Population coverage of mobile cellular telephony (%) by country
Please cite the International Telecommunication Union for third-party use of these data. Percentage of population covered by mobile cellular telephony refers to the percentage of a country’s inhabitants that live within areas served by a mobile cellular signal, irrespective of whether or not they choose to use it....
What the numbers show
Population coverage of mobile cellular telephony (%) is currently reported for 39 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Namibia; the lowest is 11.0% in Mozambique.
The median across all reporting countries is 86.7%, and the mean is 81.8%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 9.
Over the past decade 33 countries rose and 3 fell. The largest increase was in Sao Tome and Principe (up 984.3%), and the largest decrease in Togo (down 6.2%).
Population coverage of mobile cellular telephony: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namibia | 100.0% | 2011 | up 17.6% | volatile |
| 1 | Uganda | 100.0% | 2011 | up 354.5% | rising |
| 1 | Tunisia | 100.0% | 2011 | up 66.7% | rising |
| 4 | South Africa | 99.8% | 2007 | up 24.7% | rising |
| 5 | Egypt | 99.7% | 2011 | up 8.4% | rising |
| 6 | Benin | 99.0% | 2011 | up 330.4% | rising |
| 6 | Mauritius | 99.0% | 2011 | down 0.8% | flat |
| 6 | Morocco | 99.0% | 2011 | up 4.2% | flat |
| 9 | Seychelles | 98.0% | 2011 | up 1.0% | rising |
| 10 | Rwanda | 97.3% | 2011 | up 94.6% | volatile |
| 11 | Cape Verde | 96.0% | 2011 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 11 | Botswana | 96.0% | 2011 | down 3.0% | volatile |
| 13 | Congo | 95.0% | 2011 | up 458.8% | volatile |
| 15 | Eswatini | 94.9% | 2011 | up 46.0% | rising |
| 16 | Cote d'Ivoire | 92.1% | 2011 | up 155.8% | rising |
| 17 | Sao Tome and Principe | 90.0% | 2011 | up 984.3% | volatile |
| 17 | Senegal | 90.0% | 2011 | up 5.9% | rising |
| 17 | Nigeria | 90.0% | 2011 | up 136.8% | rising |
| 20 | Kenya | 89.1% | 2011 | up 71.3% | rising |
| 21 | Sudan | 86.7% | 2011 | up 333.5% | rising |
| 22 | Tanzania | 85.0% | 2010 | up 240.0% | rising |
| 22 | Malawi | 85.0% | 2011 | up 325.0% | volatile |
| 22 | Gambia | 85.0% | 2007 | up 325.0% | rising |
| 22 | Eritrea | 85.0% | 2011 | — | volatile |
| 26 | Ghana | 84.9% | 2011 | up 43.9% | rising |
| 27 | Algeria | 81.5% | 2007 | up 103.8% | rising |
| 28 | Gabon | 79.0% | 2007 | up 532.0% | volatile |
| 29 | Niger | 75.0% | 2011 | up 476.9% | volatile |
| 29 | Lesotho | 75.0% | 2011 | up 257.1% | volatile |
| 29 | Chad | 75.0% | 2011 | up 874.0% | volatile |
| 29 | Togo | 75.0% | 2010 | down 6.2% | rising |
| 33 | Zimbabwe | 72.4% | 2011 | up 3.4% | falling |
| 34 | Zambia | 62.0% | 2011 | up 22.8% | rising |
| 35 | Burkina Faso | 61.1% | 2006 | — | rising |
| 36 | Cameroon | 58.0% | 2006 | up 107.1% | rising |
| 37 | Central African Republic | 56.0% | 2011 | up 214.6% | volatile |
| 38 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 50.0% | 2011 | up 25.0% | rising |
| 39 | Madagascar | 23.0% | 2006 | up 9.5% | rising |
| 40 | Mozambique | 11.0% | 1998 | — | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
About this data
Please cite the International Telecommunication Union for third-party use of these data. Percentage of population covered by mobile cellular telephony refers to the percentage of a country’s inhabitants that live within areas served by a mobile cellular signal, irrespective of whether or not they choose to use it. This should not be confused with the percentage of the land area covered by a mobile cellular signal or the percentage of the population that subscribe to mobile cellular service. Note that this measures the theoretical ability to use mobile cellular services if one has a cellular telephone and a subscription.