Users spend over $2 billion annually in the personal antivirus space, showing a growing need for protection from and awareness of the dangers of file breaches.
However, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Our research to uncover the latest antivirus statistics and facts for 2023 shows patterns and trends that will continue to shape this security space for years.
Top 8 Antivirus Statistics (Editor’s Pick)
- 8.9% of free antivirus users were still affected by virus attacks in the past 12 months.
- No antivirus can prevent all forms of malware 100% of the time.
- 97% of Avast antivirus users in 2022 had it set to the English language.
- In 2021, 4 in 10 antivirus users had one for personal purposes.
- The average cost of antivirus software hovers around $30 per year.
- 70% of Windows users believed antivirus software is necessary for their devices.
- 49% of non-antivirus software users in 2021 claim they do not need it.
- Avast antivirus boasted more than 435 million users globally in 2022.
Infographic
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General Antivirus Statistics
1. Reliable paid and free antiviruses are efficient for protecting malware to an extent.
Paid users were 17% less likely to fall victim to breakthrough malware/viruses, according to 2021 research.
2. 36% of paid antivirus users believe their software is effective at combating threats.
Only 24% of free users felt the same in a 2021 survey.
3. In 2021, 91% of antivirus users installed it to ensure “general security.”
Another 61% installed the software for general privacy, while increased online shopping activity motivated 51% of users.
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4. 8.9% of free antivirus users were still affected by virus attacks in the past 12 months.
A slightly lesser 7.4% of paid users suffered a similar fate in the same timeframe (2021-2022).
5. ESET returned the fewest false positives in a 2022 antivirus test.
ESET only returned one false positive of all the false alarm tests conducted on it.
It was followed by TotalAV, with 4 false positives, and Kaspersky (5 false positives).
6. New malware (including virus) attacks have now climbed to highs of 10.4 million per year.
The number stopped rising in 2020, the first time since 2015, but picked up to 2018 numbers in 2021.
7. ESET antivirus software had one of the top 3 lowest impacts on users’ systems.
Data from 2022 tests had K7 and Panda, which also did not hog user resources while working in the background, in the top 3.
8. ESET blocked over 93% of targeted attacks in 2022.
The antivirus software provider fended off 14 out of 15 targeted attacks to take the top spot. It is closely followed by Bitdefender (13 of 15 attacks) and G Data/Kaspersky/Microsoft (12 out of 15 attacks).
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/antivirus-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/no-100-antivirus-protection.png" alt="Antivirus Protection Against Malware" width="768" border="0" height="431.58326756117" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low"></a></p>
9. No antivirus can prevent all forms of malware 100% of the time.
Kaspersky detected a 5% growth in the volume of malicious files distributed daily, climbing to 400,000 in 2022.
Antivirus Statistics by Demographics
10. About 30.5 million US households have free antivirus protection on their devices.
On top of this, almost 50 million US households (49.8 million) pay for their antivirus software as of 2021.
11. 73% of 18–29-year-olds used antivirus software for business or personal purposes.
85% of the 2021 survey respondents over 65 used antivirus software.
12. The UK was Avast’s 4th most popular region worldwide in 2022.
While the US was first, Brazil came second with 6.85% of Avast’s user base, translating to 1.2 million secured devices. France was third, accounting for 6.71% of the antivirus software brand’s user base.
13. 47% of UK respondents who used an internet security tool in 2021 chose an antivirus.
Only strong passwords (68%) did better, with software updates coming third (50%) among respondents.
14. 97% of Avast antivirus users in 2022 had it set to the English language.
This is a massive chunk of its 435 million global user base.
15. In 2021, more organizations adopted antivirus software than in 2017.
Over 8 in 10 (82%) of organizations were using an antivirus or antimalware tool in 2021, compared to 67% in 2017.
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/antivirus-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/avast-user-base.png" alt="Avast User Base" width="768" border="0" height="431.58326756117" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low"></a></p>
16. Avast software is used mainly by men, comprising 69% of the total user base.
In contrast, only 31% of females had the app installed or used the antivirus software in other forms in 2022.
17. Antivirus software was a top 10 information security measure for brands in 2021.
Antivirus software with updated signatures were readily adopted by 81.82% of surveyed organizations. Another 90.01% adopted antivirus software that they discovered and tested by themselves, or learned about via internet ratings.
18. Avast is currently available in 45 languages.
2022 data also shows that it is present in 59 countries where its paid and free software are being used.
Antivirus Usage Statistics
19. 23% of antivirus users had one in 2021 for their jobs.
Only 4% of users got an antivirus to protect their cryptocurrency activity, while 18% used one to ensure lesser public Wi-Fi risks.
20. 56% of Avast users use the platform daily.
30% of users rarely use it, while 14% check into the platform about once a week in 2022.
21. In 2021, 4 in 10 antivirus users had one for personal purposes.
An even smaller category (9%) used it solely for business, while 32% of the respondents had one for personal and business use.
22. Avast was used by more free users than business and paying users.
Only 4% of users got the Avast Business Security suite, while 10% invested in the Avast Premium security. The remaining 87% of users in 2022 chose the free service.
Antivirus Statistics by Financials
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23. Users spend almost $2 billion to procure antivirus software yearly.
In 2021, this accounted for over 80 million households of users in the USA alone.
