US affiliate marketing spend passed $12 billion in 2025 and is forecast at $13.20 billion for 2026, according to EMARKETER’s August 2025 forecast. The Performance Marketing Association’s 2025 industry study puts the number higher: $13.62 billion in 2024, up from $9.1 billion in 2021. The global affiliate marketing market size has no single answer. Published 2025 and 2026 estimates run from $18.4 billion to $23.8 billion, because each firm measures something different.
Below, every figure carries its publisher, year and definition. The last section traces the stats that get copied the most (“81% of brands”, “$8.2 billion by 2022”, “16% of orders”) back to where they came from, so you know which ones still hold up.
Which affiliate marketing statistic to cite
Most affiliate stats pages put every number in one list. They should not sit together, because they answer different questions. Pick the row that matches what you need to say.
| You need to say | Cite this | Phrase it as | Do not use |
|---|---|---|---|
| How much US advertisers spend on affiliate | EMARKETER forecast (commissions paid) | “US affiliate marketing spend will exceed $12 billion in 2025 (EMARKETER, Sept 2025)” | Global market-research totals |
| A measured US total for a past year | PMA Industry Study 2025, with London Research | “$13.62 billion in 2024, per the PMA” | “$8.2 billion by 2022” (a 2018 forecast) |
| Sales affiliate drives in the US | PMA Industry Study 2025 | “$113 billion in ecommerce sales, 9.4% of US ecommerce” | “16% of all online orders” (no traceable study) |
| Global market size | Name the firm and its scope | “Cognitive Market Research values the global affiliate market at $18.4 billion in 2025” | Any global figure without its definition |
| Software and platform market | Grand View Research | “affiliate marketing platform market, $23.8 billion in 2026” | Calling it “affiliate spend” |
| UK channel size | APMA State of the Affiliate Nation 2026 | “£1.8 billion invested in 2025, £20.7 billion in sales” | US figures for UK stories |
| Commission rates | The program’s own published rate card | “Amazon pays 4.5% on Kitchen, 1% on Grocery” | “Average commission” figures with no named sample |
Affiliate marketing spend in the US: every current estimate
Two organizations publish US affiliate spend numbers with a stated method. EMARKETER builds a forecast from other research firms, company reports and media consumption data. Its forecast page defines affiliate spend as commissions paid by a site or app to another site or app whose content drove traffic, in exchange for a share of the resulting sales. The PMA study, produced with London Research, draws on data from affiliate networks plus a publisher survey.
| Year | US affiliate spend | Source and date | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $9.1 billion | PMA Industry Study 2025, June 2025 | Measured |
| 2024 | $13.62 billion | PMA Industry Study 2025, June 2025 | Measured |
| 2024 | $10.72 billion | EMARKETER, October 2024 | Forecast |
| 2025 | More than $12 billion | EMARKETER chart, 5 September 2025 | Forecast |
| 2026 | $13.20 billion | EMARKETER, August 2025 forecast | Forecast |
| 2028 | About $15.80 billion | Our math: EMARKETER’s $10.72 billion for 2024 plus its stated 47.4% increase by 2028 | Derived |
The PMA reports a 14.42% compound annual growth rate from 2021 to 2024, which it says is twice the pace of US ecommerce. EMARKETER’s 47.4% rise from 2024 to 2028 works out to about 10.2% a year. Both say the same thing: affiliate is still growing by double digits, while slowing from its post-2020 jump.
Why the PMA and EMARKETER numbers for 2024 differ by $2.9 billion
For the same year, the PMA says $13.62 billion and EMARKETER said $10.72 billion. That $2.9 billion gap comes from method, not from one source being wrong. EMARKETER counts commissions only. The PMA’s public release does not say whether its total also includes network fees, tenancy payments or agency costs. The two also disagree on sales. The PMA credits affiliate with $113 billion in US ecommerce sales, while EMARKETER said affiliate would “drive” $307.27 billion in 2024. If you quote one, name it and keep the other out of the same sentence.
The PMA figures imply about $8.30 in ecommerce sales for every $1 of spend ($113 billion divided by $13.62 billion). That is our division, not a PMA claim, and it is attributed revenue, not incremental profit.
Statista affiliate marketing spending, United States, 2024 and 2025
If you searched for the Statista chart: it sits at statista.com/statistics/693438, now titled “Affiliate marketing spending in the United States from 2023 to 2028”. It was published 16 September 2024. The free view hides the values: it says only that spend “stood at” a figure in 2023, with projections for 2024 and “roughly” a whole-number figure for 2025. Because Statista republishes third-party forecasts, cite the original EMARKETER or PMA numbers above, which you can quote without a Statista login.
