API Statistics 2026: 25+ Sourced Facts on the API Economy

The API economy has quietly become the connective tissue of modern software: it's how AI agents reach tools, how SaaS products integrate with each other, and increasingly, how companies generate revenue. But APIs are also the fastest-growing attack surface in cybersecurity, with daily attack volumes more than doubling in a single year.

Below are 28 statistics on the state of APIs in 2025-2026, pulled from primary industry reports including Postman's State of the API Report, Salesforce MuleSoft's Connectivity Benchmark Report, Akamai's security research, and Salt Security's API security survey. Every figure below cites its original source, and we've flagged the handful of places where research firms disagree.

API-First Adoption & Business Impact

• 83.2% of respondents now adopt some level of an API-first approach in how they build software. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report
• 65% of organizations generate revenue directly from their API programs, not just cost savings. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report
• APIs and API-related implementations now account for 40% of company revenue according to IT leaders, up from just 25% in 2018. — Salesforce MuleSoft, 2025 Connectivity Benchmark Report
• 58% of IT leaders have adopted an API-led integration strategy, a slight uptick from 2024 but still far from universal. — Salesforce MuleSoft, 2025 Connectivity Benchmark Report
• The average organization now runs 897 applications, and 45% report using 1,000 or more — all of which need to be connected via APIs. — Salesforce MuleSoft, 2025 Connectivity Benchmark Report
• 80% of organizations say data silos are the single biggest barrier to achieving their automation and AI goals. — Salesforce MuleSoft, 2025 Connectivity Benchmark Report
• 66% of organizations still don't provide an integrated, connected experience for customers across channels, despite heavy API investment. — Salesforce MuleSoft, 2025 Connectivity Benchmark Report

API Growth & Developer Workload

• 30% of organizations saw their total API count grow 51-100% in the past year, and another 25% saw growth exceeding 100%. — Salt Security, 2025 State of API Security Report
• 69% of developers now spend more than 10 hours a week on API-related work, and over a quarter spend more than 20 hours weekly. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report
• 93% of API teams still face collaboration blockers — only 7% report no collaboration challenges at all. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report
• 58% of teams are actively documenting their APIs specifically to improve cross-team collaboration. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report
• Postman's 2025 survey drew responses from more than 5,700 developers and API professionals worldwide, one of the largest samples in the industry. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report

AI Agents Are Reshaping the API Economy

• 89% of developers now use generative AI in their daily work — yet most APIs still weren't designed with AI consumers in mind. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report
• Only 24% of developers — roughly one in four — currently design their APIs with AI agents specifically in mind. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report (via Business Wire)
• 51% of developers now cite unauthorized AI agent access as a top security risk to their APIs. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report
• 51% of organizations have already deployed AI agents in production, and another 35% plan to within two years. — Postman, 2025 State of the API Report
• 93% of IT leaders intend to introduce autonomous AI agents within the next two years, and nearly half already have. — Salesforce MuleSoft, 2025 Connectivity Benchmark Report

API Security Incidents & Attacks

• 99% of organizations encountered an API security issue somewhere in their environment in the past 12 months. — Salt Security, 2025 State of API Security Report
• 55% of organizations slowed the rollout of a new application specifically due to API security concerns. — Salt Security, 2025 State of API Security Report
• 34% of organizations experienced sensitive data exposure or a privacy incident tied to an API in the past year. — Salt Security, 2025 State of API Security Report
• 87% of organizations experienced at least one API-related security incident in 2025. — Akamai, 2026 State of the Internet report (via Zuplo)
• Average daily API attacks per organization surged 113% year-over-year, climbing from 121 attacks per day in 2024 to 258 in 2025. — Akamai, State of the Internet Security Report (via Help Net Security)
• 61% of API attacks in 2025 were behavior-based — unauthorized workflows and abnormal activity — up sharply from 30% in 2024. — Akamai, 2026 State of the Internet report (via Zuplo)
• Organizations carry an average of roughly 3,000 APIs handling sensitive data per customer, and 12% of those have known security weaknesses. — Akamai, 2026 State of the Internet report (via Zuplo)
• Akamai recorded 150 billion API attacks between January 2023 and December 2024 across its network. — Akamai Research
• Incidents tied to the OWASP API Security Top 10 increased 32% year-over-year. — Akamai Research
• Monthly Layer 7 DDoS volumes targeting apps and APIs rose from 500 billion in early 2023 to 1.1 trillion by December 2024, a 94% year-over-year increase in quarterly volumes. — Akamai Research
• APIs account for 43% of vulnerabilities on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, per one 2026 industry report. — Wallarm, 2026 API ThreatStats Report (via Zuplo)

API Management Market Size (Estimates Vary)

• Mordor Intelligence values the global API management market at $8.86 billion in 2025, projecting growth to $22.11 billion by 2031 (16.45% CAGR). — Mordor Intelligence, API Management Market Report
• Precedence Research puts the same market at $12.16 billion in 2025, projecting growth to $169.33 billion by 2034 — illustrating how widely market-size forecasts diverge by methodology. — Precedence Research, API Management Market Report
• Fortune Business Insights sizes the 2025 market at $6.89 billion, forecasting growth to $37.43 billion by 2034 (21.70% CAGR). — Fortune Business Insights, API Management Market Report

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of companies use an API-first approach?

83.2% of organizations report adopting some level of an API-first approach to building software, according to Postman's 2025 State of the API Report, one of the largest annual developer surveys in the industry.

How much revenue do APIs generate for businesses?

APIs and API-related implementations now account for an average of 40% of company revenue according to IT leaders surveyed for Salesforce MuleSoft's 2025 Connectivity Benchmark Report, up from just 25% in 2018. Separately, Postman found 65% of organizations generate revenue directly from their API programs.

How common are API security incidents?

Very common. Salt Security's 2025 State of API Security Report found 99% of organizations encountered an API security issue in the past 12 months, while Akamai reported 87% experienced at least one API-related security incident in 2025 and that average daily API attacks per organization surged 113% year-over-year, from 121 to 258.

Are companies actually building APIs for AI agents?

Not yet, mostly. Postman's 2025 research found that while 89% of developers use generative AI in their daily work, only about 24% currently design their APIs with AI agents specifically in mind — a gap the report frames as a near-term risk and opportunity.

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Every figure above is attributed to its cited third-party source and reflects the most recent data we could find at the time of writing; statistics change, so follow the source links to verify. Compiled by the Tolodora Editorial Team — we don't fabricate data.