24. The average cost of antivirus software hovers around $30 per year.
2022 pricing data shows that the average cost increases based on the number of devices covered, included features, and other paid add-ons.
Antivirus Statistics by Device
25. About ¼ of US adults using antivirus software installed it on their phones.
In 2021, PCs were the most protected devices for 77% of American adults with antivirus software installed.
26. 70% of Windows users believed antivirus software is necessary for their devices.
That is compared to 59% of Mac users when asked the same question in 2021.
However, 1% of users in both PC operating system categories do not think they need antivirus protection.
27. PC antivirus software was more common among Windows than Mac users.
Of the 77% of Americans with antivirus software installed in 2021, 85% used it on Windows, while only 58% had it on their Mac.
28. In 2021, 24% of mobile phones had antivirus software installed.
However, 8.2% of smartphones surveyed were also infected by a virus in that period. In the PC world, 70% of devices had antivirus protection, and 9.5% of all PCs were vulnerable to computer virus attacks.
29. 1.3 billion mobile devices have one antivirus software installed.
In contrast, only 325 million mobile devices had antivirus software installed in 2013. The user base growth also informs why the mobile security market is expected to cross a $40 billion valuation by 2024.
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In August 2021, the Norton antivirus provider also claimed second place (13%) with its subsidiary, Norton 360 Protection. It continued the domination with Norton Security Scan and Norton Security, tying in third place with 2% of the market share each.
Antivirus Industry Statistics
31. 4 in 10 non-antivirus users are open to installing the software in the next six months.
In contrast, only about 2.5 in 10 non-users by 2021 were open to installing the software on their phone in the next six months.
32. 49% of non-antivirus software users in 2021 claim they do not need it.
35% of non-users claimed the software was too expensive, and another 22% had yet to renew their subscription since it expired.
33. 24% of non-users in 2021 will consider getting an antivirus if it offers identity theft protection.
18% would also opt-in to get firewall protection, while a VPN addition would make it appealing to 16% of the non-users.
34. The global cybersecurity market reached a $132.94 billion valuation in 2021.
The AV-test institute also continues registering 450,000 new malicious applications daily in 2022, increasing the use cases for cybersecurity tools.
35. The global antivirus market alone was worth $4.06 billion in 2022.
By January 2023, the market showed growth to $4.25 million.
It is believed that the market will cross the $5 billion mark in 2027, improving by a CAGR of 4.5%.
Antivirus Brand Statistics
36. In 2021, over half of paying US households chose McAfee and Norton Antivirus.
This represented more than 25 million users in the USA alone.
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/antivirus-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/avast-user-globally.png" alt="Avast Users Globally" width="768" border="0" height="431.58326756117" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low"></a></p>
37. Avast antivirus boasted more than 435 million users globally in 2022.
The antivirus software helped prevent over 1.5 billion malware attacks, more than 33 million phishing attacks, and four million+ ransomware attacks.
38. 31% of paying antivirus users relied on Norton in 2021.
Only 7% of free users relied on this antivirus. In contrast, MacAfee cornered 23% of the paying US antivirus market, while it is the best choice for 14% of all non-paying users.
39. Microsoft Windows Defender and other free antivirus products were used by 37% of Americans.
Only 3% of users paid for this antivirus software in 2021, making it the most preferred free antivirus.
40. Avast’s best market in 2022 was the United States.
Over 22% of the population used its products. That amounted to 3.7 million protected devices in the US alone. Further breakdown showed that 64.38% were desktop users and 35.62% were mobile users.
41. Kaspersky antivirus software blocked over 64.5 million unique malicious objects in 2021 alone.
It was estimated that 15.45% of global computers suffered one malware-class attack (minimum) during the year.
Ramp Up Your Protection
Malware attacks are not slowing down on mobile and PC devices, and everyday/business users should not. These antivirus statistics also show the future openness of more users to this software.
But an antivirus cannot protect you from all internet privacy and security dangers.
So, remember to get a robust protection suite to safely navigate the online space.
- https://www.security.org/antivirus/antivirus-consumer-report-annual/
- https://wethegeek.com/antivirus-statistics-facts/
- https://cybercrew.uk/blog/antivirus-usage-statistics/
- https://www.trustradius.com/buyer-blog/antivirus-statistics-trends
- https://www.comparitech.com/antivirus/malware-statistics-facts/
- https://dataprot.net/statistics/antivirus-statistics/
- https://webinarcare.com/best-antivirus-software/antivirus-statistics/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/707945/use-of-selected-online-security-and-safety-features-in-the-uk/
- https://www.enterpriseappstoday.com/stats/avast-antivirus-statistics.html
- https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2022_cybercriminals-attack-users-with-400000-new-malicious-files-daily—that-is-5-more-than-in-2021
- https://securelist.com/it-threat-evolution-in-q2-2022-mobile-statistics/107123/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/1287174/cee-mobiles-infected-with-malware/
- https://www.security.org/antivirus/cost/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/271048/market-share-held-by-antivirus-vendors-for-windows-systems/
- https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/antivirus-software-global-market-report
- https://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/avc_sum_2022.pdf
- https://ifcla.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/114362563_CANADA_EAST2_Cybersecurity-Survey-Report-no.2.pdf
- https://go.kaspersky.com/rs/802-IJN-240/images/KSB_statistics_2021_eng.pdf
