QR Code Statistics 2026: Usage, Growth & Global Trends
In a nutshell(TL;DR): QR Codes are now a daily habit, not a pandemic trend. Nearly 100 million Americans are expected to scan QR Codes in 2025 (eMarketer). Juniper Research puts global QR payments at $5.4 trillion in 2025, rising past $8 trillion by 2029. Our own first-party data adds the piece nobody else can publish. Across 69.9 million scans on the Scanova platform, the top 5% of QR Codes drive 78 to 95% of all scans. Dynamic QR Codes account for nearly every scan recorded. The brands that win give each code a clear job, a purpose-built destination, and a way to track it.
As of 2026, QR Codes are a fully mainstream technology worldwide, riding on near-universal internet and smartphone adoption.
There are roughly 5.5 billion internet users worldwide (about 75% of the population). Smartphones account for around 87% of all mobile handsets, with 7.38 billion smartphones in use, growing by roughly 3.5% a year. Source: Statista (2025), GSMA via WARC
That connectivity has made scanning routine. TEAM LEWIS’s US consumer survey found 68% of consumers scanned a QR Code in the past year, with adoption strongest among younger groups: 83% of Gen Z and 81% of Millennials. Source: TEAM LEWIS (2023)
Most reports stop there, at survey data. We don’t have to. We run a QR Code platform. So for this 2026 update, I also pulled our own scan records: 69.9 million scans across 36,810 QR Codes from 211 brands.
The full study is published as the Scanova QR Code Benchmarks. Throughout this article, you’ll see what surveys say people do, next to what our platform data shows businesses actually get.
Keep reading for the full numbers.
A. QR Code Statistics
Early QR Code adoption studies from the 2010s asked whether people used QR Codes. Today, the better questions are how deeply QR Codes are embedded in daily behavior, and how well they actually perform.
So this section covers both: usage by region, and, for the first time, real scan performance from our own platform.
1. QR Code usage in the United States
Nearly 100 million Americans are projected to scan QR Codes in 2025, according to eMarketer’s forecast. Near-universal smartphone ownership is the base for this: Pew Research shows smartphones are now the default digital access point for most US adults. Source: Pew Research Center
QR Codes in the US are commonly used for:
- Digital menus and ordering in restaurants
- Event check-ins and ticket validation
- Marketing campaigns, packaging, and in-store engagement
- Payments and peer-to-merchant transactions
Usage is habitual, not occasional. Most modern smartphones ship with built-in QR scanners, so there is no friction left to remove.
Scanova Insight: Our US platform data shows Website URL QR Codes make up 67.56% of usage, followed by Document QR Codes at 17.36%. Marketing, compliance, and information access dominate American deployments.
2. QR Code adoption in India (UPI-driven growth)
India is the fastest-growing QR Code market in the world.
Reserve Bank of India data shows UPI QR Code deployments grew about 91.5% year over year in FY 2024-25. That takes India to roughly 658 million active QR Codes. Source: RBI, NPCI
Three things drive this growth:
- Government-backed digital payment infrastructure (UPI)
- Smartphone-first internet adoption
- Merchant-level QR acceptance, from street vendors to large retail chains
In India, a QR Code is not an add-on. For millions of small businesses, it is the payment system.
3. QR Code usage in China
China remains the global benchmark for QR-based payments.
UnionPay network data indicates around 85% of Chinese mobile payments ran on QR Codes by 2020, and that share has exceeded 90% in recent years. Source: Statista
Beyond payments, QR Codes in China handle:
- Transit access
- Social commerce
- Identity verification and access control
- Public services
Source: PBOC
Scanning is not an “action” there. QR Codes work as invisible infrastructure woven into daily life.
4. QR Code usage across Europe
Europe shows high familiarity and steady growth, supported by strong smartphone penetration.
Smartphone ownership exceeds 85% across most European countries. In the UK, Ofcom’s Technology Tracker put smartphone ownership at about 93% of mobile users in 2024. Source: Ofcom
Post-pandemic, Europeans use QR Codes most for:
- Payments and banking
- Product information and traceability, especially in FMCG
- Travel, hospitality, and public services
Europe has moved firmly past the experimental stage. QR Codes are a trusted interface for verified digital information.
