Mobile phone subscribers (per 1,000 people) by country
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.
Countries reporting
52
Highest
1,557 per 1,000 people
Libya
Lowest
44.68 per 1,000 people
Eritrea
Median
598.7 per 1,000 people
Years covered
52
1960–2011
Data points
2,350
What the numbers show
Mobile phone subscribers (per 1,000 people) is currently reported for 52 countries. The highest value is 1,557 per 1,000 people in Libya; the lowest is 44.68 per 1,000 people in Eritrea.
The median across all reporting countries is 598.7 per 1,000 people, and the mean is 668.4 per 1,000 people.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 35.
Mobile phone subscribers: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Libya | 1,557 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 16,501.3% | volatile |
| 2 | Seychelles | 1,472 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 225.8% | volatile |
| 3 | Botswana | 1,428 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 667.0% | volatile |
| 4 | South Africa | 1,265 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 426.7% | volatile |
| 5 | Gabon | 1,173 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 888.0% | volatile |
| 6 | Tunisia | 1,161 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 2,784.5% | volatile |
| 7 | Morocco | 1,133 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 591.4% | volatile |
| 8 | Egypt | 1,011 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 2,392.3% | volatile |
| 9 | Mauritius | 1,006 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 343.2% | volatile |
| 10 | Algeria | 989.88 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 30,568.5% | volatile |
| 11 | Namibia | 963.93 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 1,651.0% | volatile |
| 12 | Congo | 938.4 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 1,910.3% | volatile |
| 13 | Mauritania | 935.97 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 2,205.0% | volatile |
| 14 | Cote d'Ivoire | 860.63 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 1,895.6% | volatile |
| 15 | Benin | 853.33 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 4,488.4% | volatile |
| 16 | Ghana | 847.79 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 6,727.0% | volatile |
| 17 | Cape Verde | 791.93 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 1,018.8% | volatile |
| 18 | Gambia | 788.9 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 1,812.9% | volatile |
| 19 | Senegal | 732.55 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 2,268.7% | volatile |
| 20 | Sudan | 730.11 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 19,711.1% | volatile |
| 21 | Zimbabwe | 721.32 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 2,788.7% | volatile |
| 22 | Eswatini | 717.89 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 1,221.1% | volatile |
| 23 | Mali | 683.22 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 33,039.9% | volatile |
| 24 | Sao Tome and Principe | 682.61 per 1,000 people | 2011 | — | volatile |
| 25 | Kenya | 674.86 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 3,507.8% | volatile |
| 26 | Zambia | 605.91 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 5,124.1% | volatile |
| 27 | Equatorial Guinea | 591.49 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 2,018.3% | volatile |
| 28 | Nigeria | 585.75 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 27,753.0% | volatile |
| 29 | Guinea-Bissau | 561.79 per 1,000 people | 2011 | — | volatile |
| 30 | Lesotho | 561.73 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 1,860.1% | volatile |
| 31 | Tanzania | 555.33 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 6,936.8% | volatile |
| 32 | Cameroon | 523.54 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 1,912.3% | volatile |
| 33 | Togo | 504.46 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 2,515.8% | volatile |
| 34 | Liberia | 491.68 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 72,159.3% | volatile |
| 35 | Uganda | 483.84 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 4,163.7% | volatile |
| 36 | Angola | 483.78 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 9,181.0% | volatile |
| 37 | Burkina Faso | 452.75 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 7,416.5% | volatile |
| 38 | Guinea | 440.24 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 6,599.9% | volatile |
| 39 | Madagascar | 406.53 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 4,267.4% | volatile |
| 40 | Central African Republic | 406.5 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 13,820.8% | volatile |
| 41 | Rwanda | 406.31 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 5,186.3% | volatile |
| 42 | Sierra Leone | 356.32 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 5,601.9% | volatile |
| 43 | Mozambique | 328.27 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 3,919.5% | volatile |
| 44 | Chad | 318.05 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 12,214.2% | volatile |
| 45 | Niger | 295.16 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 156,893.0% | volatile |
| 46 | Comoros | 287.07 per 1,000 people | 2011 | — | volatile |
| 47 | Malawi | 256.91 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 5,215.0% | volatile |
| 48 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 230.9 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 7,748.8% | volatile |
| 49 | Burundi | 223.27 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 4,242.8% | volatile |
| 51 | Ethiopia | 166.72 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 40,702.5% | volatile |
| 52 | Somalia | 68.54 per 1,000 people | 2011 | up 512.6% | volatile |
| 53 | Eritrea | 44.68 per 1,000 people | 2011 | — | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- North Africa 1,056 per 1,000 people
- Africa 623.58 per 1,000 people
- Sub-Saharan Africa 539.3 per 1,000 people
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 539.26 per 1,000 people
- Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa 494.23 per 1,000 people
- Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa and Nigeria 471.43 per 1,000 people
About this data
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.