Voicemail Statistics: How Many People Leave Voicemails? (2025)

Last updated December 9, 2025

Check out a wide range of voicemail statistics in this article, including how many calls go to voicemail, how many people respond to voicemails, and how many people leave a voicemail rather than send a text.

• This article gives you data relating to leaving and responding to voicemail on a smartphone or mobile phone.

• The article also looks at the relationship people have with voicemails, and how they react to voicemails.

• You can also find out what the majority of people do when an unknown number calls their phone.

In this article, you’ll find a wide range of voicemail statistics relating to their use on smartphones. Voicemails are often, inexplicably, treated with some trepidation. Lots of people leave them, few people listen to them, and even fewer actually respond them. Given that we constantly have our phones in our hands, what is it about the humble voicemail that we simply do not want to interact with? Let’s find out about our voicemail habits.

What Is a Voicemail?

Voicemail is a handy feature on mobile phones and smartphones that lets users receive and save recorded audio messages when they can’t pick up a call. With smartphones, voicemail systems have become more sophisticated, allowing users to personalize greetings, manage messages, and even get text transcriptions of their voicemails. Voicemail statistics highlight its widespread use, showing how people rely on this feature to stay connected when answering calls isn’t practical, making mobile communication more efficient.

Looking at voicemail statistics, it’s interesting to see how user habits are changing. While voicemail is still valuable, the popularity of text-based communication methods like messaging apps is on the rise. Smartphones offer various ways to connect, and users now have options like voicemail, text messages, and other messaging platforms to choose from based on their preferences. As mobile communication keeps evolving, voicemail adapts to these changes, remaining a dynamic feature in our interconnected world.

Voicemail Statistics

So, now we know exactly what a voicemail is, lets take a look at some data relating to voicemails and their recipients.

Note: To calculate the number of calls going to voicemail, and the number of people who leave a voicemail, SellCell took the total number of phone calls made each day and calculated the figures based on the percentage of calls going to voicemail and the percentage of people who leave a voicemail, creating unique data illustrating how many people leave voicemails, and how many calls go to voicemail.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail, Globally?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	4,927,500,000,000	3,942,000,000,000
Per Month	405,000,000,000	324,000,000,000
Per Day	13,500,000,000	10,800,000,000
Per Hour	562,500,000	450,000,000
Per Minute	9,375,000	7,500,000
Per Second	156,250	125,000

• As the above table illustrates, a vast number of calls (80%) ¹ we recieve go straight to voicemail. Out of the 13.5 billion calls made every day globally in 2024, 10.8 billion of them go to voicemail.
• This could be because many of us prefer to use a text message or messaging app in order to communicate, according to SellCell’s text messaging statistics article.
• According to expert mindset coach, Maya Zack, people dislike leaving voicemail messages as it adds a certain degree of pressure for the person leaving the voicemail, in terms of ensuring the message is short enough for the recipient to engage with it, but contains enough information for them to respond to ².
• In terms of receiving voicemails, Zack states that people find it intrusive, or it can create anxiety because people think the contents are too important for the person not to leave a message. It makes people fear the worst, as the contents of the message are unknown until the recipient listens to it.

How Many People Leave a Voicemail, Globally?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	4,927,500,000,000	788,400,000,000
Per Month	405,000,000,000	64,800,000,000
Per Day	13,500,000,000	2,160,000,000
Per Hour	562,500,000	90,000,000
Per Minute	9,375,000	1,500,000
Per Second	156,250	25,000

• However, despite 80% of calls going to voicemail, only 20% of people then actually leave a voice message for the recipient to respond to ³. From the 13.5 billion calls made per day, only 2.16 billion callers will leave a voicemail.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in the USA?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	1,127,441,200,000	901,952,960,000
Per Month	92,666,400,000	74,133,120,000
Per Day	3,088,880,000	2,471,104,000
Per Hour	128,703,333	102,962,667
Per Minute	2,145,056	1,716,044
Per Second	35,751	28,601

• With the same percentage of their calls going to voicemail (80%), US mobile and smartphone users see 2.5 billion of their 3.1 billion calls per day going to voicemail in 2024.

How Many People Leave a Voicemail in the USA?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	1,127,441,200,000	180,390,592,000
Per Month	92,666,400,000	14,826,624,000
Per Day	3,088,880,000	494,220,800
Per Hour	128,703,333	20,592,533
Per Minute	2,145,056	343,209
Per Second	35,751	5,720

• Only 20% of US callers leave a voicemail. This means that for the 3.1 billion phone calls the US makes per day, only 494 million callers will end the call with a voicemail.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in the UK?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	246,272,800,000	197,018,240,000
Per Month	20,241,600,000	16,193,280,000
Per Day	674,720,000	539,776,000
Per Hour	28,113,333	22,490,667
Per Minute	468,556	374,844
Per Second	7,809	6,247

• Heading to the UK, we can see that, from the 675 million phone calls they make a day in 2024, 540 million go to voicemail. Again, this is 80% of all calls smartphone and mobile phone users make in the UK.

