How HTTPS adoption actually grew, in real numbers — not estimates. Every figure here traces back to Google's own Chrome Transparency Report or Certificate Transparency log data.
Source: Google's Chrome Transparency Report. Growth was driven by Let's Encrypt's free certificates (2016), Chrome's escalating "Not Secure" warnings (2017-2018), and Google's HTTPS ranking signal (2014) — see our SSL History category for the full story behind each.
Note: growth essentially plateaued after 2020 — the remaining gap is disproportionately low-traffic, low-maintenance, and legacy sites, which is exactly what's driving Chrome's move to enforce HTTPS by default in October 2026.
Google's Chrome 154 release (October 2026) enables "Always Use Secure Connections" by default for every user — Chrome will attempt HTTPS first for every public site and show a bypassable warning if it fails, rather than silently falling back to plain HTTP. The rollout started in April 2026 (Chrome 147) for the more than one billion users already on Enhanced Safe Browsing. Internal addresses and local network sites are exempted.
As of Q2 2026, ECDSA certificates crossed 50% of new issuance logged in Certificate Transparency — up from just 26.5% a year earlier, and now ahead of RSA for the first time. Our RSA vs ECC guide covers why smaller ECC keys deliver equivalent security with faster handshakes, which is almost certainly what's driving the shift.
Figures on this page are drawn from Google's Chrome Transparency Report and third-party Certificate Transparency log analysis, current as of mid-2026. Adoption percentages are inherently estimates derived from browser telemetry, not a literal census of every website.
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