710,942 Americans held an active FCC amateur radio license as of July 16, 2026, and nearly half of them, 349,065, are entry-level Technicians (FCC data via ARRL license counts). Japan, once home to the world’s largest ham population, has slid from a peak of 1,364,316 licensed stations in April 1995 to 325,176 in July 2026, a 76% collapse (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications data, via hamlife.jp). Yet the hobby is not simply fading: Germany nearly tripled its exam candidates between 2021 and 2024 after adding an entry-level license class (Bundesnetzagentur), and roughly three-quarters of all contacts logged worldwide now travel over the FT8 and FT4 digital modes (Club Log). This analysis consolidates data from the FCC, the Bundesnetzagentur, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Club Log, and 11 other primary sources to map where amateur radio stands in 2026.
TL;DR
- 710,942 active US amateur licenses as of July 16, 2026: 349,065 Technician, 178,751 General, 153,489 Extra (FCC via ARRL).
- The US total is down about 37,500 licenses (5%) from 748,519 in 2024, roughly one license per 480 Americans (FCC/ARRL).
- Japan fell from 1,364,316 licensed stations in April 1995 to 325,176 in July 2026, losing more than 1,000 stations a month for 12 straight months (MIC, via hamlife.jp).
- Germany counted 61,105 licensed amateurs at the end of 2025; exam candidates nearly tripled from 770 in 2021 to 2,291 in 2024 (Bundesnetzagentur).
- Germany’s new entry-level Class N, introduced mid-2024, grew from 342 to 817 licensees in its first full year, up 139% (Bundesnetzagentur).
- FT8 and FT4 carry about 75% of all QSOs logged to Club Log, a share projected to hold through 2025 (Club Log data, G7VJR analysis).
- WSJT-X, the free software behind FT8, still records about 3,311 downloads per week in July 2026 (SourceForge).
- Parks on the Air reached 29,000 activators and 49,000+ hunters with 10 or more parks by June 2025, seven years after launch (POTA).
- More than 31,000 radio amateurs take part in ARRL Field Day, the emergency-preparedness exercise held annually since 1933 (ARRL).
- ARISS has connected 1 million students to the International Space Station through nearly 1,800 ham radio contacts over 25 years of continuous operation (ARISS).
1. US Licensing: 710,942 Hams, Counting Down Slowly
The United States remains the world’s largest amateur radio country, but the total is drifting lower. The ARRL’s FCC license counts, tallied from the FCC’s public Universal Licensing System files, put the active total at 710,942 as of July 16, 2026, down from 748,519 in 2024. More than one in five US hams now hold the top-tier Amateur Extra class (153,489, or 21.6%), the highest share in the license structure’s history, while the two grandfathered classes closed to new applicants in 2000 have dwindled to 29,637 holders. The structural story is long: the FCC cut six license classes to three on April 15, 2000, and dropped the Morse code requirement entirely on February 23, 2007, a change the ARRL says triggered a surge in applications.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Active US amateur licenses (July 16, 2026) | 710,942 | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| Technician class licensees | 349,065 (49.1%) | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| General class licensees | 178,751 (25.1%) | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| Amateur Extra class licensees | 153,489 (21.6%) | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| Grandfathered Advanced + Novice licensees | 25,510 + 4,127 | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| US total in 2024, for comparison | 748,519 | ARRL/FCC |
| New US licenses issued in 2023 | 30,000+ (first time since 2014) | ARRL |
Context: amateur radio’s slow decline contrasts with broadcast radio’s stubborn reach; for the audience side of the dial, see our radio industry statistics.