5. Global QR Code adoption trends
Asia-Pacific leads global adoption in both volume and depth. Billions of devices interact with QR systems daily, mostly for payments and authentication.
Meanwhile:
- The US and Europe show steady, sustainable growth
- India and China drive scale and frequency
- Adoption is now measured by transaction volume, active deployments, and scan frequency, not novelty
QR Codes have moved from convenience tool to foundational digital infrastructure.
6. What does real QR Code performance look like? Our 2026 benchmark data
The typical business QR Code earns between 8 and 23 scans over its lifetime, depending on industry, while the top 5% of codes capture 78 to 95% of all scans.
That is the single most important QR Code statistic of 2026, and it comes from our own records, not a survey.
For our QR Code Benchmarks report (updated May 2026), we analyzed every scan recorded on the Scanova platform:
- 69.9 million scans
- 36,810 QR Codes
- 211 brands across CPG, Manufacturing, Hotels & Resorts, and F&B Manufacturing
- Lifetime data, with the oldest live codes scanning for over 10 years
Five findings hold across every industry we studied:
- A tiny elite does almost all the work. Between 0.5% and 5% of codes generate 78 to 95% of scans. Averages are misleading; medians and top performers tell the real story.
- Dynamic QR Codes are the default. 94.6% to 99.5% of live business codes are Dynamic QR Codes. Static codes in our data recorded zero scan activity and exist only as legacy or test artifacts.
- Performance compounds with time. In three of four industries, codes aged 5+ years earn the highest scan rates. Printed codes keep working for years.
- The best use cases are the least deployed. In every industry, the highest-earning use case is run by only a handful of brands.
- Custom design helps, with limits. A custom-designed code out-scans a plain black-and-white one by 2.4x at the median in CPG. In other industries the gap narrows or reverses. Placement and destination matter more than looks.
Brands keep asking us whether QR Codes still work. That is the wrong question. Our scan data shows the top 5% of codes capture up to 95% of all scans. The right question is what those elite codes do differently. The answer is almost always placement and destination, not the code itself.” Siddharth Pangtey, Product Manager, Scanova
B. The continued growth of QR Code usage (2024–2026)
QR Codes are past their surge phase and into steady, large-scale adoption, driven by payments, packaging, retail, and everyday behavior. The growth story in 2026 is about market size, transaction volume, and longevity, not percentage spikes.
Global QR Code market growth
Three market signals stand out:
- The global QR Code labels market was worth about $889 million in 2023. It is projected to reach $1.34 billion by 2030, a 5.6% CAGR, driven by packaging, logistics, and product authentication. Source: MarketsandMarkets
- Juniper Research projected 2.2 billion people worldwide would use QR-based payments by 2025, a figure current adoption trends support. Source: Juniper Research (2021)
- Global QR payment value reached an estimated $5.4 trillion in 2025 and is forecast to exceed $8 trillion by 2029. Source: Juniper Research (2025)
QR Codes keep earning for years
Market forecasts measure new spend. Our platform data shows something forecasts can’t: deployed QR Codes keep accumulating scans for years after they’re printed.
- The oldest live code in our dataset has been scanning for 10.4 years
- In CPG, codes aged 5+ years average 13,268 scans per active code, the elite long-haul cohort
- CPG customers with us for 6+ years average 13,951 scans per code, 58x the rate of customers under two years (240 scans)
A QR Code printed on packaging is not a campaign expense. It behaves like a compounding asset. That is a growth signal no market-size forecast captures.
QR Codes and payments: a lasting shift
Payments remain the single largest driver of QR usage worldwide. Central bank data shows the shift from cash to digital payments continued well past the pandemic. QR Codes win here because they are:
- Device-agnostic
- Low cost for merchants
- Easy to deploy at scale
- Familiar to consumers
In many countries, QR Codes now function as payment infrastructure, not an alternative method.
How consumers use QR Codes today
TEAM LEWIS’s US consumer survey found:
- 68% of consumers scanned a QR Code in the past year
- Nearly half of QR users scan weekly
- Top use cases: restaurant menus (48%), app downloads (47%), product information (43%)
Source: TEAM LEWIS (2023)
QR use is habitual and tied to real decision moments: what to order, what to install, what to buy.
Marketing and engagement use cases
Beyond payments, QR Codes remain a strong channel for print-to-digital marketing, coupons, product information, and event access.
