Email formats by country and industry
first.last@ is the most common B2B email format in 23 of the 24 countries we measured, but how common it is varies a lot: from Sweden (80.3%) down to Saudi Arabia (28.1%). United States uses flast@ (first initial + last name) most, at 31.7%, and South Africa has the most first-name-only addresses (34.3%). By industry, pharmaceuticals is the most standardised (70.7% first.last@) and retail the least (33%).
Based on 175,005 verified work email addresses, randomly sampled per country and per industry and matched against each person's name.
By country
Share of verified B2B email addresses using each format, ranked by first.last@. The remainder are less common patterns (f.last@, last.first@, firstl@ ...) and addresses that don't follow the person's name (nicknames, middle names, numbers, roles).
| Country | first.last@ | first.last@ | flast@ | first@ | firstlast@ | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 80.3% | 1.9% | 9% | 0.3% | 4,867 | |
| Switzerland | 76.8% | 5.4% | 5.1% | 0.4% | 4,933 | |
| Germany | 72.9% | 5% | 4.5% | 0.5% | 4,918 | |
| Italy | 66.3% | 6.3% | 6.4% | 1.9% | 4,878 | |
| Brazil | 62.4% | 10.2% | 8.7% | 2.6% | 4,552 | |
| United Kingdom | 61.4% | 9.4% | 13.7% | 2% | 4,888 | |
| France | 58.1% | 14% | 8.8% | 0.9% | 4,955 | |
| Australia | 56.5% | 13.2% | 12.7% | 2.1% | 4,775 | |
| Singapore | 55.8% | 6.7% | 11.5% | 4.3% | 4,877 | |
| India | 54.7% | 4% | 15.5% | 6.1% | 4,960 | |
| Japan | 52.2% | 8.3% | 5.4% | 0.9% | 4,289 | |
| Egypt | 51% | 12.6% | 9.5% | 2.7% | 4,975 | |
| Canada | 48.7% | 24.9% | 8% | 1.2% | 4,776 | |
| Netherlands | 47.6% | 7.1% | 20.9% | 1.9% | 4,825 | |
| Pakistan | 45.1% | 4.1% | 26.3% | 5.1% | 4,940 | |
| United Arab Emirates | 44.5% | 12.5% | 20.8% | 1.8% | 4,971 | |
| Philippines | 43.5% | 10.5% | 20.2% | 3% | 4,915 | |
| Nigeria | 42.5% | 15.8% | 14.4% | 3.3% | 4,933 | |
| Mexico | 41.6% | 21.8% | 6.1% | 1.8% | 4,761 | |
| Kenya | 40.8% | 24% | 20% | 1.5% | 4,838 | |
| United States | 35.3% | 31.7% | 11.7% | 2.1% | 1,695 | |
| South Africa | 31.9% | 8.4% | 34.3% | 1.7% | 4,950 | |
| Spain | 31.6% | 15.2% | 23% | 1.8% | 4,837 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 28.1% | 25.4% | 10.7% | 1.1% | 4,988 |
By industry
Regulated, large-company industries standardise on first.last@; industries with many small firms use more flast@ and first-name-only addresses.
| Industry | first.last@ | first.last@ | flast@ | first@ | firstlast@ | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceuticals | 70.7% | 4.8% | 2% | 7.7% | 4,846 | |
| Banking | 67.2% | 16.7% | 1.4% | 2% | 3,682 | |
| Telecommunications | 66.2% | 13% | 3.5% | 1.1% | 3,436 | |
| Financial services | 55.4% | 19.8% | 9.1% | 1.1% | 3,838 | |
| IT & services | 54.2% | 15.3% | 12.2% | 1.7% | 4,140 | |
| Automotive | 53.6% | 19.5% | 5.8% | 2.2% | 1,843 | |
| Oil & energy | 53% | 20.4% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 4,531 | |
| Software | 50.7% | 18.2% | 17.4% | 1.1% | 3,421 | |
| Management consulting | 50.7% | 24% | 6.8% | 1.6% | 4,303 | |
| Insurance | 50.3% | 23.7% | 3.6% | 0.9% | 2,676 | |
| Hospitals & healthcare | 47.2% | 29.9% | 3.9% | 1.8% | 3,479 | |
| Manufacturing & machinery | 47.2% | 14.2% | 13.8% | 2.7% | 3,522 | |
| Staffing & recruiting | 46.4% | 18.7% | 16.8% | 2.2% | 3,688 | |
| Marketing & advertising | 42.6% | 15.7% | 24.8% | 2.1% | 3,494 | |
| Real estate | 40.4% | 26% | 15.1% | 4.6% | 649 | |
| Construction | 37.6% | 28.7% | 13.6% | 3.6% | 2,778 | |
| Higher education | 36.4% | 25.4% | 3.2% | 2% | 4,140 | |
| Retail | 33% | 17.7% | 16.7% | 2.4% | 3,243 |
What this means for outreach
- A format is a probability, not an address. Even in Sweden, 20% of addresses do not use first.last@.
- Guessed addresses bounce, and bounces hurt your sender reputation - verify before you send.
- Company-specific patterns matter more than country averages: check the company's own format first.
- When you need the person, not the pattern, look up their verified email directly.
Methodology
For each country and industry we drew a random sample (up to 5,000; 10,000 for the US) of work emails that passed verification in the Sendburg database in October 2026. Each local part was compared with the person's first and last name (accents removed, trailing digits ignored) against 15 patterns. Addresses that matched no pattern count as other. Rows need at least 500 classified addresses. Country = the person's location; industry = their company's industry.
Cite as: Sendburg Research, “Email formats by country and industry”, October 2026, send-burg.com/research/email-formats-by-country.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common email format by country?
first.last@ is the most common B2B email format in 23 of the 24 countries we measured, but how common it is varies a lot: from Sweden (80.3%) down to Saudi Arabia (28.1%). United States uses flast@ (first initial + last name) most, at 31.7%, and South Africa has the most first-name-only addresses (34.3%). By industry, pharmaceuticals is the most standardised (70.7% first.last@) and retail the least (33%).
Which country uses first.last@ the most?
Sweden: 80.3% of verified B2B emails in our Sweden sample use [email protected]. Switzerland (76.8%) and Germany (72.9%) follow.
Do email formats differ by industry?
Yes. Pharmaceuticals companies use first.last@ for 70.7% of addresses, while retail companies use it for only 33%, with more flast@ and first-name-only addresses.
Can I guess someone's work email from the company format?
A format tells you the likely pattern, not the actual address - nicknames, middle names, duplicates and old domains break the rule. Always verify a guessed address before sending, or look up the verified email directly.