Affiliate marketing market size worldwide: four estimates, four definitions
Global figures come from market-research firms selling reports. None publishes its full method for free, and each draws the market boundary in a different place. Some count payments to affiliates. Others count revenue from affiliate software and network services. That is why “affiliate marketing market size” and “affiliate marketing services market” searches return such different numbers.
| Publisher | What it measures | Current size | Forecast | Growth rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Market Research (data updated Sept 2026) | Payments businesses make to affiliates for visitors or customers | $18.45 billion (2025); $18.51 billion (2024) | $35.43 billion by 2033 | 8.5% CAGR, 2026 to 2033 |
| Grand View Research (June 2026) | Affiliate marketing platform market (networks and software) | $22.6 billion (2025); $23.8 billion (2026) | $35.7 billion by 2033 | 5.9% CAGR, 2026 to 2033 |
| Business Research Insights (April 2026) | Affiliate marketing solutions by type (CPS, CPL, CPC) | $23.46 billion (2026) | $83.35 billion by 2035 | 15.13% CAGR, 2026 to 2035 |
| Influencer Marketing Hub (2023 benchmark, updated June 2024) | Own estimate of the global industry | $14.3 billion (2023); $15.7 billion (2024) | None given | None given |
A sanity check shows how loose these totals are. Cognitive Market Research puts North America at 19.96% of its 2025 global figure, about $3.68 billion. EMARKETER’s US commission forecast for the same year is above $12 billion, more than three times that. A global total that is smaller than a bottom-up count of the US plus the UK (£1.8 billion in 2025, see below) should be quoted as one firm’s view, not as the size of the industry.
If you need one sentence: “Published estimates put the global affiliate market between roughly $18 billion and $24 billion in 2025 and 2026, depending on whether software and services are counted.”
Affiliate marketing growth statistics by country
The best growth data is national, measured by trade bodies from network data. Here is what each one reported most recently.
| Market | Latest figure | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $13.62 billion spend (2024); $113 billion sales, 9.4% of US ecommerce | +49.8% from 2021 to 2024; 14.42% CAGR | PMA with London Research, data from eight networks and 50+ publishers |
| United Kingdom | £1.8 billion invested (2025); £20.7 billion revenue; 357 million tracked transactions | +7.3% year on year | APMA State of the Affiliate Nation 2026, data from 11 networks |
| Australia | 42% of advertisers raised affiliate investment in the past year; 45% plan to raise it next year | Survey, not a spend total | IAB Australia State of the Nation 2026, 66 advertisers and agencies, 57 publishers |
Two details worth knowing before you quote these. The APMA reports an overall 15X return, but dividing its two headline numbers (£20.7 billion over £1.8 billion) gives about 11.5X, so check the report’s ROI basis before repeating “15X”. And in the IAB Australia survey, 95% of programs still measure on last click, which flatters coupon and cashback partners that appear at checkout.
Inside the US, the PMA’s publisher survey shows the pressure on content sites: 69% of publishers said they are concerned about Google changes, including AI Overviews, cutting their traffic and affiliate revenue. Only 54% said they are confident or very confident about their affiliate business.
Where affiliate budgets go: verticals and payment models
Retail still takes most US affiliate spend, but its share is shrinking as finance, travel and telecom programs grow. The PMA reports these shares of total investment, 2021 versus 2024:
| Vertical | Share of US affiliate spend, 2021 | Share, 2024 | Reported return on ad spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | 76% | 63% | $11 per $1 (department stores $21, office supplies $20, auto parts $19) |
| Financial services | 12% | 15% | Not reported |
| Travel | 5% | 9% | $19 per $1 |
| Telecommunications | 3% | 7% | Not reported |
The UK shows how payment models split once you measure money rather than program counts. According to the APMA briefing notes published by Affiverse (1 May 2026), about four in every five pounds went to last-click CPA, 13% to tenancy fees, 3% to non-last-click CPA and 2% to other models including CPC. If your program pays only CPA, you are in line with most of the market, and tenancy is the main exception.
Affiliate commission rates by vertical: published rate cards
Average commission figures are hard to source, so this table uses the rates programs publish themselves. Each was read on the program’s own page on 1 November 2026.
| Vertical | Program | Published commission | Tracking window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail marketplace | Amazon Associates | 10% Luxury Beauty; 4.5% Physical Books, Kitchen, Automotive; 4% Apparel, Shoes, Jewelry and all other categories; 3% Home, Toys, Beauty, Sports, Pets; 2.5% PC; 2% TVs; 1% Grocery, Health and Personal Care; 0% Gift Cards | Not stated on rate page |
| B2B SaaS | HubSpot | 30% monthly recurring commission for up to one year | 180 days |
| Marketing SaaS | Semrush | $100 to $300 per sale depending on toolkit, plus $10 per free trial | 120 days |
| Ecommerce platform | Shopify | Up to $150 per qualified referral to a paid plan, varies by referral location | 30 days (free trials tracked up to 400 days) |
The spread is the point. A publisher sending $40,000 a month of Amazon Kitchen sales earns $1,800 at 4.5%. The same $40,000 in Grocery earns $400. On the SaaS side, a hypothetical customer on an $800 a month plan referred to a 30%, 12-month recurring program pays the affiliate $2,880 ($800 x 30% x 12). That is why software and finance programs can outbid retail for the same publisher’s attention. If you are pricing your own program, compare against the programs your partners already promote, not against an “industry average”. The affiliate software you run it on also changes your true cost, since some tools charge a percentage of affiliate revenue on top of commissions.