Our data confirms the pattern: engagement concentrates where the code offers immediate, specific value. In CPG, purpose-built Custom Page codes are just 9.7% of deployments but earn 48.9% of all scans, averaging 28,914 scans per active code versus 4,017 for generic website redirects. The destination does the work.
Age groups and QR Code adoption
Earlier studies pegged QR usage to the 25-54 range. That has broadened. With scanning built into phone cameras, payment apps, and social platforms, adoption now spans younger users (18-29), working-age consumers, and older demographics. Younger users lead marketing and app-related scans; older users engage more with payments, menus, and information access.
What the data really shows: QR Codes are a mainstream digital interface growing across payments, packaging, retail, marketing, and enterprise workflows. Growth is measured in market value, transaction volume, and the compounding life of every deployed code.
C. QR Code usage in payments: China, India, and global trends (2024–2026)
QR Codes are among the most widely used payment methods on earth. One scoping note before the numbers: payment rails like UPI, Alipay, and WeChat Pay run on their own infrastructure.
Our benchmark data covers business QR Codes for marketing and operations, so this section relies on named third-party and central bank sources.
1. QR Code payments in China
China is the global leader, and QR scanning is the default way people pay.
Alipay and WeChat Pay together account for over 90% of mobile payment transactions in China. CNNIC’s 54th Statistical Report counted nearly 969 million online payment users in China as of mid-2024. Consumer research shows 92% actively use Alipay and 85% use WeChat Pay. Source: Statista
QR Codes there also handle identity verification, access control, promotions, public services, and digital gifting. Card transactions are secondary in daily life.
2. QR Code payments in India (UPI-led growth)
India is the fastest-scaling QR payment ecosystem globally.
UPI now handles roughly 80% of India’s digital payment volume, with a record ₹24.77 lakh crore transacted in March 2025 alone. Source: NPCI
Key adoption indicators:
- ~91.5% year-over-year growth in UPI QR deployments in FY 2024-25
- About 658 million active QR Codes nationwide
- QR acceptance across street vendors, retail chains, transit, and services
Backed by the National Payments Corporation of India, UPI QR payments are interoperable across banks and apps, low cost for merchants, and smartphone-first by design.
3. Global QR Code payment trends
Juniper Research’s 2025 study puts global QR payment value at $5.4 trillion in 2025, growing about 50% to exceed $8 trillion by 2029. Standardized national QR schemes and account-to-account payment rails drive the growth. Asia-Pacific expands fastest, followed by Europe. Source: Juniper Research (2025)
QR payments keep winning on practical grounds:
- Lower infrastructure costs than card terminals
- Faster deployment
- Compatibility with any smartphone, no special hardware
Regional differences, same direction
- Asia (China, India): QR Codes are the default payment interface
- Europe and North America: QR payments coexist with cards and grow steadily
- Emerging markets: QR Codes enable financial inclusion and merchant onboarding
Different starting points, same pattern: growing reliance on QR Codes as a cost-efficient payment layer.
What the updated data shows
- China and India dominate global QR payment volume
- QR payments have scaled into trillions of dollars a year
- QR Codes are no longer an alternative. They are infrastructure
D. COVID-19’s lasting impact on digital and QR-based payments
COVID-19 did not create digital payments. It compressed years of adoption into months. What matters in 2026 is what remained afterward, and the answer is: nearly everything.
COVID as an accelerator, not a short-term trend
The Bank for International Settlements found the pandemic sharply accelerated the shift from cash to digital payments, and follow-up data shows consumers did not revert once restrictions lifted. Digital payment usage settled at a much higher baseline than before 2020.
What stayed after COVID
- Contactless and QR payments remain widely used
- QR menus and QR ordering are still standard in restaurants
- Cash usage stabilized at lower levels rather than rebounding
- Digital wallets and tap-to-pay keep growing in mature markets
Contact-tracing apps faded. QR Codes survived without mandates because they are simply convenient.
Evidence from major markets
India: Total digital transactions rose from about 44 billion in FY2020 to roughly 181 billion by early 2025, with UPI (including QR payments) at ~80% of volume. Source: NPCI
US and Europe: McKinsey’s 2024 Digital Payments Consumer Survey found about 92% of US and European consumers made a digital payment in the past year. Contactless usage has stabilized at high levels, which signals habit, not hype.