2. Global Populations: Japan’s Long Slide and the World Map
Worldwide, commonly cited estimates put the amateur population near three million, and the IARU’s 2011 regional tallies counted about 830,000 stations in the Americas, 750,000 in Asia-Pacific, and 400,000 across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (IARU). The sharpest national story is Japan. Japan’s licensed amateur stations peaked at 1,364,316 in April 1995 and stood at 325,176 on July 20, 2026, a 76% decline, with the count dropping by more than 1,000 stations every month for 12 consecutive months (MIC data, via hamlife.jp). In one July 2026 week alone Japan lost 404 stations, about 58 a day. Even the Kanto region around Tokyo, Japan’s largest at 98,848 stations, keeps shrinking, and the Kinki region around Osaka fell below 40,000 for the first time in May 2026.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| United States, active licenses (2026) | 710,942 | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| Japan, licensed stations (July 2026) | 325,176 | MIC, via hamlife.jp |
| Japan, all-time peak (April 1995) | 1,364,316 | MIC, via hamlife.jp |
| China, licensed amateurs (2024) | 240,000 | Chinese Radio Amateurs Club |
| Thailand, licensed amateurs (2018) | 101,763 | IARU |
| United Kingdom, licensed amateurs (2018) | 75,660 | IARU |
| Canada, licensed amateurs (2018) | 70,198 | IARU |
| Germany, licensed amateurs (end of 2025) | 61,105 | Bundesnetzagentur |
Note: several IARU country figures date from the most recent member-society reports (2018 or earlier) and likely overstate today’s totals; Japan counts licensed stations rather than individual operators, so figures are not perfectly comparable across countries.
3. The Licensing Pipeline: Exams, New Entrants, and Germany’s Revival
The pipeline data cuts against the pure-decline narrative. Germany’s regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, reports that amateur exam candidates collapsed to 770 in 2021, then jumped to 1,422 in 2022, 1,578 in 2023, and 2,291 in 2024, holding at 2,261 in 2025. The catalyst was Class N, an entry-level license introduced in mid-2024: it drew 753 passing candidates in 2025 alone, more than either of the legacy classes, and its licensee count grew 139% in its first full year, from 342 to 817. In the US, the ARRL VEC administers about two-thirds of all license exams, and 2023 marked the first year since 2014 with more than 30,000 new licenses issued.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| German exam candidates, 2021 vs 2024 | 770 vs 2,291 (nearly 3x) | Bundesnetzagentur, Jan 2026 |
| German exam sessions / candidates in 2025 | 189 sessions / 2,261 candidates | Bundesnetzagentur, Jan 2026 |
| German certificates issued in 2025 | 2,101 | Bundesnetzagentur, Jan 2026 |
| Class N passes in 2025 (introduced mid-2024) | 753 (vs 631 Class A, 706 Class E) | Bundesnetzagentur, Jan 2026 |
| Class N licensees, end 2024 vs end 2025 | 342 vs 817 (+139%) | Bundesnetzagentur, Jan 2026 |
| Voluntary German Morse exam passes in 2025 | 11 | Bundesnetzagentur, Jan 2026 |
| Share of US exams administered by ARRL VEC | ~two-thirds | ARRL |
Note: Germany’s overall license total still slipped 0.3% in 2025 (61,315 to 61,105) because attrition in the long-standing Class A outpaced new entrants; the pipeline is refilling faster than at any point since 2010, but not yet faster than the outflow.
4. Digital Modes: FT8 Ate the Airwaves
No technology has reshaped ham activity this decade like FT8, a weak-signal digital mode released on June 29, 2017, that completes a contact in about 90 seconds using 15-second transmission cycles. Within two years it had become the most widely reported digital mode on spotting networks such as PSK Reporter. A 2023 analysis of Club Log’s mode data found FT8 and its faster sibling FT4 carrying about 75% of all logged QSOs, and projected that three-quarters share would persist through 2025, with CW and voice slowly ceding ground. The free WSJT-X software behind the mode still moves at volume: about 3,311 downloads a week on SourceForge in July 2026, with a 3.0.0 release candidate published in May 2026.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Share of Club Log QSOs on FT8 + FT4 | ~75% | Club Log data, G7VJR analysis (2023) |
| FT8 public release | June 29, 2017 | WSJT development group |
| Time to become most-reported digital mode | Under 2 years | PSK Reporter network data |
| WSJT-X downloads per week (July 2026) | 3,311 | SourceForge |
| Latest WSJT-X release | 3.0.0-rc1 (May 4, 2026) | SourceForge |
Context: hams obsess over audio quality on the voice modes that remain; the market for microphones and processing gear that serves them is sized in our pro audio equipment statistics.