How Many People Leave a Voicemail in the UK?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	246,272,800,000	39,403,648,000
Per Month	20,241,600,000	3,238,656,000
Per Day	674,720,000	107,955,200
Per Hour	28,113,333	4,498,133
Per Minute	468,556	74,969
Per Second	7,809	1,249

• In terms of leaving a voicemail, with only 20% of people doing so, Brits only leave 108 million voicemails for the 675 million calls they make per day.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in China?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	5,327,306,400,000	4,261,845,120,000
Per Month	437,860,800,000	350,288,640,000
Per Day	14,595,360,000	11,676,288,000
Per Hour	608,140,000	486,512,000
Per Minute	10,135,667	8,108,533
Per Second	168,928	135,142

• China makes a whopping 14.6 billion calls a day in 2024. With a percentage of 80%, that leaves 11.7 billion calls going to voicemail.

How Many People Leave a Voicemail in China?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	5,327,306,400,000	852,369,024,000
Per Month	437,860,800,000	70,057,728,000
Per Day	14,595,360,000	2,335,257,600
Per Hour	608,140,000	97,302,400
Per Minute	10,135,667	1,621,707
Per Second	168,928	27,028

• Given that only 20% of people leave a voicemail, that means 2.3 billion of the 14.6 billion calls made per day in China culminate in a voicemail.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in Germany?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	307,768,000,000	246,214,400,000
Per Month	25,296,000,000	20,236,800,000
Per Day	843,200,000	674,560,000
Per Hour	35,133,333	28,106,667
Per Minute	585,556	468,444
Per Second	9,759	7,807

• In 2024 Germans made 843 million phone calls a day. With a rate of 80%, this leaves 675 million heading to voicemail once the call has rung out.

How Many People Leave Voicemails in Germany?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	307,768,000,000	49,242,880,000
Per Month	25,296,000,000	4,047,360,000
Per Day	843,200,000	134,912,000
Per Hour	35,133,333	5,621,333
Per Minute	585,556	93,689
Per Second	9,759	1,561

• Only 20% of people leave voicemail. This means that only 135 million of Germany’s 843 million daily callers will close out the call by leaving a voice message.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in Spain?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	178,674,800,000	142,939,840,000
Per Month	14,685,600,000	11,748,480,000
Per Day	489,520,000	391,616,000
Per Hour	20,396,667	16,317,333
Per Minute	339,944	271,956
Per Second	5,666	4,533

• The Spanish make 490 million calls per day in 2024. With 80% going to voicemail, that means 392 million of those calls will end up with the answerphone.

How Many People Leave Voicemails in Spain?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	178,674,800,000	28,587,968,000
Per Month	14,685,600,000	2,349,696,000
Per Day	489,520,000	78,323,200
Per Hour	20,396,667	3,263,467
Per Minute	339,944	54,391
Per Second	5,666	907

• Given that only 20% of people leave voicemails, only 78 million of the 489 million Spanish calls per day will terminate with a voicemail message to the recipient.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in France?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	226,387,600,000	181,110,080,000
Per Month	18,607,200,000	14,885,760,000
Per Day	620,240,000	496,192,000
Per Hour	25,843,333	20,674,667
Per Minute	430,722	344,578
Per Second	7,179	5,743

• In 2024, the French made 620 million calls every day. If 80% of them go to voicemail, this is 496 million people ending up with the recipients voicemail service.

How Many People Leave a Voicemail in France?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	226,387,600,000	36,222,016,000
Per Month	18,607,200,000	2,977,152,000
Per Day	620,240,000	99,238,400
Per Hour	25,843,333	4,134,933
Per Minute	430,722	68,916
Per Second	7,179	1,149

• Despite 620 million French people hitting voicemail a day, only 99 million of them will actually leave a message once the dialing tone rings out.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in Italy?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	229,103,200,000	183,282,560,000
Per Month	18,830,400,000	15,064,320,000
Per Day	627,680,000	502,144,000
Per Hour	26,153,333	20,922,667
Per Minute	435,889	348,711
Per Second	7,265	5,812

• Every day, Italians make 628 million calls in 2024, and every day, 502 million of them end up going to voicemail.

