 2019 — the point at which half of the ever-scanned codes in that cohort stopped generating scans. (Registered-user scope only.)

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, cohort survival analysis. See Lifecycle chapter.

Half-life of a dynamic QR code created by a registered user in 2024 — up from 5 months in the 2019 cohort. URL-only codes: 15 months. Registered-user scope only; platform-wide is flat at ~4–6 months.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, cohort survival analysis. Registered-user scope.

Of dynamic QR codes created by registered users (H1 2024 cohort) were scanned at least once in their first 12 months. The remainder generated zero scans — a normal pattern for physical deployment scenarios.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, scan benchmarks. Registered-user scope.

Median first-year scans for a registered-user dynamic QR code that gets scanned at least once (H1 2024 cohort, 12-month window). Website URL codes median: 7 scans. Registered-user scope; never-scanned codes excluded from median.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, scan benchmarks. Registered-user, ever-scanned base.

The top 10% of scanned registered-user QR codes earn approximately 20× the median in first-year scans (p90 ≈ 98 scans vs median of 5). A small number of high-performing codes drive a large share of platform scan volume.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, scan benchmarks. Registered-user scope, ever-scanned base.

Of QR codes from the January 2024 cohort that were actively generating scans in their first month were still active at 12 months (retention relative to the month-1 active base). At 24 months, approximately 19.7% of that same base remained active. Includes all QR codes — anonymous/casual and registered — platform-wide scope.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (scan_longevity_cohort_2024_01.json; platform-wide scope, Visualead-negligible; base = codes active in month 1, n=13,581).

United States share of QRStuff scans in full-year 2025 (~101.9M geolocated scans, 239 countries). US remains the single largest QRStuff scan market by a wide margin, though its share fell from 40.1% in full-year 2024 (comparable bi-weekly extract).

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, full-year 2025 geography. See Geography chapter.

India's share of QRStuff scans in full-year 2025 — the single biggest scan-volume mover in the 2025 geography data. India rose from #3 (4.8%) to #2 globally. Germany (#4, 5.3%) and Indonesia (#3, 5.7%) also shifted ranks.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, full-year 2025 geography.

Share of QRStuff scans from the top 10 countries in full-year 2025. The top 5 (US, India, Indonesia, Germany, UK) accounted for 58.7%.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, full-year 2025 geography.

North America's regional share of QRStuff scans in full-year 2025. Asia-Pacific was second at 28.2% (up from 26.2% in 2024), Europe third at 21.0%.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, full-year 2025 geography.

Country codes recorded in QRStuff's full-year 2025 geography data (101.9M geolocated scans) — demonstrating that QR code scanning is a genuinely global behaviour. 214 of 239 countries met the k-anonymity threshold (≥100 scans).

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, full-year 2025 geography.

Dynamic (tracked short-URL) codes are now the majority of new QRStuff creations in recent years — up from a minority in the early platform era. See dynamic_static_split_by_year.json for the full 2009–2025 series.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026, 17-year type-mix extract. See Scan Trends chapter.

Share of Q1 2025 QRStuff scans generated by the top 100 registered client accounts (out of 12,751 active registered accounts). Top 10 clients: 23.7% of scans. The platform has a strong head with a long tail of smaller operators.

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (scan concentration analysis, Q1 2025, registered accounts). Registered-account scope.

Active registered client accounts on the QRStuff platform in Q1 2025. (This describes registered accounts — the anonymous/guest bucket is excluded, as it contains ~70% of QR codes by count.)

Source: QRStuff State of QR Codes Report 2026 (scan concentration, Q1 2025). Registered-account scope.

Projected QR code payment value by 2029, up from $5.4 trillion in 2025 — positioning QR as utility infrastructure for financial services beyond marketing.

Source: Juniper Research. (2025). QR Code Payments to Exceed $8tn by 2029. juniperresearch.com

Of U.S. full-service restaurant customers willing to access menus via QR code (57% for limited-service). Restaurant use remains one of the most visible QR adoption patterns.

Source: National Restaurant Association. (2024). The State of Restaurant Technology Landscape Report 2024. Restaurant-specific survey.

Of consumers said QR codes are useful in daily life — from Uniqode's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers. Consumer acceptance is not the bottleneck; measurement maturity is.

Source: Uniqode State of QR Codes 2026. uniqode.com (survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers).

Of U.S. consumers expressed confidence that QR codes are safe to scan — from Uniqode's 2025 consumer survey. The remaining 42% represent an ongoing trust gap.

Source: Uniqode State of QR Codes 2026 (survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers).

Of U.S. adults owned a smartphone in 2025 (up from 35% in 2011) — the consumer infrastructure that makes frictionless QR scanning possible in developed markets.

Source: Pew Research Center. (2025). Mobile Fact Sheet. U.S. adult survey, Feb.–June 2025. pewresearch.org

Analytics is ranked both the most-valued and most-wanted-to-improve feature by QR code marketers — confirming that measurement is the industry's top unfulfilled need. (Uniqode, 2025 marketer survey.)

Source: Uniqode State of QR Codes 2026 (survey of 524 U.S. marketers).