Mobile technology adoption spans several measures: phone ownership, smartphone ownership, internet use, network coverage, subscriptions and data traffic. In 2024, the ITU estimated that four in five people aged 10 or older worldwide owned a mobile phone, while Ericsson counted 8.67 billion mobile subscriptions, demonstrating why these measures must be kept separate.
Key Mobile Technology Adoption Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 2024, 80% of people aged 10 or older worldwide owned a mobile phone, according to an ITU estimate.
- In 2024, mobile-phone ownership exceeded 95% in high-income economies among people aged 10 or older.
- In 2024, 56% of people aged 10 or older in low-income economies owned a mobile phone.
- In 2024, 68% of the global population used the internet, according to an ITU estimate.
- In 2024, urban internet use was 83% globally, compared with 48% in rural areas.
- In 2024, people aged 15–24 had 79% internet use worldwide, 13 percentage points above the rest of the population.
- In Pew Research Center’s 2023 survey, 98% of adults in South Korea reported owning a smartphone.
- In Pew’s 2023 survey, 30% of adults in India reported owning no mobile phone.
- In 2024, 5G coverage reached 51% of the world population, an estimate of network availability rather than subscriber adoption.
- In 2024, global 5G subscriptions totaled 2.28 billion, with an Ericsson forecast of 6.40 billion in 2031.
- In 2024, global mobile-broadband subscriptions totaled 7.71 billion.
- In 2024, global data traffic per smartphone was 19 GB per month, forecast by Ericsson to reach 42 GB in 2031.
- In 2024, global mobile data traffic was 123 exabytes per month, forecast at 328 exabytes per month in 2031.
- In 2024, average smartphone data traffic was 33 GB per month in India, Nepal and Bhutan, compared with 5 GB in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- From 2025 to 2031, Latin America’s 5G subscriptions are forecast to grow from 110 million to 550 million, a 32% CAGR.
- From 2025 to 2031, Sub-Saharan Africa’s mobile subscriptions are forecast to grow from 1.05 billion to 1.31 billion, a 4% CAGR.
Contents
- Key Mobile Technology Adoption Statistics
- Global Mobile Technology Adoption and Ownership Scale
- Mobile Internet Adoption by Income, Region and Demographics
- Smartphone Adoption Gaps Across Countries
- 5G and Mobile Broadband Adoption Trends
- Mobile Data Use and Traffic Statistics
- Mobile Technology Adoption Forecasts by Region
Global Mobile Technology Adoption and Ownership Scale
The ITU’s 2024 ownership estimate covers individuals aged 10 or older, not households, unique users or internet users. Ericsson’s subscription totals count connections, so one person can account for multiple subscriptions or devices.
| Measure | 2024 result | Population or unit |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile-phone ownership | 80% | Individuals aged 10+, worldwide |
| Mobile subscriptions | 8.67 billion | Subscriptions, worldwide |
| Smartphone subscriptions | 7.17 billion | Subscriptions, worldwide |
| High-income mobile ownership | More than 95% | Individuals aged 10+ |
| Low-income mobile ownership | 56% | Individuals aged 10+ |
Sources: ITU mobile phone ownership and Ericsson Mobility Report key figures.
Ownership also varied by sex. Women aged 10 or older had 77% ownership globally, compared with 82% for men, producing an ITU gender parity score of 0.93; the relative likelihood gap was about 7% in 2024, down from 9.4% in 2021.
Women also outnumbered men by 31% among people who did not own mobile phones globally in 2024. These are estimates using ITU definitions and should not be read as a percentage-point difference between male and female ownership rates.
Mobile Internet Adoption by Income, Region and Demographics
Internet use is broader than mobile internet use because the ITU measure includes all access modes. In 2024, an estimated 68% of the global population used the internet, but adoption varied sharply by income group and location.
| Geography or group | Internet use in 2024 |
|---|---|
| High-income countries | 93% |
| Low-income countries | 27% |
| Least developed countries | 35% |
| Landlocked developing countries | 39% |
| Urban population worldwide | 83% |
| Rural population worldwide | 48% |
Source: ITU Facts and Figures 2024.
About 1.8 billion of the estimated 2.6 billion people offline in 2024 lived in rural areas. The ITU notes that these totals concern internet access in general, rather than a mobile-only channel.
Age and sex differences were also measurable:
- People aged 15–24 had 79% internet use worldwide in 2024, 13 percentage points above people outside that age group.
- Men had 70% internet use worldwide in 2024, compared with 65% for women.
- There were an estimated 189 million more male than female internet users worldwide in 2024.
- In Africa, mobile-phone ownership was 66% while internet use was 38% in 2024; the 29-percentage-point difference compares distinct ITU measures.
- Mobile-phone ownership exceeded internet use by 14 percentage points in the Arab States and by 11 percentage points in Asia-Pacific in 2024.
