QR Code Statistics 2026: 60+ Facts and Data

George El-Hage 🔗 LinkedIn

Founder, Wave Connect | 150,000+ professionals served since 2020

I've been tracking QR code adoption since 2020 when we built Wave Connect around QR-based contact sharing. This statistics roundup is sourced from 15+ research firms and updated monthly.

QR code statistics tell a story most people don't expect: those little black-and-white squares invented in a Japanese auto factory in 1994 are now a multi-billion-dollar global infrastructure. From restaurant menus to digital business card platforms, QR codes are embedded in how we pay, share, market, and connect.

I've pulled together 60+ QR code stats from Statista, Mordor Intelligence, Juniper Research, Bitly, and a dozen other research sources. Every number is cited with its original source so you can use them in your own content, reports, or presentations. Let's get into it.

Top 10 QR Code Statistics at a Glance

Here are the headline numbers you need if you're short on time. These are the most cited, most referenced QR code data points from 2025-2026 research. The full breakdown by category follows below.

Now let's dig into each category. 👇

QR Code Market Size and Growth (2024-2031)

The global QR code market was valued at $13.04 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $33.14 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.5%. That's not just software - it includes QR payments, labels, mobile marketing channels, and the infrastructure around them. Here's the deal: QR codes aren't a trend anymore. They're infrastructure. And these market numbers reflect that shift.

1. Global QR code market size: $13.04 billion in 2025 (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
2. Projected to reach $33.14 billion by 2030 at a 20.5% CAGR (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
3. QR code payment market: $14.7 billion in 2024, projected to hit $38.2 billion by 2030 at 17% CAGR (Mordor Intelligence, 2024)
4. QR code mobile marketing channel: $64.36 billion in 2025, growing to $86.18 billion in 2026 (The Business Research Company, 2025)
5. QR code labels market: $1.93 billion in 2025, projected to reach $4.47 billion by 2035 (Precedence Research / Future Market Insights, 2025)
6. US QR code market: $233 million in 2023, expected to grow to $568.8 million by 2033 at 5.4% CAGR (Future Market Insights, 2024)
7. Payments segment held 45.19% of total QR code market share in 2025 (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
8. Marketing QR codes growing at 18.16% CAGR - the fastest-growing application segment (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)

Quick note on the numbers: you'll see the QR payment market ($14.7B) cited separately from the overall QR code market ($13.04B). That's not a mistake. Different research firms define the market differently. Mordor Intelligence's $13.04B figure covers the broader QR code solutions and infrastructure market, while payment-specific figures track transaction volume and payment processing infrastructure. Don't conflate them.

QR Code Scan and Usage Statistics

QR code scans surged 57% year-over-year across 50 countries, with over 1 trillion QR codes expected to be scanned worldwide in 2025. In the US alone, 102.6 million smartphone users are projected to scan QR codes in 2026 - that's roughly one in three Americans. The pandemic-era bump wasn't temporary. People got comfortable scanning, and they never stopped.

9. Global QR code scans surged 57% year-over-year across 50 countries (QR TIGER, 2025)
10. QR TIGER tracked 41.77 million total scans on its platform, with 7.2 million from dynamic codes alone (QR TIGER, 2025)
11. More than 1 trillion QR codes expected to be scanned worldwide in 2025 (barKoder, 2025)
12. QR code usage surged 323% from 2021 to 2025 (QR TIGER, 2025)
13. 99.5 million US smartphone users scanned QR codes in 2025 (Statista, 2025)
14. 102.6 million US consumers projected to scan QR codes by 2026 (eMarketer / Insider Intelligence, 2025)
15. Mobile QR code usage expected to grow 30% annually through 2028 (Statista, 2025)
16. Over two-thirds of consumers have used a QR code in the past year (TEAM LEWIS, 2025)
17. Average QR code scan-to-action conversion rate: 15-20% depending on placement and context (Bitly, 2025)

That 323% surge number jumps out, right? It makes sense when you think about it. In 2021, restaurants were still taping QR codes to tables as a COVID workaround. By 2025, QR codes are on billboards, product packaging, event badges, business cards - everywhere. The use cases multiplied.

QR Code Adoption by Age and Demographics

Ages 33-46 are the largest QR code user group at 41% of all users, while 57% of 18-34 year olds say they frequently use QR codes. The demographic split is interesting because it challenges the assumption that QR is purely a "young person" thing. Middle-aged professionals are the heaviest users. Meanwhile, adoption drops sharply after age 60.

18. 57% of ages 18-34 frequently use QR codes (TEAM LEWIS, 2025)
19. Ages 33-46 are the largest QR code user group, accounting for 41% of total QR usage (QR TIGER, 2025)
20. Half of Gen Z and Millennials scan QR codes at least weekly (TEAM LEWIS, 2025)
21. Over two-thirds of consumers have used a QR code in the past year across all age groups (TEAM LEWIS, 2025)
22. Only 6% of ages 45-60 are willing to use QR codes regularly (QR TIGER, 2025)
23. Nearly 40% of non-users are ages 62-75 (QR TIGER, 2025)
24. Men scan QR codes slightly more than women - 54% vs 46% of total scans (QR TIGER, 2025)
25. Urban areas show 2.3x higher QR scan rates than rural areas (Statista, 2025)

That 33-46 age bracket being the top user group makes total sense. These are the people at the intersection of tech comfort and high professional activity - attending conferences, managing teams, making purchases. They're comfortable with QR codes and they encounter them constantly.

