Registration record for .be ccTLD broken for sixth year in a row

For the sixth year in a row, the Belgian .be domain has broken the registration record set the previous year. Last year, 232,746 .be names were registered– a 4.4% increase from 2008.

Given the huge popularity of ccTLDs lately, this news isn’t surprising at all. DNS BE, the operator of the extension, credits the growth with domain registrars. Jo Van Gorp, the agency’s general manager, said:

The Belgian population is perfectly aware of the value and the importance of a .be domain name; the record growth achieved in times of economic crisis is the best proof of it. We have not only all .be domain name holders to thank for their confidence in DNS BE, but also and in the first place, our network of over 450 registrars
It’s thanks to their efforts, day after day, that we’ve achieved these excellent results.

Interestingly, a large number of Belgians seem to be registering names for personal use. In 2008, 30% of names made up this demographic while in 2009, the number grew to 34%.