Our platform: The same persistence shows up in our records. QR Code creation on Scanova grew 301.51% from FY 2020-21 to FY 2023-24, a 38.11% annual rate, sustained long after restrictions ended. Businesses did not scale back; they built on the habit.
The real impact of COVID on QR Codes
- Normalized QR Codes and contactless payments
- Removed behavioral friction around scanning
- Pushed governments and businesses to invest in scalable digital payment infrastructure
What the data shows today
COVID did not artificially inflate QR usage. It pulled future adoption forward, and that adoption settled at a high, stable level defined by convenience, cost efficiency, and everyday utility.
E. QR Code usage across major industries (2024–2026)
QR Codes now run across hospitality, retail, logistics, healthcare, travel, and events as a practical digital layer. Most industry reports describe this adoption through surveys. We can measure it.
Here is what a QR Code actually earns in each industry we benchmark, from 69.9 million scans across 211 brands:
| Industry | Brands | Total scans | Median scans per active code | Average per active code | Top performers’ share of scans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPG & Consumer Goods | 28 | 46.9M | 21 | 6,781 | 5.06% of codes drive 94.5% |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 93 | 9.3M | 8 | 641 | 0.48% of codes drive 84.7% |
| Hotels & Resorts | 52 | 7.4M | 23 | 2,096 | 3% of codes drive 78% |
| F&B Manufacturing | 38 | 6.4M | 16 | 1,487 | 1.49% of codes drive 83.8% |
Source: Scanova QR Code Benchmarks, first-party platform data, May 2026. Medians are computed on active codes and are the honest benchmark; averages are pulled up by a few elite performers.
1. Hospitality and restaurants
Hospitality has the healthiest QR portfolios in our study. The median hotel or resort code earns 23 scans, the highest of any industry, and only 15.1% of codes never get scanned, the lowest waste rate we measured.
The menu is the engine. Menu and dining codes are 17.7% of hospitality deployments but drive 43.4% of all scans, averaging 5,076 scans per active code. Guest review and feedback codes post a 96% active rate: nearly every one deployed gets scanned.
Preferences still vary by age group, so many properties run QR menus alongside printed ones. But the operational case is settled: faster ordering, no reprint costs, instant menu updates, and loyalty integration.
2. Retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG)
Packaging is where QR performance gets most extreme. Across 28 CPG brands and 46.9 million scans:
- The top 5.06% of codes carry 94.5% of all scans
- The single best packaging code has earned 2.76 million scans (a product landing page for a global kitchen-appliance brand)
- Custom Pages are 9.7% of codes but 48.9% of scans, averaging 28,914 scans each
- How-to video codes average 19,181 scans, the highest per-code rate in CPG, yet only 2 of 28 brands deploy them
- A custom-designed code out-scans plain black-and-white 2.4x at the median (38 vs 16 scans)
F&B manufacturing shows the same split personality. Spec sheets and compliance labels are 33.7% of codes but 0.7% of scans. Meanwhile, app-download codes average 9,382 scans, and consumer survey codes post a 90% active rate.
Interestingly, F&B reverses the design finding: plain codes out-scan designed ones at the median (23 vs 11), because top consumer brands there ship plain codes at scale.
Standards bodies reinforce the direction: GS1’s Sunrise 2027 initiative positions QR Codes with GS1 Digital Link as data-rich successors to the retail barcode.
3. Logistics and supply chain
Manufacturing and industrial firms run the largest QR portfolios we track: 93 accounts and 18,182 live codes, mostly for documentation, asset tracking, and product identification.
The data shows a clear split between compliance and engagement:
- Spec sheets and manuals are 18.5% of codes but earn 2.9% of scans. They exist for compliance, and that is fine
- Promotional campaign codes average 2,578 scans, 2.8x the rate of generic website codes, yet fewer than 10 of 93 accounts run them
- Fitment and parts-lookup codes post a 96% active rate, the highest of any manufacturing use case
Unlike RFID, QR Codes need no special readers, which keeps them the default for distributed, multi-partner supply chains.
4. Travel, tourism, and events
QR Codes are the default access mechanism across travel: e-tickets, boarding passes, event passes, and check-ins.