Ever wonder why QR codes work so well for sharing business cards compared to NFC? It's partly demographics. QR doesn't require any special hardware - just a camera that everyone already has. 📱

QR Codes in Marketing and Advertising

Over 90% of marketers used QR codes in their campaigns in 2025, and 94% increased their usage compared to the prior year. This isn't experimental anymore. QR codes have become a standard marketing channel sitting alongside email, social media, and paid ads. The data from Bitly's 2025 marketer survey tells the story clearly. 📊

26. 90%+ of marketers used QR codes in 2025 (Bitly, 2025)
27. 94% of marketers increased QR code usage in the past 12 months (Bitly, 2025)
28. 88% of marketers report positive consumer sentiment toward QR codes (Bitly, 2025)
29. 45% of brands integrate QR codes into marketing campaigns (Bitly, 2025)
30. Top QR code placements by marketers: email (47%), product packaging (46%), events (43%), print ads (40%), in-store (40%) (Bitly, 2025)
31. Most valuable QR metrics: unique users (54%), conversion rate (52%), total scans (50%) (Bitly, 2025)
32. Top content linked via QR codes: promotional offers (51%), event information (49%), product details (45%) (Bitly, 2025)
33. 86% of marketers plan to increase QR code usage in the next 12 months (Bitly, 2025)
34. 39% of marketers say exclusive content is most effective for encouraging scans (Bitly, 2025)
35. QR codes on event materials drive 3x more engagement than traditional URLs (Bitly, 2025)

The email stat (47%) surprised me. I expected packaging or in-store to lead. But think about it - email signatures, newsletters, and transactional emails all benefit from QR codes that bridge the digital-to-physical gap. QR codes are especially valuable for events and conferences where attendees need quick access to schedules, booth info, and contact sharing.

Ready to create your own? Follow our step-by-step QR code guide to get started.

QR Code Payment Statistics

The global QR code payment market was valued at approximately $14.7 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $38.2 billion by 2030, growing at 17% CAGR. Over 2.2 billion people are expected to use QR-based payments by 2025. This is a completely separate market from QR code software - and it's massive. China alone processes billions of QR payment transactions annually.

36. Global QR payment market: ~$14.7 billion in 2024, projected to hit $38.2 billion by 2030 at 17% CAGR (Mordor Intelligence, 2024)
37. Juniper Research projected $3 trillion in QR payment spending by 2025 (Juniper Research, 2025)
38. Over 2.2 billion people expected to use QR payments globally by 2025 (Juniper Research, 2025)
39. China: 10 billion smartphone devices used for QR payments in 2022 (Statista, 2023)
40. Asia-Pacific accounts for 37.59% of 2025 global QR code revenue (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
41. PayPal enabled QR payments with WeChat Pay in September 2025 - connecting Western payment rails to China's QR ecosystem (PayPal, 2025)
42. UnionPay piloting cross-border QR payments between China and Vietnam (UnionPay International, 2025)
43. India's UPI processed 14.96 billion QR-based transactions in December 2024 alone (NPCI, 2024)
44. QR payment adoption in Latin America grew 89% year-over-year in 2024, led by Brazil's Pix system (Juniper Research, 2025)

QR Code Usage by Industry

Restaurants and hospitality lead QR code adoption at 75%, followed by retail/eCommerce and product packaging both at 46%. The pandemic made restaurant QR menus universal, and that familiarity bled into every other industry. Logistics (43%), inventory management (39%), and marketing (37%) round out the top adopters. What's notable is how broad the adoption has become - this isn't concentrated in one or two sectors anymore.

45. Restaurant & hospitality QR adoption: 75% - highest of any industry (QR TIGER, 2025)
46. Retail & eCommerce: 46% QR code adoption rate (QR TIGER, 2025)
47. Product packaging: 46% adoption rate (QR TIGER, 2025)
48. 92% of CPG brands use QR codes on packaging (Packaging Strategies, 2025)
49. 57% of consumers scan QR codes on food packaging to check ingredients, nutrition, and sourcing (ProfileTree, 2025)
50. Logistics & supply chain: 43% QR adoption rate for tracking and verification (QR TIGER, 2025)
51. Inventory management: 39% QR adoption (QR TIGER, 2025)
52. Marketing & engagement: 37% overall industry adoption (QR TIGER, 2025)
53. Healthcare: growing QR use for lab sample tracking, telemedicine portals, and patient intake (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
54. Automotive: QR codes now used for vehicle details, service history, and digital owner manuals across major OEMs (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)

The 92% CPG packaging stat is wild. If you've picked up a cereal box, a bottle of shampoo, or a bag of coffee recently, there's a QR code on it. Most consumers don't scan them - but the 57% who do on food packaging are exactly the engaged audience brands are targeting.

