Share of the population that owns a mobile phone in China
China: Share of the population that owns a mobile phone was 98.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
98.4%
Change on year
up 5.2%
World rank
19th
of 182 countries
All-time high
98.4%
in 2025
All-time low
84.4%
in 2019
Years of data
7
2019–2025
Share of the population that owns a mobile phone in China, 2019–2025
Source: International Telecommunication Union – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, share of the population that owns a mobile phone in China stood at 98.4%. That is the highest value across all 7 years on record.
The figure is up 5.2% on the previous year and up 16.6% over ten years.
China ranks 19th of 182 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
Share of the population that owns a mobile phone in China, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 84.4% | — |
| 2020 | 88.0% | +4.3% |
| 2021 | 90.2% | +2.5% |
| 2022 | 92.1% | +2.1% |
| 2023 | 92.9% | +0.9% |
| 2024 | 93.5% | +0.6% |
| 2025 | 98.4% | +5.2% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 98.4% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 86.9%, 1.1× the median. (56 countries reporting)
- China's 98.4% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 84.8%, 1.2× the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 84.4% | 84.4% | 84.4% | 1 |
| 2020s | 92.5% | 88.0% | 98.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More science & technology data for China
- Mobile landline subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Mobile landline subscriptions, gaps filled 131.75 (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per capita 1.33 units per person (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, gaps filled 1.87 billion (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per square kilometre 194.33 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Mobile landline subscriptions, annual growth rate 2.73 % change on previous year (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, annual growth rate 2.5 % change on previous year (2024)
- Scientific and technical journal articles 932,712 (2023)
- Scientific and technical journal articles, per capita 0.0007 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population that owns a mobile phone in China?
- Share of the population that owns a mobile phone in China was 98.4% in 2025, according to International Telecommunication Union – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population that owns a mobile phone recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 98.4% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of the population that owns a mobile phone recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 84.4% in 2019.
- How does China rank for share of the population that owns a mobile phone?
- China ranks 19th out of 182 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of the population that owns a mobile phone rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 16.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from International Telecommunication Union – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population that owns a mobile phone. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex (%).