Statizoid

Public payphones 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...

Countries reporting
51
Highest
218,419
Algeria
Lowest
0
Nigeria
Median
2,575
Years covered
52
1960–2011
Data points
943

What the numbers show

Public payphones is currently reported for 51 countries. The highest value is 218,419 in Algeria; the lowest is 0 in Nigeria.

The median across all reporting countries is 2,575, and the mean is 18,395.

Over the past decade 41 countries rose and 9 fell. The largest increase was in Togo (up 26,174.1%), and the largest decrease in Nigeria (down 100.0%).

Public payphones: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Algeria 218,419 2007 up 3,733.3% volatile
2 Morocco 172,101 2009 up 343.0% volatile
3 South Africa 158,000 2007 up 24.1% volatile
4 Uganda 106,695 2010 up 3,133.2% volatile
5 Democratic Republic of Congo 65,000 2007 up 12,900.0% volatile
6 Tunisia 38,040 2009 up 148.1% volatile
7 Togo 29,427 2007 up 26,174.1% volatile
8 Egypt 19,889 2011 down 44.8% volatile
9 Lesotho 16,344 2010 up 4,353.4% volatile
10 Burkina Faso 15,417 2009 up 1,379.6% volatile
11 Mali 10,589 2009 up 508.9% volatile
12 Rwanda 9,674 2009 up 2,318.5% volatile
13 Cameroon 5,969 2005 up 1,889.7% volatile
14 Tanzania 5,773 2006 up 897.1% volatile
15 Ghana 5,231 2008 up 188.2% volatile
16 Ethiopia 5,025 2009 up 216.2% volatile
17 Burundi 5,000 2009 up 6,310.3% volatile
18 Zambia 4,875 2009 up 439.9% volatile
19 Kenya 4,681 2009 down 47.8% rising
20 Libya 4,499 2006 up 899.8% volatile
21 Namibia 4,200 2007 up 154.7% volatile
22 Senegal 4,067 2009 down 62.4% volatile
23 Sudan 3,669 2008 up 28.7% volatile
24 Gambia 3,298 2007 up 540.4% volatile
25 Madagascar 3,142 2009 up 595.1% volatile
26 Djibouti 2,575 2009 up 4,498.2% volatile
27 Mozambique 2,071 2009 up 53.9% volatile
28 Mauritania 1,916 2008 up 152.8% volatile
29 Cote d'Ivoire 1,803 2006 up 550.9% volatile
30 Mauritius 1,503 2009 down 46.4% volatile
31 Eswatini 1,462 2009 up 75.7% volatile
32 Botswana 1,047 2008 down 57.2% volatile
33 Guinea 1,000 2008 up 85.9% volatile
34 Comoros 943 2009 up 524.5% volatile
35 Eritrea 778 2009 up 80.5% rising
36 Angola 726 2008 up 207.6% volatile
37 Malawi 564 2002 up 14.6% rising
38 Cape Verde 560 2008 up 37.6% rising
39 Benin 549 2008 up 76.5% rising
40 Sierra Leone 309 1998 up 5,050.0% volatile
41 Seychelles 236 2009 up 1.3% rising
42 Guinea-Bissau 203 2000 up 968.4% volatile
42 Gabon 203 2007 down 75.5% volatile
44 Zimbabwe 200 2008 down 92.5% volatile
45 Sao Tome and Principe 130 2007 up 91.2% rising
46 Chad 100 2005 up 56.2% rising
46 Central African Republic 100 2002 up 203.0% rising
48 Niger 69 2003 down 60.3% falling
49 Congo 65 1994 — falling
50 Equatorial Guinea 3 1998 up 50.0% rising
51 Nigeria 0 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.

About this data

Indicator
Public payphones
Source
International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Development Report and database, and World Bank estimates
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
57 places, 943 data points, 1960–2011
Last refreshed

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.