Portable electronics span mobile phones, smartphones, wearables and connected devices, but the available measures are not interchangeable. The statistics below identify the population, geography, period and definition for each measure, from ITU estimates of people aged 10 and older to company-reported shipments and U.S. recycling by weight.
Key Portable Electronics Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 2024, 80% of people aged 10 and older worldwide owned a mobile phone, according to an ITU estimate.
- In 2024, 96% of people aged 10 and older in high-income economies owned a mobile phone, according to an ITU estimate.
- In 2024, 56% of people aged 10 and older in low-income economies owned a mobile phone, according to an ITU estimate.
- In 2024, 68% of the global population, or an estimated 5.5 billion people, used the internet, according to ITU.
- In 2024, 83% of urban residents worldwide used the internet, compared with 48% of rural residents, according to ITU estimates.
- In 2024, 1.8 billion of the 2.6 billion people offline lived in rural areas, according to ITU’s reported allocation.
- In 2024, 79% of people aged 15–24 worldwide used the internet, 13 percentage points above the rest of the population.
- In 2024, average monthly mobile-broadband traffic was 16.2 GB per subscription in high-income countries, compared with 2 GB in low-income economies.
- A 2019 GSMA forecast projected 5.0 billion mobile-internet subscribers, equal to 60% of the global population, in 2025, up from 3.6 billion and 46% in 2018.
- A 2019 GSMA forecast projected smartphones would represent 79% of global connections in 2025, compared with 60% in 2018, excluding licensed cellular IoT.
- A 2025 GSMA forecast projected almost 800 million additional mobile-internet subscribers between 2025 and 2030, reaching 5.5 billion people or 64% of the global population by 2030.
- CEVA reported 2.0 billion CEVA-powered units shipped worldwide in 2024, with royalty revenue up 18% year over year.
- CEVA reported 340 million CEVA-powered smartphones shipped worldwide in 2024, not total global smartphone shipments.
- Zepp Health reported 4.0 million smart-wearable devices shipped worldwide in 2024.
- In 2018, U.S. selected consumer-electronics generation was 2.7 million short tons, and the category’s recycling rate was 38.5%.
- Global adult account ownership reached 76% in 2021, up from 68% in 2017 and 51% in 2011.
- In 2021, 33% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa had a mobile-money account.
- More than 80 million adults in India made their first digital merchant payment after the pandemic began, according to a World Bank estimate.
Contents
- Mobile-phone ownership statistics worldwide
- Internet use and mobile-broadband data
- Smartphone and mobile-internet trends
- Portable electronics shipment statistics
- Portable electronics waste and recycling data
- Mobile payments and affordability outcomes
Mobile-Phone Ownership Statistics Worldwide
ITU’s 2024 estimate measures ownership among individuals aged 10 and older, not unique devices, subscriptions or internet use. Phones may be shared, and some may support calls without mobile internet.
| Population or region | Mobile-phone ownership in 2024 |
|---|---|
| World, age 10+ | 80% |
| High-income economies, age 10+ | 96% |
| Low-income economies, age 10+ | 56% |
| Africa, age 10+ | 66% |
| Americas, age 10+ | 89% |
| Asia-Pacific, age 10+ | 77% |
| Europe, age 10+ | 95% |
Source: Facts and figures 2024 – Mobile phone ownership, ITU estimate.
The 2024 global estimate also shows a sex gap: 77% of females and 82% of males aged 10 and older owned a mobile phone. Women were about 7% less likely than men to own one globally, down from a 9.4% gap in 2021; comparability depends on revised ITU estimates and the source’s definition of the gap.
Internet Use and Mobile-Broadband Data
Internet use is a related but separate indicator from portable-device ownership. ITU estimated that 68% of the world’s population, or 5.5 billion people, used the internet in 2024, using the report’s revised population base.
The urban-rural divide remained substantial:
- 83% of urban residents worldwide used the internet in 2024, compared with 48% of rural residents.
- Of the estimated 2.6 billion people offline in 2024, 1.8 billion lived in rural areas and 800 million lived in urban areas.
