Summary

  • APNIC forecasts AUD 30.26 million in 2026 fees, up about 7.5%, while net accounts grow 1.2%; the percentages use different bases.
  • Explaining the gap requires connecting accounts, IPv4/IPv6 holdings, fee parameters, discounts and renewal timing.

Two growth rates, two denominators

APNIC’s 2026 budget projects membership-fee revenue of AUD 30,264,271, compared with AUD 28,157,444 in the 2025 forecast. Those exact amounts imply growth of about 7.48%, rounded to 7.5% in the budget narrative. A detailed table rounds the displayed change to 7%; that is presentation precision, not a competing result. Fees make up 89% of projected total revenue of AUD 34,009,682. The budget submission makes fee income the main revenue line in the 2026 plan.

The same submission forecasts annualized net membership growth of 1.2%, down from 1.4% in the 2025 forecast. The account table projects 600 new accounts and 480 closures in 2026, for net growth of 120 and a total of 10,431, versus 10,311 in 2025. The earlier forecast counted 611 new accounts, 475 closures and five reactivations or adjustments, for net growth of 141. APNIC attributes the slower outlook to fewer sign-ups and more closures associated with mergers and acquisitions.

An account count is not an address-resource measure. The budget does not say how much IPv4 or IPv6 space the accounts hold, nor what a “typical” member pays. Subtracting 1.2% from 7.5% does not reveal a 6.3% individual price increase: one rate measures aggregate fee revenue, the other account growth. The link depends on resource holdings, the applicable formula, discounts, and the point in the year when a member renews.

APNIC’s published fee schedule shows the moving parts. It calculates fees separately for IPv4 and IPv6 holdings using a base amount and a bit factor, then applies the larger calculated amount. For 2026 the parameters are AUD 1,295 and 1.320; for 2027, AUD 1,356 and 1.325. The schedule also provides a 2.9 multiplier for National Internet Registry members and a 50% discount for qualifying least-developed-country members. A member’s address mix and eligibility therefore matter alongside the headline rates. The current fee schedule sets out those rules.

Revised rates phase in as accounts renew during the budget year rather than applying to every member on 1 January. APNIC’s example for a member holding IPv4 /16 and /18 shows AUD 13,050 in 2026 and AUD 14,106 in 2027. It illustrates the calculation, not an average bill. Nor does the account table establish whether resources associated with a closed account were transferred, consolidated or remained in APNIC’s registry.

The budget sensitivity cases are bounded scenarios, not probabilities. A 20% variance in projected member growth changes fee revenue by ±AUD 117,749; a 20% variance in closures changes it by ±AUD 88,972. These figures show that account movements affect the forecast, but they do not reconcile movements to resource holdings and actual invoices.

The 8 October 2026 Executive Council update adds a midyear check: first-half activity was on plan, and the full-year operating-deficit forecast was AUD 209,000, compared with AUD 308,320 budgeted. The AUD 99,000 improvement is about 32% of the planned deficit, not a surplus or audited result. APNIC still targeted a balanced 2027 budget; slower growth beyond 2027 could require prioritization, fewer activities or efficiency measures. The Council update is not the final 2027 budget.

The unresolved question is which combination of account numbers, registered resources, rates, discounts and renewal dates produces the fee forecast. Without that bridge, members can see assumptions and sensitivity but cannot independently connect the account table to recognized revenue.

Sources