Customer Service Statistics 2026

2026 76.7 76.1 – – 2025 77.0 76.9 76.9 76.9

In the first quarter of 2026, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) fell 0.3% to a score of 76.7 (100-point scale) on an annual basis.

Ease of submitting a claim rises 1% to 78, but call center satisfaction falls 1% to 76.

The Index also reveals a fourth consecutive increase in customer satisfaction, reaching 78.3 (out of 100), a 1.0-point increase year-on-year.

Banks & Building Societies (82.0) is the highest rated sector for the first time

Nationwide scored 87.3 out of 100 and was followed by John Lewis (87.1) and first direct (86.0).

In the US, for the second year in a row, 25% of brands’ customer experience rankings declined in 2025, compared to only 7% that improved.

Overall, the IRS received 48.1 million calls, telephone assistors answered 9.9 million calls (21%), and the average time taxpayers spent waiting on hold was 14 minutes

This year, the IRS provided a 73% Level of Service on the Accounts Management lines, and wait times on those lines averaged 8 minutes.

The IRS only answered 31% of those calls, and taxpayers waited an average of 45 minutes for a telephone assistor to answer.

In September 2026, the National 800 Number average speed of answer was 0.5 minutes and our answer rate was nearly 99 percent.

For over 29 million visitors, the average combined field office wait time in fiscal year (FY) 2026 was just over 20 minutes, a 31 percent improvement from FY 2024, improving service speed for millions of visitors each month.

Between April and June 2026, customers waited on average 11 minutes and 35 seconds for their call to be answered, compared to over 13 minutes in the same period of 2025.

We continued to exceed this service standard in quarter 1 of 2026 to 2027, with 87.9% of callers getting through to an adviser.

81% of consumers want representatives to pick up where they left off, and 74% get frustrated when they have to repeat information.

New Five9 data highlights the continued importance of the human touch in CX, as 75% prefer talking to a real human in-person or over the phone for customer support, indicating that brands need to improve online customer support.

Gen Z is less likely to prefer talking to a real human in-person or over the phone for customer support (66%) compared to Gen X (76%) and Baby Boomers / the Silent Generation (86%)

81% of consumers want representatives to pick up where they left off, and 74% get frustrated when they have to repeat information.

76% of consumers would choose a company that allows all three in one conversation, and 83% of CX leaders believe Voice AI now has the potential to significantly evolve the customer experience.

69% of consumers expect consistent interactions across departments.

Among customers who use GenAI, 58% said they have used it to complete a task on their behalf.

In 2025 to 2026, 78% of all customer interactions were digital — up from 65% five years ago, which shows we’re well on the way to reaching our target of at least 90% by 2030.

Between April and June 2026, overall customer satisfaction was 78.6%, with 81.1% of customers satisfied or very satisfied with our digital services.

Customers are increasingly choosing our online and telephone options, which account for 96 percent of all contacts so far this year.

taxpayers logged into their Individual Online Accounts nearly 121 million times during the filing season

53% of consumers agree online self-service has improved in the last 3 years.

In 2022, over 98 million users (approximately 37% of the U.S. population) engaged with a bank’s chatbot.

Customers have mixed feelings using GenAI for customer support, as 50% of customers say their interactions are easier when companies use GenAI, yet 87% of customers say it is essential for companies to provide an option to reach a human agent when using GenAI

Customers have mixed feelings using GenAI for customer support, as 50% of customers say their interactions are easier when companies use GenAI

30% of consumers – even more among Gen Z and millennials (37%) – would work with an AI agent instead of a person for faster service.

45% are more likely to use an AI agent if there’s a clear escalation path.

95% of consumers expect clear explanations for AI-made decisions, and 80% of CX leaders say transparency will soon be required for any customer-facing AI.

nearly half (48%) of consumers say they do not trust information provided by AI-powered customer service bots.

Over half (56%) of all consumers are often frustrated by AI customer-service chatbots.

A Gartner survey of 199 service and support leaders conducted in April through May 2026 revealed that spending on AI has increased by 38%, while overall service and support function budgets have grown just 2%.

service and support leaders invested a median of 12% of their 2025 budget in AI, the highest amount among the 10 business functions assessed.

However, only 24% of service and support leaders demonstrated positive financial returns across their AI use cases.

Additionally, 84% of leaders plan to add new skills to the agent role and adjust hiring profiles to support this shift.

Service teams estimate 30% of cases are currently handled by AI.

By 2027, as AI agents — or digital labor — gain momentum, they project that figure will reach 50%.

Employment of customer service representatives is projected to decline 5 percent from 2025 to 2035.

Customer service representatives held about 2.7 million jobs in 2025.

Qualtrics XM Institute estimates that organizations globally are putting nearly $3 trillion of their sales at risk in 2026

Consumers cut spending after 47% of bad experiences, down 8 points from last year.

34% of consumers reduce their spending with a company after a negative experience, and 13% cut their spending entirely.

85% of CX leaders say customers will drop brands that can’t resolve issues on first contact, and 86% of consumers say responsiveness and accuracy strongly influence purchasing decisions.

43% of consumers say poor customer service experience will stop them from making a repeat purchase from a company or brand.

and 50% more likely to remain a customer (97.0% to 65.8%).

Three times as many people are willing to spend more for a higher level of customer service than are price-sensitive above all – 34.4% to 11.6%.

Customer complaints have now reached record levels, surging by 16% in the first quarter.

Since then, the number of complaints have roughly doubled each year: 3,187,900 complaints in 2024 and 6,635,400 complaints the CFPB received in 2025.