Smartphone Adoption Gaps Across Countries
Pew Research Center’s cross-country survey provides self-reported adult smartphone and phone-ownership results from country surveys conducted in 2022–2023. Survey modes, samples and definitions differ, so these figures are not interchangeable with ITU population estimates or Ericsson subscription counts.
| Country or comparison | Result | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea smartphone ownership | 98% | Adults, 2023 survey |
| India smartphone ownership | Fewer than 50% | Adults, 2023 survey |
| Nigeria smartphone ownership | Fewer than 50% | Adults, 2023 survey |
| Nigeria non-smartphone ownership | 42% | Adults, survey |
| India no mobile-phone ownership | 30% | Adults, survey |
Source: Pew Research Center, “8 charts on technology use around the world”.
Education and age gaps were substantial in several surveyed countries. Pew reported smartphone-ownership gaps of 36 percentage points in Mexico, 34 in Kenya, 32 in South Africa and 30 in Nigeria between higher- and lower-education groups.
In Hungary, 98% of adults ages 18–39 reported smartphone ownership, compared with 65% of adults age 40 and older. The same Pew summary cited a 2023 KISDI study reporting that 98.3% of South Korea’s total population owned a mobile phone, which is a mobile-phone measure rather than a smartphone measure.
5G and Mobile Broadband Adoption Trends
Coverage indicates whether a network is available, while subscriptions indicate connections; neither alone proves that every covered person uses 5G. In 2024, estimated 5G coverage was 51% worldwide, 84% in high-income countries and 4% in low-income countries.
| Measure | 2024 | 2031 |
|---|---|---|
| Global mobile-broadband subscriptions | 7.71 billion | — |
| Global 5G subscriptions | 2.28 billion | 6.40 billion forecast |
| Global 5G standalone subscriptions | 1.24 billion | 3.87 billion forecast |
| Global LTE subscriptions | 4.95 billion | 2.37 billion forecast |
Source: Ericsson Mobility Report key figures.
Ericsson forecast 5G subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa to rise from 10 million in 2024 to 370 million in 2031. For India, Nepal and Bhutan together, the forecast rises from 290 million to 1.11 billion over the same period.
These forecast values are not observed outcomes. They depend on future adoption, network conditions and the migration of subscriptions from legacy technologies such as LTE.
Mobile Data Use and Traffic Statistics
Traffic measures show intensity of use as well as access. ITU’s 2024 estimate put average mobile-broadband traffic at 16.2 GB per subscription per month in high-income economies, compared with 2 GB in low-income economies.
Ericsson measured global data traffic per smartphone at 19 GB per month in 2024 and forecast 42 GB per month by 2031. Its regional estimates for 2024 were 33 GB per month in India, Nepal and Bhutan, 5 GB in Sub-Saharan Africa, 22 GB in Western Europe and 21 GB in North America.
| Traffic measure | 2024 | 2031 |
|---|---|---|
| Global data traffic per smartphone | 19 GB/month | 42 GB/month forecast |
| Global mobile data traffic | 123 EB/month | 328 EB/month forecast |
| Smartphone-generated mobile traffic | 121 EB/month | — |
| Total mobile network traffic | 166 EB/month | 515 EB/month forecast |
Sources: ITU Facts and Figures 2024 and Ericsson Mobility Report key figures.
The Ericsson categories are report-defined network measures and are not necessarily identical to the ITU subscription-traffic measure. Forecast traffic values describe expected future network volumes, not guaranteed household or individual consumption.
Mobile Technology Adoption Forecasts by Region
Ericsson forecast worldwide mobile subscriptions to increase from 8.84 billion in 2025 to 9.54 billion in 2031, equivalent to a 1% CAGR. Regional subscription growth is expected to be faster in Sub-Saharan Africa than in several mature markets.
| Region | 2025 subscriptions | 2031 forecast | CAGR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | 8.84 billion | 9.54 billion | 1% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 1.05 billion | 1.31 billion | 4% |
| India, Nepal and Bhutan | 1.23 billion | 1.36 billion | 2% |
| North East Asia | 2.32 billion | 2.45 billion | 1% |
The same Ericsson forecast projects rapid 5G subscription growth in several regions:
- Latin America: 110 million in 2025 to 550 million in 2031, a 32% CAGR.
- Central and Eastern Europe: 80 million to 380 million, a 30% CAGR.
- South East Asia and Oceania: 160 million to 670 million, a 27% CAGR.
- Middle East and North Africa: 80 million to 370 million, a 28% CAGR.
Ericsson also forecast global mobile data traffic to grow at a 14% CAGR from 2025 to 2031. All regional and global future values in this section are forecasts, while the 2024 results elsewhere are observed or estimated historical measurements.
Source: Ericsson Mobility Report key figures.
The measures in this overview answer different questions: whether people own a phone, whether they use the internet, whether a network reaches them, how many subscriptions exist and how much traffic networks carry. Keeping those definitions, populations and periods explicit is essential when comparing mobile technology adoption across economies.