Mobile internet reached an estimated 4.7 billion people on their own devices at the end of 2024, equal to 58% of the world’s population. The same year, 5G covered 51% of people worldwide, while mobile-broadband traffic approached 1.3 zettabytes. These figures describe different things: usage, network availability and modeled data volume.
Contents
- Global scale and adoption
- Network coverage and generations
- Regional, income and urban-rural gaps
- Subscriptions and data growth
- Traffic and affordability
- What mobile internet use looks like
Global scale and adoption
GSMA Intelligence estimated that 58% of the world’s population, or about 4.7 billion people, used mobile internet on their own device at the end of 2024. This is a user estimate rather than a count of subscriptions, so it should not be read as the number of active SIM cards. The estimate also uses GSMA definitions, which differ from ITU definitions.
The long-term increase is substantial. GSMA estimated that the number of mobile-internet users was 2.2 billion higher in 2024 than in 2015. More than 200 million people became mobile-internet users in every year from 2015 through 2021. Growth had slowed by 2024, when about 110 million people began using mobile internet during the year.
There was still a large participation gap. An estimated 3.4 billion people remained unconnected to mobile internet at the end of 2024, and the mobile-internet usage gap represented 38% of the global population. Almost 90% of people who were not using mobile internet lived in areas where mobile broadband was available. That distinction matters: for most non-users, a signal was not the only barrier.
The ITU’s broader internet measure counted 5.5 billion people, or 68% of the world population, online in 2024, regardless of access method. It estimated that 2.6 billion people, one-third of the global population, were offline. The ITU and GSMA totals are not interchangeable because they measure different concepts and use different definitions.
Source: The Mobile Economy 2025 (GSMA Intelligence estimate, end-2024 and 2015-2024); Facts and Figures 2024 – Internet use (ITU estimate, 2024).
Mobile network coverage and generations
Coverage indicates that a network is available in an area; it does not show that residents use it, own a compatible handset or can afford service. On the ITU’s 2024 estimates, 3G or better mobile coverage reached 96% of the world population. 4G reached 92%, while 5G reached 51%.
The generational transition was uneven by income and place. In low-income countries, 4G coverage reached about 52% of people in 2024. Africa had a 14% mobile-broadband coverage gap. Globally, 67% of urban residents had 5G access compared with 29% of rural residents.
High-income countries also had a measurable urban-rural difference: 5G reached 90% of urban residents and 58% of rural residents. By region, 5G coverage was 72% in Europe, 63% in the Americas and 11% in Africa in 2024.
| Coverage measure | 2024 estimate |
|---|---|
| 3G or better, world | 96% |
| 4G, world | 92% |
| 5G, world | 51% |
| 5G, urban residents | 67% |
| 5G, rural residents | 29% |
| 4G, low-income countries | 52% |
These percentages are availability estimates from the ITU. They are not adoption rates and do not establish how often a network is used.
Source: Facts and Figures 2024 – Mobile network coverage (ITU coverage estimates, 2024).
Regional, income and urban-rural participation gaps
The ITU’s 2024 internet-use estimates show a wide difference between economies. Internet use reached 93% of people in high-income countries but 27% in low-income countries. This measure covers any access method, so it is broader than mobile-internet use alone, but it places mobile participation within the wider digital-access picture.
Across regions, internet use ranged from 87% to 92% in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Americas. It was 70% in the Arab States and 66% in Asia-Pacific countries. Africa stood at 38%. The figure was 35% in least developed countries and 39% in landlocked developing countries.
Location remained important within the global total. In 2024, 83% of urban residents used the internet, compared with 48% of rural residents. This urban-rural divide exists alongside the coverage divide: access may be technically available while affordability, devices, skills or service quality still limit participation.
| Population group or region | Internet use in 2024 |
|---|---|
| High-income countries | 93% |
| Low-income countries | 27% |
| Europe, CIS and Americas | 87%-92% |
| Arab States | 70% |
| Asia-Pacific | 66% |
| Africa | 38% |
| Least developed countries | 35% |
| Urban residents worldwide | 83% |
| Rural residents worldwide | 48% |
Because these are ITU estimates for internet use by any access method, they should not be presented as a direct ranking of mobile-only adoption.