Share of publisher types: what the data shows
No US source publishes a free breakdown of affiliate spend by publisher type. The PMA says only that content creators and bloggers are gaining share. The UK data is the most specific available:
- Cashback, rewards and loyalty take about one third of UK affiliate investment, the largest single category, per the APMA briefing notes.
- Voucher sites lost spend for a second straight year (down 7%), yet the APMA reports them at a 24X return. Measured across all partner types, voucher codes appear in about 22% of affiliate sales.
- Influencers and social, comparison shopping services and technology partners grew at double-digit rates, the fastest in the channel.
- By vertical, content publishers took 31% of UK finance spend and 23% of telecom spend, while price comparison sites took 43% of telecom spend, per the APMA release summary.
The creator side is moving fastest. EMARKETER reports that US creators’ affiliate revenues nearly doubled between 2021 and 2024, though sponsored content, at $8.14 billion in 2024, is still far larger. Our creator economy statistics cover that side in detail.
One vendor study is worth knowing, with its label attached. CJ Affiliate’s incrementality study compared 1.1 million shoppers who clicked an affiliate link with 19.1 million who did not (September 2018 data, unnamed retail brands). Affiliate shoppers converted 46% more often and brought 88% more revenue per shopper. CJ sells affiliate services, and shoppers chose to click rather than being randomly assigned, so read it as a correlation.
How many affiliate marketers are there in the world?
Nobody counts them. We found no government statistic and no census of affiliates. The best you can do is network sign-ups, which overlap (one publisher can join every network) and include inactive accounts:
| Network or source | Publisher or partner count | What it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Awin | About 1 million publishers; 30,000 advertisers | Registered partners. Awin also reports $19 billion in advertiser revenue and $1.4 billion paid to publishers in its last financial year. |
| impact.com | 250,000+ partners; 1 million+ active partnerships | Recruitable partners; partnerships count brand and partner pairs |
| Influencer Marketing Hub (2023) | About 9,600 affiliate-related companies and services, 4,500 of them in North America | Businesses in the industry, not individual affiliates |
Most affiliates earn little. In the Influencer Marketing Hub 2023 survey, 57.55% of affiliate respondents reported annual affiliate income under $10,000, and 3.78% reported more than $150,000. It is a self-selected sample, but it matches what network payout totals suggest: a large registered base, with income concentrated in a small group of publishers. Large publishers often work through affiliate networks and direct deals at the same time, which is another reason network counts cannot be added together.
Tracing the most-repeated affiliate stats to their origin
Most “affiliate marketing statistics” pages copy from each other. Here is where the most-shared figures come from, and whether to keep using them.
| The stat as usually repeated | Where it actually comes from | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| “81% of brands use affiliate programs” (often with “84% of publishers”) | A Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Rakuten Affiliate Network, released February 2016. Practical Ecommerce reported its sample as 151 large US advertisers (revenue above $200 million) and 151 US publishers ranked in the top 5,000 for traffic. Rakuten’s 2022 post repeats the figure without a date. | Ten years old and limited to large US companies. Write “81% of large US advertisers surveyed by Forrester in 2016”, or drop it. |
| “US affiliate spend will hit $8.2 billion by 2022” | Statista credited Business Insider (3 December 2018) for a 2010 to 2022 series: $5.4 billion in 2017, rising to $8.2 billion by 2022. Statista later replaced that series at the same URL with a 2023 to 2028 one. | An old forecast. The PMA’s later count put 2021 at $9.1 billion, already above it, though the methods differ. Use PMA or EMARKETER figures. |
| “Affiliate drives 16% of all online orders” | Awin’s own stats page (July 2026) cites Hostinger for “16% of all e-commerce sales globally”. Hostinger cites impact.com. We found no study behind it. | Circular sourcing. The measured figure is 9.4% of US ecommerce sales (PMA, 2024). |
| “$6.8 billion by 2020” | The same 2016 Forrester and Rakuten study, forecasting about 10% annual US growth from 2015, per Creatable and the IAB UK summary. | Superseded. Useful only as history. |
| “The affiliate industry is worth $18.5 billion” | Cognitive Market Research’s 2024 global figure ($18.51 billion), repeated by Awin, Hostinger and others. | Quotable only with the firm’s name and the caveat that its North America share ($3.68 billion) is far below US spend estimates. |
| “$6.50 return for every $1 spent” | Repeated across vendor blogs. We found no study or sample behind it. | Drop it. For return figures, use the PMA’s ROAS by vertical ($11 retail, $19 travel), labeled as attributed revenue. |
FTC disclosure rules behind every affiliate link
Growth in creator and content affiliates means more brands are now responsible for how partners disclose. The FTC updated its Endorsement Guides on 29 June 2023. The update defines “clear and conspicuous”, warns that a platform’s built-in disclosure tool may not be enough, and spells out the liability of advertisers and intermediaries as well as endorsers. The FTC’s endorsement FAQ applies this to affiliate links:
- The words “affiliate link” alone are not adequate, because consumers may not know the link earns a payment.
