Public payphones (per 1,000 people) by country
Please cite the International Telecommunication Union for third-party use of these data. Total number of all types of public telephones, including coin- and card-operated and public telephones in call offices. Publicly available phones installed in private places should also be included, as should mobile public...
What the numbers show
Public payphones (per 1,000 people) is currently reported for 51 countries. The highest value is 7.53 per 1,000 people in Lesotho; the lowest is 0 per 1,000 people in Nigeria.
The median across all reporting countries is 0.34 per 1,000 people, and the mean is 1.17 per 1,000 people.
Over the past decade 39 countries rose and 11 fell. The largest increase was in Togo (up 20,115.7%), and the largest decrease in Nigeria (down 100.0%).
Public payphones: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lesotho | 7.53 per 1,000 people | 2010 | up 3,927.9% | volatile |
| 2 | Algeria | 6.44 per 1,000 people | 2007 | up 3,206.0% | volatile |
| 3 | Morocco | 5.44 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 298.4% | volatile |
| 4 | Togo | 5.21 per 1,000 people | 2007 | up 20,115.7% | volatile |
| 5 | Tunisia | 3.64 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 124.8% | volatile |
| 6 | South Africa | 3.27 per 1,000 people | 2007 | up 5.3% | rising |
| 7 | Uganda | 3.19 per 1,000 people | 2010 | up 2,242.1% | volatile |
| 8 | Djibouti | 2.95 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 3,651.9% | volatile |
| 9 | Seychelles | 2.7 per 1,000 people | 2009 | down 6.7% | flat |
| 10 | Gambia | 2.07 per 1,000 people | 2007 | up 379.3% | volatile |
| 11 | Namibia | 1.95 per 1,000 people | 2007 | up 106.7% | volatile |
| 12 | Eswatini | 1.4 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 70.0% | volatile |
| 13 | Comoros | 1.32 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 378.0% | volatile |
| 14 | Mauritius | 1.18 per 1,000 people | 2009 | down 50.6% | volatile |
| 15 | Cape Verde | 1.15 per 1,000 people | 2008 | up 18.9% | rising |
| 16 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 1.07 per 1,000 people | 2007 | up 9,326.6% | volatile |
| 17 | Burkina Faso | 0.9645 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 1,006.3% | volatile |
| 18 | Rwanda | 0.9382 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 1,678.5% | volatile |
| 19 | Sao Tome and Principe | 0.8261 per 1,000 people | 2007 | up 61.8% | rising |
| 20 | Libya | 0.7634 per 1,000 people | 2006 | up 724.9% | volatile |
| 21 | Mali | 0.7102 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 348.0% | volatile |
| 22 | Burundi | 0.6119 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 4,782.5% | volatile |
| 23 | Mauritania | 0.5814 per 1,000 people | 2008 | up 91.4% | volatile |
| 24 | Botswana | 0.5356 per 1,000 people | 2008 | down 62.9% | volatile |
| 25 | Zambia | 0.3831 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 322.0% | volatile |
| 26 | Cameroon | 0.34 per 1,000 people | 2005 | up 1,480.1% | volatile |
| 27 | Senegal | 0.3359 per 1,000 people | 2009 | down 71.3% | volatile |
| 28 | Egypt | 0.241 per 1,000 people | 2011 | down 54.0% | volatile |
| 29 | Ghana | 0.2249 per 1,000 people | 2008 | up 126.5% | volatile |
| 30 | Guinea-Bissau | 0.1636 per 1,000 people | 2000 | up 811.8% | volatile |
| 31 | Madagascar | 0.1561 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 414.4% | volatile |
| 32 | Eritrea | 0.1526 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 25.3% | rising |
| 33 | Tanzania | 0.1446 per 1,000 people | 2006 | up 668.8% | volatile |
| 34 | Gabon | 0.1426 per 1,000 people | 2007 | down 80.3% | volatile |
| 35 | Kenya | 0.1186 per 1,000 people | 2009 | down 59.7% | rising |
| 36 | Sudan | 0.1131 per 1,000 people | 2008 | up 4.6% | volatile |
| 37 | Guinea | 0.1046 per 1,000 people | 2008 | up 57.7% | volatile |
| 38 | Cote d'Ivoire | 0.0984 per 1,000 people | 2006 | up 436.0% | volatile |
| 39 | Mozambique | 0.0906 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 19.4% | volatile |
| 40 | Sierra Leone | 0.0782 per 1,000 people | 1998 | up 4,914.8% | volatile |
| 41 | Benin | 0.0657 per 1,000 people | 2008 | up 30.0% | rising |
| 42 | Ethiopia | 0.0619 per 1,000 people | 2009 | up 148.8% | rising |
| 43 | Malawi | 0.0477 per 1,000 people | 2002 | down 6.2% | flat |
| 44 | Angola | 0.0402 per 1,000 people | 2008 | up 124.1% | volatile |
| 45 | Central African Republic | 0.0261 per 1,000 people | 2002 | up 144.1% | rising |
| 46 | Congo | 0.0244 per 1,000 people | 1994 | — | falling |
| 47 | Zimbabwe | 0.0161 per 1,000 people | 2008 | down 92.6% | volatile |
| 48 | Chad | 0.0102 per 1,000 people | 2005 | up 11.7% | rising |
| 49 | Equatorial Guinea | 0.0061 per 1,000 people | 1998 | up 27.2% | falling |
| 50 | Niger | 0.0057 per 1,000 people | 2003 | down 71.9% | volatile |
| 51 | Nigeria | 0 per 1,000 people | 2007 | down 100.0% | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- North Africa 76,937 per 1,000 people
- Africa 40,726 per 1,000 people
- Sub-Saharan Africa 22,547 per 1,000 people
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 22,547 per 1,000 people
- Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa and Nigeria 15,178 per 1,000 people
- Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa 11,361 per 1,000 people
About this data
Please cite the International Telecommunication Union for third-party use of these data. Total number of all types of public telephones, including coin- and card-operated and public telephones in call offices. Publicly available phones installed in private places should also be included, as should mobile public telephones. All public telephones regardless of capability (e.g., local calls or national only) should be counted. If the national definition of "payphone" differs from that above (e.g., by excluding pay phones in private places), then respondents should indicate their own definition.