Wordle Statistics, Facts, & Strategies

Wordle is a popular online word game known for its simplicity and challenge. In this article, we’ll delve into Wordle statistics, covering various aspects of the game, from its history to player performance. Here’s a comprehensive look at Wordle:

Table of Contents

Wordle Overview

Creation & Ownership	Wordle was created by Josh Wardle in 2013, became publicly available in October 2021, and was later acquired by The New York Times Company in January 2022.
Player Base	Wordle has approximately 3 million players worldwide, but this number is declining.
Word Count	Wordle has 2,308 possible answers and 12,545 allowed guesses.
Global Average	The global average for solving Wordle is 4.016 guesses, with Sweden having the best average at 3.72 and Egypt the worst at 4.42.
Optimal Starting Words	The best word to start with is “SALET,” followed by “CRATE,” “TRACE,” “SLATE,” and “REAST.”
Theoretical Best Score	The theoretically best score achievable using an information theory algorithm is 3.42 for the entire database of words.

About the Founder

Wordle was created by Josh Wardle, a software engineer from Brooklyn, in 2013. In 2021, Wardle refined the game with the assistance of his partner, Palak Shah. Shah reviewed a list of 12,000 five-letter English words and narrowed them down to 2,500 commonly-known words used in Wordle’s daily puzzles. Initially, Wordle was only played by Wardle’s family, but it became publicly available in October 2021 on the website powerlanguage.co.uk. Within a month, the game had 90 players, and by the following month, it had over two million daily players. In January 2022, the game was acquired by The New York Times Company.

Wordle Statistics

Allowed Guesses	Wordle has 12,545 allowed guesses, though most of these words are uncommon.
Possible Answers	There are 2,308 possible answers, which represent a curated list, making up only 18.40% of allowed guesses.
First-Guess Success Rates	The chance to guess Wordle on the first try is 0.043% when considering only possible answers and 0.008% when also considering allowed guesses.
Player Growth	Wordle’s player base has evolved over the years: 2013-2021: Only played by Josh Wardle’s family, November 2021: 90 players, December 2021: Over 2 million players, 2022: Over 3 million players with a declining trend.
Hard Mode	Approximately 8.6% of players opt for hard mode, requiring the use of revealed hints in subsequent guesses.

Human Statistics Playing Wordle

Wordle players have an average success rate of just 0.02% on their first attempt, suggesting that many players often start with a word that is not a possible answer. The most common number of attempts required to guess the correct word is 4 (33.10% of games), followed by 5 attempts (23.91% of games) and 3 attempts (22.66% of games). In 2.92% of games, players cannot guess the correct word.

Wordle Number of Attempts to Solve

Attempt	Success Rate
1st	0.02%
2nd	5.67%
3rd	22.66%
4th	33.10%
5th	23.91%
6th	11.72%
Losses	2.92%

Wordle Statistics First-Guess Success Rates

Here’s a breakdown of the success rate for the first guess:

Green (correct)	Yellow (wrong spot)	Grey (incorrect)
1st	8.32%	23.69%
2nd	9.28%	28.73%
3rd	10.62%	30.59%
4th	7.95%	27.75%
5th	11.75%	29.72%

Wordle Statistics Best Countries at Wordle

Sweden leads the pack in Wordle performance, with an average of just 3.72 guesses to solve a puzzle. Switzerland (3.78) and Poland (3.79) follow closely. Australia, Belgium, and Finland tie for fourth place with a score of 3.80. Rounding out the top ten are Denmark, Brazil, South Africa, and Israel.

Top 10 countries at playing Wordle:

Sweden (3.72)
Switzerland (3.78)
Poland (3.79)
Australia (3.80)
Belgium (3.80)
Finland (3.81)
Brazil (3.83)
Denmark (3.83)
South Africa (3.83)
Israel (3.84)

Wordle Statistics Best Possible Solution

Applying information theory to Wordle can yield significantly better scores. Information theory, a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering, studies the representation, transmission, and manipulation of information. Using “SALET” as the starting word and applying information theory, you can achieve the following scores for all possible answers:

1st: 0.04%
2nd: 3.45%
3rd: 52.89%
4th: 41.67%
5th: 1.94%

Conclusion

It’s important to note that the accuracy of scores per country, state, and city relies on people sharing their Wordle results on Twitter. As a result, the averages are likely lower than in reality, as only a smaller percentage of people share bad results, such as guessing on the 5th or 6th attempt or not finishing at all. This should be considered when comparing human performance to machines, and it’s speculated that human performance may be at least 1 point worse than reported.

FAQs

What is a good Wordle win percentage?

Most people aim to keep their win percentage as high as possible, and with the right strategy, you can easily maintain it above 95%. With an optimal solving strategy, a 100% win percentage is possible.

How many people play Wordle?

Wordle had 3 million daily users at the beginning of 2022, but the number has since declined to about 2 million daily users.

What is the average Wordle score?

The average published Wordle score is between 3.5 and 4.0, depending on the country. However, this is based on people who willingly shared their scores on Twitter, so the real, unbiased average score is probably around 4.0 and 5.0.