RIR Delegated Statistics

Website	https://www.nro.net/about/rirs/
Category	BGP & Routing Data

RIR Delegated Statistics files contain the authoritative record of how IP addresses and AS numbers have been distributed worldwide. Published daily by all five Regional Internet Registries (AFRINIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, and RIPE NCC), these files document which country and organization received each allocation. We use this data for geographic and administrative context on IP and ASN lookups across our sites.

Source:RIR Delegated Statistics

What are RIR Delegated Statistics?

The global pool of IP addresses and AS numbers is managed by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), which delegates large blocks to five Regional Internet Registries. Each RIR then allocates smaller blocks to Local Internet Registries (LIRs), ISPs, and end users within their service region. The delegated statistics files are a standardized record of these allocations.

Each RIR publishes a daily file in a common format defined by NRO (Number Resource Organization) standards. Every line represents one allocation and contains:

Registry - Which RIR made the allocation (afrinic, apnic, arin, lacnic, ripencc)
Country code - The country the resource was allocated to (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2)
Type - Whether it is an IPv4 block, IPv6 block, or ASN
Start - The first IP address or AS number in the allocation
Size/prefix - The size of the allocation (count for IPv4 and ASN, prefix length for IPv6)
Date - When the allocation was made
Status - allocated, assigned, reserved, or available

The combined delegated statistics from all five RIRs represent the complete picture of how the internet's number resources have been distributed. This is the ground truth for questions like "which RIR manages this IP block?" and "which country was this ASN allocated to?"

These files predate and complement BGP data. They show the administrative allocation chain regardless of whether the resources are currently announced in the routing table.

How We Use This Data

On rtsak.com and robtex.com, we use RIR delegated statistics to display the allocation context for IP addresses and ASNs. When you look up a prefix or AS number, we show which RIR allocated it, the country of allocation, and the allocation date.

This administrative perspective complements our BGP routing data. BGP shows who is currently announcing a prefix; RIR data shows who was officially allocated it. When these disagree, it can indicate legitimate arrangements (hosting providers announcing customer space) or potential issues (unauthorized announcements of unallocated space).

The allocation dates are particularly valuable for historical analysis. Recently allocated ASNs or IP blocks may warrant closer scrutiny in security contexts, while long-established allocations to well-known organizations carry implicit trust.

FAQ

Why are there five RIRs instead of one global registry?

The five-RIR system evolved to provide regional service and policy development. Each region has different needs: ARIN serves North America where IPv4 exhaustion hit first, APNIC covers the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific internet, RIPE NCC manages the dense European peering ecosystem, LACNIC serves Latin America, and AFRINIC handles the African continent's growing connectivity. Each RIR develops allocation policies through community-driven processes tailored to their region.

What does it mean when an IP block's allocation country differs from its geolocation?

The allocation country in RIR statistics reflects where the organization that received the block is based, not where the IPs are used. A US company allocated IP space through ARIN might deploy those addresses in data centers worldwide. Geolocation databases attempt to map where IPs are actually used based on routing and measurement data, which often differs from the administrative allocation. Both perspectives are valid for different purposes.

Are there IP addresses not covered by any RIR?

All publicly routable IP space is accounted for in the combined RIR statistics. However, some blocks are marked as "reserved" by IANA for special purposes (like private address space 10.0.0.0/8 or documentation ranges 192.0.2.0/24), and some legacy allocations predate the current RIR system. These legacy blocks, often called "class A" allocations from the early internet, were assigned directly by IANA or its predecessors and are now managed by ARIN.