Sales teams are leveraging QR-based digital business cards for instant lead capture in many of these same industries - especially at trade shows and retail environments where speed matters.

QR Codes by Region

Asia-Pacific dominates QR code revenue at 37.59% of the global total, driven by China's massive QR payment ecosystem and India's UPI infrastructure. Europe follows with strong mobile scanning adoption, while North America leads in QR labels and marketing use cases. Here's how the regions stack up.

55. Asia-Pacific: 37.59% of global QR code revenue in 2025, largest contributor through 2031 (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
56. China: 50%+ of consumers scan QR codes weekly (Statista, 2025)
57. Europe: 36.40% of mobile users scan at least one QR code weekly (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
58. US QR code market: $233 million in 2023, growing to $568.8 million by 2033 at 5.4% CAGR (Future Market Insights, 2024)
59. North America: largest region for QR code labels market (Precedence Research, 2025)
60. Brazil's Pix QR payment system processed 42 billion transactions in 2024, making QR payments ubiquitous across the country (Central Bank of Brazil, 2024)

The gap between Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world is closing, but it's still significant. In China, you can buy street food with a QR scan. In the US, we're still mostly using QR codes for menus and marketing links. Different stages of the same adoption curve.

Dynamic vs Static QR Code Statistics

Dynamic QR codes held 64.92% of the market share in 2025, with roughly 79% of businesses choosing dynamic over static. The difference matters: dynamic codes let you change the destination URL without reprinting the physical code. That's why marketing teams love them - and why they're growing at 18.16% CAGR. For a deeper dive, check our full breakdown of dynamic vs static QR codes.

61. Dynamic QR codes: 64.92% market share in 2025 (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
62. ~79% of businesses have adopted dynamic QR codes (QR TIGER, 2025)
63. Marketing QR codes growing at 18.16% CAGR - fastest application growth (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
64. Website URL is the most popular QR code type in the US: 67.56% (Scanova, 2025)
65. Document QR codes account for 17.36% of all generated QR codes (Scanova, 2025)
66. Lifecycle management replacing one-off creation: businesses now treat QR codes as ongoing assets, not disposable links (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)

That 67.56% website URL stat tells you something important: most QR codes are just redirecting to web pages. Simple stuff. But the shift to dynamic codes means those destinations can change over time without any physical reprinting. That's a big deal for business cards, packaging, and printed materials.

QR Code Security and Trust Statistics

"Quishing" - QR code phishing - emerged as a major cybersecurity threat in 2025, with attackers using counterfeit QR code overlays to redirect victims to malicious sites. This is the dark side of QR adoption. As scanning becomes second nature, people stop questioning where that QR code actually leads. Research firms and security teams are racing to build better preview and detection tools.

67. "Quishing" (QR phishing) identified as a top emerging scam trend in 2025 (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
68. Deep-fake phishing with counterfeit QR code overlays is eroding consumer trust in public QR codes (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
69. Branded QR codes with logos increase scan confidence by up to 80% compared to generic black-and-white codes (QR TIGER, 2025)
70. First-party data collection via QR codes growing as brands seek alternatives to third-party cookies (Bitly, 2025)
71. Regulatory compliance challenges in North America and Europe around QR-linked data security and standardization (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)
72. New QR preview tools being developed that show the destination URL before completing the scan, similar to link previews in messaging apps (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)

Let's be real: quishing is a problem, but it hasn't slowed adoption. It's just making people smarter about which QR codes they scan. Branded codes with visible logos (like the ones you'd see on a digital business card) feel safer than random stickers on parking meters. The trust signal matters. 🔐

Wave Perspective: QR Codes and Digital Business Cards

QR codes are the foundational infrastructure for the digital business card market, which is valued at $238.75 million and growing at 12.2% CAGR. Every time someone scans a digital business card QR code, that scan is part of the global QR code usage numbers cited in this article. The two markets are deeply intertwined - and the data shows why.

Here's what the QR code adoption data means for the digital business card space:

• 102.6 million US QR scanners by 2026 means 102.6 million people who can instantly receive a digital business card with zero friction. No app download, no Bluetooth pairing - just scan and save.
• Dynamic QR codes (64.92% market share) are exactly what makes digital business cards work. You update your job title or phone number, and every QR code you've ever shared automatically reflects the change. That's the real advantage over paper.
• The 57% of 18-34 year olds who frequently use QR codes are the same demographic driving digital business card adoption. These are the professionals who expect instant, contactless sharing - not a card you hand over and hope they don't lose.
• The digital business card market ($238.75M, 12.2% CAGR) is a direct subset of the broader QR ecosystem. As QR infrastructure grows, it lifts the entire digital business card category with it. (Statista, 2025)

For the full picture on the digital business card market, see our digital business card statistics roundup.