5. Portable Operating and Awards: POTA, SOTA, and DXCC
The fastest-growing corner of the hobby is outdoors. Parks on the Air, founded January 5, 2018, as a successor to the ARRL’s one-year National Parks on the Air event in 2016, rewards operators who set up in parks and log at least 10 contacts in a UTC day. By June 2025, POTA counted 29,000 activators and more than 49,000 hunters who had worked at least 10 parks, making a seven-year-old program one of the largest organized activities in amateur radio. Summits on the Air, its mountain-top predecessor launched in Britain in 2002, reports 33,842+ participants worldwide, about 7,000 of them in the US. The oldest award of all, DXCC, has anchored HF chasing since 1935.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| POTA founded | January 5, 2018 | Parks on the Air |
| POTA activators (June 2025) | 29,000 | Parks on the Air program data |
| POTA hunters with 10+ parks (June 2025) | 49,000+ | Parks on the Air program data |
| Minimum contacts for a POTA activation | 10 QSOs in one UTC day | Parks on the Air rules |
| SOTA launched | 2002 (Great Britain) | SOTA |
| SOTA participants worldwide / in US | 33,842+ / ~7,000 | SOTA |
| DXCC award program established | 1935 | ARRL DXCC |
| Entities confirmed for basic DXCC award | 100 | ARRL DXCC |
Note: US infrastructure keeps pace with the portable boom: the volunteer-run RepeaterBook directory lists more than 40,000 repeaters, maintained by 180+ volunteer administrators over more than 20 years.
6. Emergency Communications and Public Service
Emergency service is amateur radio’s public-interest backbone and the legal rationale for its spectrum allocations. The ARRL’s Amateur Radio Emergency Service has fielded volunteers since the 1930s, and its record spans the largest US disasters of the modern era. More than 1,000 ARES volunteers assisted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and hams provided backup communications after the September 11 attacks, the 2003 Northeast blackout, and the 2011 Joplin tornado (ARRL/ARES). The hobby rehearses for this every June: ARRL Field Day, held annually since 1933, sends more than 31,000 operators to portable and emergency-powered stations on the fourth weekend of June.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ARES volunteers deployed after Hurricane Katrina (2005) | 1,000+ | ARRL / ARES |
| ARES active since | 1930s | ARRL ARES |
| Notable ARES deployments | 9/11 (2001), Northeast blackout (2003), Joplin tornado (2011) | ARRL / ARES |
| ARRL Field Day participants | 31,000+ | ARRL Field Day |
| Field Day held annually since | 1933 | ARRL Field Day |
Context: when hurricanes knock out phone networks, hams backstop the official system; how that system performs day to day is covered in our 911 emergency call statistics.
7. Ham Radio in Space: ARISS and Amateur Satellites
Amateur radio beat most of the world to orbit. The first ham satellite, OSCAR 1, launched on December 12, 1961, barely four years after Sputnik, and AMSAT has coordinated amateur satellite work since 1969. The showcase today is ARISS, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. ARISS marked 25 years of continuous operation aboard the ISS on November 13, 2025, having connected 1 million students to astronauts through nearly 1,800 scheduled ham radio contacts (ARISS). The program runs 60 to 100 school contacts a year and reaches more than 40,000 youth and 150,000 members of the public annually.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| First amateur radio satellite (OSCAR 1) | December 12, 1961 | AMSAT |
| AMSAT founded | 1969 | AMSAT |
| ARISS continuous ISS operation | Since November 13, 2000 (25 years) | ARISS |
| ARISS school contacts to date | ~1,800 | ARISS |
| Students connected to the ISS via ARISS | 1 million | ARISS |
| ARISS scheduled contacts per year | 60-100 | ARISS |
| ARISS annual reach | 40,000+ youth; 150,000+ public | ARISS |
Context: hams pioneered small-satellite communication decades before commercial constellations; for the scale of today’s orbital broadband, see our Starlink satellite internet statistics.