How Many People Leave a Voicemail in Italy?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	229,103,200,000	36,656,512,000
Per Month	18,830,400,000	3,012,864,000
Per Day	627,680,000	100,428,800
Per Hour	26,153,333	4,184,533
Per Minute	435,889	69,742
Per Second	7,265	1,162

• Despite the fact that 80% of calls go to voicemail, Italians only leave just over 100 million voicemails a day, which is 20% of all calls made in that 24-hour period.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in Turkey?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	269,311,600,000	215,449,280,000
Per Month	22,135,200,000	17,708,160,000
Per Day	737,840,000	590,272,000
Per Hour	30,743,333	24,594,667
Per Minute	512,389	409,911
Per Second	8,540	6,832

• In 2024 Turks made 738 million calls each day. This means that 590 million (80%) of them will end up going to voicemail.

How Many People Leave a Voicemail in Turkey?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	269,311,600,000	43,089,856,000
Per Month	22,135,200,000	3,541,632,000
Per Day	737,840,000	118,054,400
Per Hour	30,743,333	4,918,933
Per Minute	512,389	81,982
Per Second	8,540	1,366

• With only 20% of all calls ending with the caller leaving a voicemail, that equates to 118 million voicemails left by Turkish callers every day.

How Many Calls Go to Voicemail in Mexico?

	Phone Calls	Going to Voicemail (80%)
Per Year	422,640,800,000	338,112,640,000
Per Month	34,737,600,000	27,790,080,000
Per Day	1,157,920,000	926,336,000
Per Hour	48,246,667	38,597,333
Per Minute	804,111	643,289
Per Second	13,402	10,721

• Our data shows that in 2024 Mexicans make 1.2 billion calls each day, with 926 million of them going to voicemail. This equates to 80% of all calls that end this way.

How Many People Leave a Voicemail in Mexico?

	Phone Calls	Leaving a Voicemail (20%)
Per Year	422,640,800,000	67,622,528,000
Per Month	34,737,600,000	5,558,016,000
Per Day	1,157,920,000	185,267,200
Per Hour	48,246,667	7,719,467
Per Minute	804,111	128,658
Per Second	13,402	2,144

• Of those 1.2 billion calls a day, and with 926 million going to voicemail, only 185 million Mexican people will leave a voicemail at the end of a call.

Voicemail Statistics: What Happens to Unknown Numbers?

We’ve seen the voicemail statistics for global use and use by country, but these are for calls from identifiable numbers. What about unknown numbers?

WHAT ADULTS IN THE U.S. DO WHEN AN UNKNOWN NUMBER CALLS
	Percentage of respondents
Answer phone to see who it is	19%
Check voicemail if left	67%
Ignore voicemail if left	14%

• As the above graph shows, only 19% of Americans will answer a call from an unknown number to see who it is.
• 67% of people won’t answer an unknown number, but will check the voicemail that number leaves.
• 14% of people don’t bother at all, and would just ignore the call and then ignore the voicemail message from the unknown number.

More Voicemail Statistics

• 90% of first-time voicemails are left unreturned by the intended recipient of the initial phone call. ⁵
• In business terms, sales representatives spend up to 15% of their time leaving voicemails for the recipients of their calls. ⁵
• The average response rate for voicemails is only 4.8%. This means over 95% of voicemails go completely unaddressed. ⁵
• According to Orum, leaving a voicemail only increases your chances of getting a callback from 2.277% to 2.538%. That’s a 11.5% relative improvement but the percentage chance is still very low. ⁹
• In terms of leaving a message, companies have discovered that the optimum length for a voicemail is between 8 and 13 seconds. ¹
• The cost of leaving a voicemail to a business is significant. In the time spent leaving voicemails a rep could make 25% more calls. ¹⁰
• JPMorgan Chase & Co reported that the company saved itself $3.2million by terminating its voicemail service. ⁶
• Millenials and Gen-Z do not appreciate reaching a voicemail service, nor do they appreciate having to address voicemail messages. ⁶
• People take longer to reply to a voicemail than they do any other form of communication. That is if they even bother responding at all. ⁷
• 30% of voicemails are left unattended for up to three days at a time, whereas 91% of people under 30 will reply to a text message in under an hour (see SellCell’s text message stats page for more comprehensive data on text messaging). ⁷
• According to data, 97% of business calls will go to voicemail. This leaves only 3% of people who will answer the call, minimizing the opportunity to make a sale. ⁸

Voicemail Statistics: Are Voicemails a Dying Form of Communication?

We have looked at global voicemail statistics, and voicemail data country by country. We have seen what happens to calls from unknown numbers, and the messages those numbers leave. With the multiple methods of contacting each other, we now have less patience for voicemails, which could see the humble voicemail die a slow and agonising death. Perhaps it is time we overhauled voicemail services… or abandoned them altogether.

Sources

1. Sales Leads Inc
2. Metro
3. Krispcall
4. Pew Research
5. Zoominfo
6. Answer Connect
7. NY Times
8. Freshworks
9. Orum
10. SalesHive

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