SITA’s Passenger IT Insights found 60% of travelers worldwide have used mobile boarding passes (2024), and 79% are now ready to hold digital IDs on their phones (2025). Source: SITA 2024, SITA 2025
Travel and events value QR Codes for speed at entry, fraud reduction, easy re-issuance, and wallet integration.
5. Healthcare and public services
Healthcare uses QR Codes quietly but consistently: patient registration, appointment confirmations, vaccination records, and access to results and instructions. Usage varies by country and provider, but QR Codes are embedded wherever mobile-first access cuts administrative load.
What the industry data shows
- QR Codes are no longer experimental in any major industry
- Performance is concentrated: a small elite of codes does most of the work everywhere
- The highest-earning use cases are the least deployed, which is the biggest open opportunity in the data
- Between 15.1% and 28.5% of live business codes never record a single scan, usually tests or codes without a real job
The lesson is not “use QR Codes.” Everyone does. It is “give each code a specific job and a purpose-built destination,” because that is what separates the elite 5% from the rest.
F. COVID-derived adoption of QR Codes
The pandemic pushed businesses and governments into QR use cases that stuck:
- Carlsberg added QR Codes across touchpoints for loyalty points, event invitations, and product details
- New South Wales, Australia, mandated QR check-ins in shops and cafes for contact tracing
- Walmart, Starbucks, and Decathlon use QR Codes for payments and loyalty; Nike, Home Depot, and Diesel use them for marketing; Coca-Cola and Zara keep exploring new use cases
- Restaurants worldwide replaced paper menus with Menu QR Codes
- China mandated QR Codes for health and travel during the pandemic period
Here’s our report on more than 20 QR Code trends since the pandemic, including QR Codes in NFTs and gamification.
On our own platform, QR Code creation grew 301.51% from FY 2020-21 to FY 2023-24, a 38.11% annual growth rate. Adoption that began as a health measure became a permanent business practice.
G. QR Code trends at present: From novelty to everyday utility
By 2023, QR Codes crossed a threshold: from experimental marketing tool to routine utility that consumers expect to just work. The year was defined by normalization at scale.
1. QR Codes became mass-market behavior
TEAM LEWIS’s large US survey found 68% of consumers used a QR Code in the past year, with 83% of Gen Z and 81% of Millennials scanning. Source: TEAM LEWIS (2023)
By 2023, QR Codes were a default interaction layer for younger and working-age consumers.
2. Practical use cases dominated QR scanning
The most common scan reasons were restaurant menus (48%), app downloads (47%), and product information (43%). QR Codes won where they reduced steps, saved time, replaced manual input, and connected a physical object to immediate digital value.
3. Marketing adoption scaled without gimmicks
Marketing QR use moved from creative experiments to repeatable performance tools. We measured this directly. QR Code creation on our platform grew a sustained 38.11% a year through this period, driven by packaging, print, out-of-home, and retail touchpoints. Brands focused on offers, app installs, product details, and loyalty. Utility outperformed spectacle.
4. QR features became native, not optional
Scanning got built into phone cameras, payment and banking apps, social platforms, and messaging apps. Using a QR Code stopped feeling like new technology and became background behavior, like tapping a link.
5. Consumer expectations matured
As scanning became routine, tolerance for bad QR experiences dropped: slow pages, unclear destinations, and broken links get abandoned. Our data shows the supply side of the same problem. Between 15.1% and 28.5% of live business codes never record a single scan.
These are typically codes deployed without a clear job or destination. QR Codes are now judged on performance and trust, not novelty, and scan tracking is how brands find out which codes earn their place.
What 2023 really represented
2023 was the year QR Codes stopped being interesting and started being expected: a standard access method, a reliable physical-to-digital bridge, and a scalable tool for payments, marketing, and onboarding.
H. QR Code trends shaping 2026 and beyond
By 2026, QR Codes are not discussed as a technology trend. They are embedded digital infrastructure powering payments, packaging, identity, and physical access. The defining trends are standardization, performance expectations, and ecosystem integration.
1. QR Codes as default interfaces inside digital wallets
QR Codes are now generated and verified inside wallets and payment apps, coexisting with tap-to-pay and real-time payment rails. As wallets absorb identity and credentials, the QR Code is the visual handshake between devices, merchants, and systems. Less visible, more critical.
