Share of the population that owns a mobile phone in South Korea
South Korea: Share of the population that owns a mobile phone was 97.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of the population that owns a mobile phone in South Korea, 2014–2024
Source: International Telecommunication Union – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of the population that owns a mobile phone in South Korea stood at 97.9%. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.5% on the previous year and up 15.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population that owns a mobile phone in South Korea peaked at 97.9% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 84.7%, in 2014.
South Korea ranks 24th of 182 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Share of the population that owns a mobile phone in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 84.7% | — |
| 2015 | 95.7% | +13.0% |
| 2016 | 90.0% | -6.0% |
| 2017 | 94.4% | +4.9% |
| 2018 | 96.0% | +1.7% |
| 2019 | 96.1% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 96.2% | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 97.6% | +1.5% |
| 2022 | 97.2% | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 97.4% | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 97.9% | +0.5% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 97.9% is above the median for high income countries, which is 97.0%, 1.0× the median. (65 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 97.9% 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 | 92.8% | 84.7% | 96.1% | 6 |
| 2020s | 97.3% | 96.2% | 97.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More science & technology data for South Korea
- Mobile landline subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Mobile landline subscriptions, gaps filled 172.52 (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per capita 1.72 units per person (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, gaps filled 89.22 million (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per square kilometre 859.55 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Mobile landline subscriptions, annual growth rate 6.42 % change on previous year (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, annual growth rate 6.36 % change on previous year (2024)
- Scientific and technical journal articles 71,724 (2023)
- Scientific and technical journal articles, per capita 0.0014 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population that owns a mobile phone in South Korea?
- Share of the population that owns a mobile phone in South Korea was 97.9% in 2024, 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 South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 97.9% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of the population that owns a mobile phone recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 84.7% in 2014.
- How does South Korea rank for share of the population that owns a mobile phone?
- South Korea ranks 24th out of 182 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of the population that owns a mobile phone rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea 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 (%).