Summary: Ham Radio by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Active US amateur licenses (July 16, 2026) | 710,942 | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| Largest US license class | Technician, 349,065 (49.1%) | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| Amateur Extra share of US licenses | 21.6% (153,489) | FCC, via ARRL license counts |
| US decline since 2024 | ~37,500 licenses (-5%) | FCC/ARRL |
| New US licenses in 2023 | 30,000+ (first time since 2014) | ARRL |
| US Morse code requirement ended | February 23, 2007 | FCC / ARRL |
| Worldwide amateur population | ~3 million (est.) | IARU / ARRL estimates |
| Japan licensed stations (July 2026) | 325,176 | MIC, via hamlife.jp |
| Japan peak (April 1995) | 1,364,316 (-76% since) | MIC, via hamlife.jp |
| China licensed amateurs (2024) | 240,000 | Chinese Radio Amateurs Club |
| Germany licensed amateurs (end 2025) | 61,105 | Bundesnetzagentur |
| German exam candidates, 2021 vs 2024 | 770 vs 2,291 | Bundesnetzagentur |
| Germany Class N growth in 2025 | 342 to 817 (+139%) | Bundesnetzagentur |
| FT8 + FT4 share of logged QSOs | ~75% | Club Log (G7VJR analysis) |
| WSJT-X weekly downloads (July 2026) | 3,311 | SourceForge |
| POTA activators / hunters (June 2025) | 29,000 / 49,000+ | Parks on the Air |
| SOTA participants worldwide | 33,842+ | SOTA |
| US repeaters listed in RepeaterBook | 40,000+ | RepeaterBook |
| ARRL Field Day participants | 31,000+ | ARRL |
| Students reached by ARISS ISS contacts | 1 million (~1,800 contacts) | ARISS |
Methodology and Sources
Data was gathered by aggregating figures directly from regulator datasets, national society trackers, program databases, and named organizational reports published mostly in 2024-2026, cross-referencing overlapping metrics where possible and flagging older figures with their reporting year.
- ARRL, FCC License Counts (FCC ULS data through July 16, 2026)
- ARRL, About ARRL and ARRL Field Day
- ARRL, DXCC program and ARRL ARES
- Bundesnetzagentur, Statistische Angaben zum Amateurfunk in Deutschland (January 2, 2026)
- hamlife.jp, monthly MIC amateur station counts (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications data, May-July 2026)
- IARU, International Amateur Radio Union (member-society license counts, various years)
- Club Log mode data, analysis by Michael Wells G7VJR (September 2023)
- WSJT project on SourceForge (download statistics, July 2026)
- Parks on the Air (program data as of June 2025)
- Summits on the Air (participant counts)
- RepeaterBook (repeater directory counts)
- ARISS, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (25th anniversary figures, November 2025)
- AMSAT, Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
- Additional figures: Chinese Radio Amateurs Club (2024) and Korean Amateur Radio League (2012), as compiled in IARU and society reports.
Data watch: the ARRL updates its FCC license counts continuously from weekly ULS files; the Bundesnetzagentur publishes its amateur statistics each January; Japan’s MIC releases station counts monthly, relayed by hamlife.jp; Club Log’s mode CSV updates monthly; and POTA, SOTA, and ARISS publish rolling program statistics, so most figures here can be rechecked within a quarter.
Last updated: July 20, 2026. We review and update this page quarterly as new data is published.