2. Smart packaging becomes a primary QR growth driver
Smart packaging is one of the most consistent scan sources in 2026: traceability, sustainability disclosures, batch and expiry data, and post-purchase engagement. GS1’s Sunrise 2027 initiative is making QR Codes the data-rich successor to the retail barcode.
Our benchmark data shows how early this shift still is. In F&B manufacturing, traceability codes are just 1.2% of deployments and nutrition and regulatory label codes 2.8%, even as EU and FDA labeling rules make them permanent requirements. The regulatory tailwind is enormous; the deployment gap is the opportunity.
3. QR Codes as first-party data infrastructure (post-cookie era)
With third-party cookies gone, QR Codes are a reliable first-party data channel. They enable consent-based data capture, personalized content, and offline-to-CRM connection on owned domains.
Our data proves consumers cooperate when the exchange is clear. In CPG, registration and warranty codes post a 95% active rate and sampling and redemption codes hit 100%: every single one deployed gets scanned.
In F&B, consumer survey codes run at 90% active. When a scan gives value, people give data.
4. Performance, trust, and verification define QR adoption
Users assume a QR Code loads fast, looks legitimate, and lands somewhere safe. That expectation has settled the dynamic-versus-static question. Across our four industries, 94.6% to 99.5% of live business codes are Dynamic QR Codes, and static codes recorded zero scan activity.
Editable destinations, scan analytics, secure redirects, and access controls are now table stakes. QR Codes are judged like URLs, not marketing assets.
5. QR Codes as access keys for physical–digital systems
QR Codes increasingly work as temporary access keys, not just links: event tickets, boarding passes, facility entry, visitor management, and IoT device onboarding. They persist here because they are device-agnostic, easy to revoke or rotate, and cheap to deploy at scale.
6. Immersive and connected experiences, without friction
QR Codes remain the entry point to AR and connected environments, but the emphasis is functional: product visualization, guided instructions, and spatial information on demand, with no forced app installs.
Our CPG data backs the practical version of this trend. How-to and tutorial video codes average 19,181 scans, the highest per-code rate in the industry. Yet only 2 of 28 brands use them.
What defines QR Codes in 2026
The most important QR trend is invisibility. QR Codes are expected to work everywhere, rarely feel innovative, and quietly support payments, packaging, access, and data flows. The future is not new formats. It is how deeply QR Codes weave into systems people already trust.
FAQs: QR Code statistics
How many people use QR Codes in 2026?
Nearly 100 million Americans are projected to scan QR Codes in 2025 (eMarketer), and 68% of US consumers scanned one in the past year (TEAM LEWIS). Globally, Juniper Research projected 2.2 billion QR payment users by 2025, led by Asia-Pacific.
What is a good QR Code scan rate?
Based on 69.9 million scans in our benchmark data, the median active business QR Code earns 8 scans in manufacturing, 16 in F&B manufacturing, 21 in CPG, and 23 in hospitality. Averages run far higher. That is because the top 0.5% to 5% of codes capture 78 to 95% of all scans. Benchmark against the median, then study what the elite codes do.
Are Dynamic QR Codes better than static QR Codes?
Yes, decisively. Across every industry we analyzed, 94.6% to 99.5% of live business codes are Dynamic QR Codes, and static codes recorded zero scan activity. Dynamic codes can be edited after printing and tracked scan by scan, which is why businesses have standardized on them.
Which industries use QR Codes the most?
For payments, China and India lead. QR Codes carry over 90% of Chinese mobile payments and about 80% of India’s digital payment volume via UPI. For business engagement, CPG packaging holds the deepest scan pool in our data (46.9 million scans across 28 brands). Hospitality has the healthiest per-code performance (median 23 scans).
How big is the QR Code payment market?
Juniper Research values global QR code payments at $5.4 trillion in 2025, forecast to exceed $8 trillion by 2029. That is roughly 50% growth, driven by national QR schemes and account-to-account payments.
Did QR Code usage drop after COVID-19?
No. The Bank for International Settlements found digital payment habits held after restrictions lifted. Our own platform recorded 301.51% growth in QR Code creation from FY 2020-21 to FY 2023-24. COVID pulled adoption forward; convenience made it permanent.