- “Paid link” next to the link is adequate. “Commissionable link” is probably not clear.
- The disclosure should sit close to the recommendation. A single disclosure on the home page is not enough.
- Example wording from the FAQ: “I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.”
- On YouTube, disclose in the video and in the description near the links.
Put these rules in your program terms and check partner content against them, because the guides now name advertisers as potentially liable. To see how named brands structure their programs, browse these affiliate marketing examples.
How to use these numbers in a budget decision
Market size tells you the channel is real. It does not tell you what your program will return. In my view, the useful numbers for an operator are the vertical shares, the commission rate cards and the PMA’s attributed sales per dollar, because you can compare them with your own data. Three checks before you move budget:
- Price against your partners’ alternatives. If your best publishers also promote a program paying 30% recurring, a 5% one-time offer will not win placement.
- Separate attributed from incremental. With 95% of Australian programs on last click, and coupon codes in about 22% of UK affiliate sales, part of what affiliate “drives” would have happened anyway. Our marketing attribution statistics cover how teams measure that gap.
- Compare channel share, not industry size. US affiliate spend of about $12 billion sits inside a much larger digital ad market. See our US digital ad spend statistics for the channels it competes with.
If you want a second opinion on whether affiliate deserves a bigger share of your mix, you can book a consultation and bring your program’s numbers.
Frequently asked questions
How much is spent on affiliate marketing in the US?
EMARKETER forecasts US affiliate marketing spend above $12 billion in 2025 and $13.20 billion in 2026, counting commissions paid to publishers. The Performance Marketing Association's 2025 study, produced with London Research, measured $13.62 billion in 2024, up 49.8% from $9.1 billion in 2021. The gap reflects different methods, so cite one source per sentence.
What is the affiliate marketing market size worldwide?
There is no single figure. Cognitive Market Research puts the global affiliate market at $18.45 billion in 2025. Grand View Research values the affiliate platform market at $23.8 billion in 2026, and Business Research Insights puts affiliate solutions at $23.46 billion. Each measures a different scope, so always name the firm and what it counts.
How fast is affiliate marketing growing?
In the US, the PMA reports a 14.42% compound annual growth rate from 2021 to 2024, about twice the pace of ecommerce. EMARKETER forecasts a 47.4% rise from 2024 to 2028, roughly 10.2% a year. UK affiliate investment grew 7.3% in 2025 to £1.8 billion, per the APMA.
How many affiliate marketers are there in the world?
No one counts them, and there is no government statistic. Network sign-ups are the closest proxy: Awin reports about 1 million publishers and impact.com 250,000+ partners. These counts overlap, because one publisher can join several networks, and they include inactive accounts. Income is concentrated: 57.55% of affiliates in a 2023 Influencer Marketing Hub survey earned under $10,000 a year.
What share of ecommerce sales comes from affiliate marketing?
The PMA's 2025 study credits affiliate with $113 billion in US ecommerce sales in 2024, or 9.4% of all US ecommerce. The widely repeated 16% figure has no traceable primary study: Awin's page cites Hostinger, which cites impact.com. Use the PMA's 9.4% when you need a measured number.
What does Statista say about affiliate marketing spending in the United States for 2024 and 2025?
Statista's chart of US affiliate marketing spending from 2023 to 2028, published 16 September 2024, hides its values behind a paywall. The free EMARKETER figures cover the same ground: $10.72 billion forecast for 2024, more than $12 billion for 2025 and $13.20 billion for 2026. The PMA's measured 2024 total is $13.62 billion.
What commission rates do affiliate programs pay?
It depends on the vertical. Amazon Associates pays 1% on Grocery, 3% on Home and Toys, 4.5% on Kitchen and Books and 10% on Luxury Beauty. HubSpot pays 30% recurring for up to a year. Semrush pays $100 to $300 per sale. Shopify pays up to $150 per qualified referral. Software programs usually outbid retail.