The short answer
43.46% average in 2025 — but the number is inflated. MailerLite's benchmark across 3.6 million campaigns puts the median email open rate at 43.46% for 2025 (up from 42.35% in 2024), with industries ranging from 30.10% (travel and transportation) to 55.71% (religion). But reported open rates look artificially high because of Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), which automatically "opens" every email delivered to Apple Mail users regardless of whether they actually read it. Real engagement is better measured by click-through rate, reply behavior, and unsubscribe rate.
Benchmarks at a glance
From MailerLite's benchmark of 3.6M campaigns (December 2024 - November 2025), plus Google's sender guidelines:
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Average open rate (reported) | 43.46% | 2025; inflated by Apple MPP |
| Lowest industry | 30.10% | Travel and transportation |
| Highest industry | 55.71% | Religion |
| Average click rate | 2.09% | More reliable than opens |
| Average click-to-open rate | 6.81% | Clicks / reported opens |
| Average unsubscribe rate | 0.22% | Per campaign |
| Spam complaint rate | <0.10% | Google's target; never reach 0.30% |
Why the open rate number is broken
In 2021, Apple introduced Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) — a feature that automatically "opens" every email delivered to Apple Mail on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, regardless of whether the user actually reads it. MPP was designed to protect user privacy (it prevents senders from tracking who actually opens emails), but it had a side effect: reported open rates went up dramatically while real engagement stayed flat. MailerLite flags the same caveat on its own benchmark data.
Nobody can tell you precisely what share of your reported opens are phantom MPP opens — it depends on how much of your list uses Apple Mail. Treat reported open rates as directional, not literal.
What to measure instead of opens
Since open rates are broken, use these metrics:
- Click-through rate (CTR). Clicks can't be faked by MPP. The all-industry average is 2.09% (MailerLite, 2025) — beat that and you're ahead of the pack.
- Reply rate. The most honest signal. If people reply, they read. There's no reliable industry benchmark — track your own trend.
- Unsubscribe rate. The all-industry average is 0.22% per campaign (MailerLite, 2025). Consistently above that = you're annoying your list.
- List growth rate (net). New subscribers minus unsubscribes. Track the trend, not one send.
- Spam complaint rate. Google's sender guidelines say to keep it below 0.10% and never reach 0.30% — above that, your deliverability tanks.
What drives real email engagement in 2026
- Subject line quality. Still the biggest lever. Specific > generic, curiosity > summary. Use our subject line tester to score yours.
- Send frequency. Over-sending is the #1 cause of unsubscribes. Weekly is the sweet spot for most newsletters. Daily sends work only for high-value niches.
- List hygiene. Remove subscribers who haven't engaged in 90-180 days. It hurts your "subscriber count" ego metric but improves deliverability massively.
- Segmentation. Send different content to different segments based on interest. Blast-to-everyone emails are dying.
- First paragraph hook. The preview text + first sentence is what earns the scroll. Our hook generator has frameworks that work for email opens.
What "good" looks like for your list
Instead of comparing to industry averages (which are inflated), compare to your own historical baseline. If your list averages 25% reported opens and you send one that hits 35%, that's a win. If you hit 18%, the subject line or content underperformed. Track deltas, not absolutes.
How Heist helps with email content
Heist's Brain generates email subject lines and body copy in your voice, tuned for the engagement patterns that have worked for your specific audience. It also keeps your email voice consistent with your social voice — important because readers often find you on social before joining your list.