Nigeria vs Zambia: Mobile phone subscribers

Nigeria
585.75 per 1,000 people
in 2011
Zambia
605.91 per 1,000 people
in 2011
Nigeria rank
28th
Zambia rank
26th

Mobile phone subscribers over time

  • Nigeria
  • Zambia
0200400600196019852011

How they compare

Zambia currently reports 605.91 per 1,000 people against 585.75 per 1,000 people in Nigeria, a difference of 20.16 per 1,000 people.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 40 shared years of data; in 1960 it was Zambia ahead.

Nigeria ranks 28th and Zambia ranks 26th of 53 countries.

Across the 6 decades both report, Nigeria averaged higher in 2 and Zambia in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade Nigeria Zambia Difference Ahead
1960s 0 per 1,000 people 0 per 1,000 people 0 per 1,000 people
1970s 0 per 1,000 people 0 per 1,000 people 0 per 1,000 people
1980s 0 per 1,000 people 0 per 1,000 people 0 per 1,000 people
1990s 0.0954 per 1,000 people 0.4641 per 1,000 people 0.3687 per 1,000 people Zambia
2000s 163.89 per 1,000 people 117.33 per 1,000 people 46.56 per 1,000 people Nigeria
2010s 568.4 per 1,000 people 513.65 per 1,000 people 54.75 per 1,000 people Nigeria

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher mobile phone subscribers, Nigeria or Zambia?
Zambia, at 605.91 per 1,000 people against 585.75 per 1,000 people in Nigeria as of 2011.
What is the difference in mobile phone subscribers between Nigeria and Zambia?
20.16 per 1,000 people, with Zambia ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Nigeria and Zambia?
40 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2011.
How do Nigeria and Zambia rank globally for mobile phone subscribers?
Nigeria ranks 28th and Zambia ranks 26th of 53 countries.
Where does this data come from?
International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Development Report and database, and World Bank estimates, published as Mobile phone subscribers (per 1,000 people). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Nigeria vs Zambia: Mobile phone subscribers. Statizoid, drawing on International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Development Report and database, and World Bank estimates. Retrieved 23 August 2026, from https://science-tech.statizoid.com/compare/mobile-phone-subscribers-per-1-000-people/nigeria/zambia/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://science-tech.statizoid.com/compare/mobile-phone-subscribers-per-1-000-people/nigeria/zambia/">Nigeria vs Zambia: Mobile phone subscribers</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Mobile phone subscribers (per 1,000 people)
Unit
per 1,000 people
Source
International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Development Report and database, and World Bank estimates
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
59 places, 2,350 data points, 1960–2011
Last refreshed

Please cite the International Telecommunication Union for third-party use of these data. Mobile telephone subscribers are subscribers to a public mobile telephone service using cellular technology.