And not really exponential. Something interesting happened 2003-2004 though. We can perhaps observe lead up to dot-bomb (1996-1999 growth) and the 2008 financial crisis.
1994,3153191
1995,4813587
1996,7539137
1997,13755958
1998,16107028
1999,15935643
2000,17548021
2001,16873202
2002,18904001
2003,27723307
2004,47116841
2005,47982675
2006,50672891
2007,51322342
2008,49635521
2009,45312542
2010,45384720
2011,46455461
2012,46733150
2013,45842099
2014,47065954
2015,48112988
2016,46636963
2017,47037415