Source: Facts and Figures 2024 – Internet use (ITU estimates, 2024).
Subscriptions and the expanding data base
Subscriptions measure connections, not unique people. In 2024, the world had 9.1 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions, equivalent to 112 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. There were also 95 mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
The two subscription categories were growing at different speeds. Over the five years to 2024, mobile-broadband subscriptions increased by an average of 5% annually, while mobile-cellular subscriptions grew by an average of 1.1% annually. The faster broadband rate is consistent with a shift toward data-enabled mobile use, but it still does not reveal how many individuals share, hold or actively use those connections.
Subscription density varied by economy group and region. High-income countries had about 138 mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2024. The CIS had 147, Africa had 98 and low-income countries had 71. These values can exceed 100 because people may have multiple connections, and they are therefore not population adoption percentages.
Source: Facts and Figures 2024 – Subscriptions (ITU estimates, 2019-2024 and 2024).
Mobile traffic, affordability and access barriers
The volume of mobile data continued to rise. ITU modeled or extrapolated global mobile-broadband traffic at 1 zettabyte at the end of 2023 and nearly 1.3 zettabytes in 2024. Traffic grew by an average of 19.6% annually from 2021 to 2024.
The 2024 world average was 13.9 GB of mobile-broadband traffic per subscription per month. The average was 16.2 GB in high-income countries, 19.1 GB in the CIS, 3.1 GB in Africa and 2 GB in low-income countries. These averages are per subscription, not per person, and the traffic figures are modeled or extrapolated where direct data were unavailable.
Affordability helps explain why coverage and subscriptions do not automatically become intensive use. The ITU’s global median data-only mobile-broadband basket fell from 1.3% to 1.1% of GNI per capita between 2023 and 2024. The standardized basket is the cheapest domestic data-only offer with at least 2 GB and 3G or better. The ITU affordability target is below 2% of monthly GNI per capita.
The income burden remained highly unequal. In 2024, the basket cost low-income subscribers about 19 times as much of their income as it cost high-income subscribers. Among 208 economies with data, 140 met the affordability target for at least one mobile or fixed basket. Meeting the target for one basket does not mean every available service or household could afford mobile data.
Source: Facts and Figures 2024 – Internet traffic (ITU modeled/extrapolated estimates, end-2023 and 2021-2024); Facts and Figures 2024 – Affordability of ICT services (ITU standardized-basket observations, 2023-2024 and 2024).
What mobile internet use looks like: a UK smartphone example
Ofcom’s Online Nation 2024 report provides a bounded example of mobile internet behavior rather than a global benchmark. In May 2024, UK online adults using smartphones visited an average of 38 smartphone apps, up from 36 in May 2023. The measure is app reach or visits, not installs or time spent.
There were modest demographic differences. UK online adult women used an average of 39 smartphone apps in May 2024, compared with 37 for men. Among UK smartphone users aged 18 to 24, iPhone users visited 40 apps on average, versus 34 for Android users.
Across smartphones, tablets and computers, UK internet users spent an average of 4 hours 20 minutes online per day in May 2024. The app reach figures show how mobile internet can support several recurring services at once: WhatsApp reached 91% of UK online adult smartphone users, Facebook 82%, Google Maps 73% and Facebook Messenger 65%.
Among UK online smartphone users aged 18 to 34, TikTok reached 60% in May 2024 and Instagram reached 81.2%. These are survey-based UK measures for specified smartphone-user groups, not estimates of worldwide app use or total time spent in each service.
Source: Online Nation 2024 report (Ofcom/Ipsos iris survey measurement, May 2023-May 2024).