- The global urban-to-rural internet-use ratio was 1.7 in 2024; this is a ratio of use percentages, not a device-access ratio.
- Europe’s urban-to-rural internet-use ratio was 1.1, while Africa’s was 2.5 in 2024.
- Only 16% of residents in low-income countries’ rural areas used the internet in 2024.
- In low-income countries, the urban-to-rural internet-use ratio narrowed from 3.1 in 2021 to 2.9 in 2024.
Source: Facts and Figures 2024 – Internet use in urban and rural areas, ITU estimates.
Age and usage intensity also differ. In 2024, 79% of people aged 15–24 worldwide used the internet, 13 percentage points above the rest of the population, while average monthly mobile-broadband traffic was 16.2 GB per subscription in high-income countries versus 2 GB in low-income economies; traffic is per subscription, not per person or device.
Source: Global Internet use continues to rise but disparities remain, especially in low-income regions, ITU.
Smartphone and Mobile-Internet Trends
GSMA projections help frame adoption over time, but the figures below are forecasts from reports published before their measurement endpoints. Subscribers, connections and unique people are not interchangeable.
| Measure | 2018 | 2025 forecast | Geography and definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile-internet penetration | 46% | 60% | World population |
| Mobile-internet penetration | 75% | 82% | Europe |
| Mobile-internet penetration | 73% | 80% | Northern America |
| Mobile-internet penetration | 23% | 39% | Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Smartphone share of connections | 60% | 79% | World, excluding licensed cellular IoT |
| Smartphone share of connections | 81% | 90% | Northern America, excluding licensed cellular IoT |
| Smartphone share of connections | 39% | 66% | Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding licensed cellular IoT |
| Smartphone share of connections | 60% | 82% | Asia-Pacific, excluding licensed cellular IoT |
Source: The Mobile Economy 2019, GSMA’s 2019 forecast.
The same forecast projected mobile-internet subscribers rising from 3.6 billion people, or 46% of the population, in 2018 to 5.0 billion, or 60%, in 2025. A later GSMA Intelligence forecast projected almost 800 million additional subscribers between 2025 and 2030, reaching 5.5 billion people, or 64% of the global population, by 2030.
Source: The Mobile Economy 2025, GSMA forecast.
Portable Electronics Shipment Statistics
Shipment figures show activity within named companies or technology ecosystems, not the total portable-electronics market. CEVA reported a record 2.0 billion CEVA-powered units shipped worldwide in 2024, with royalty revenue up 18% from 2023.
| CEVA-powered category | 2024 shipments |
|---|---|
| Bluetooth devices | 1.1 billion |
| Smartphones | 340 million |
| Wi-Fi devices | 179 million |
| Cellular IoT | 170 million |
| Other smart-edge devices | 170 million |
Source: CEVA, Inc. 2024 Form 10-K. These are company-reported customer shipments; several categories include non-portable products.
CEVA’s 2024 annual royalties were 53% consumer IoT, 32% mobile and 16% industrial IoT. This is a company-specific revenue mix rather than market share, and rounded percentages may not sum to 100%.
A separate company measure comes from Zepp Health, which reported 4.0 million smart-wearable devices shipped in 2024 and more than 200 million smart-wearable devices shipped cumulatively since inception by its 2024 filing. The figures cover Zepp’s bands, watches and related wearables, not the full wearable market.
Source: Zepp Health Corporation 2024 Form 20-F.
Portable Electronics Waste and Recycling Data
EPA’s selected-consumer-electronics category is broader than portable electronics and includes televisions, video equipment, stereos, telephones and computer equipment. The estimates cover U.S. municipal solid waste and report material weight, not device counts.
| Year | Generation | Recycling measure |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3.1 million tons | 1.23 million tons recycled |
| 2017 | 2.84 million tons | — |
| 2018 | 2.7 million short tons | 38.5% recycling rate; 1.04 million tons recycled |
Source: Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data, EPA estimates.
Selected consumer electronics represented less than 1% of total U.S. municipal-solid-waste generation in 2018. Because the category and accounting method are defined by EPA, these results should not be read as a complete estimate of portable phones, wearables, chargers or other handheld products.
Mobile Payments and Affordability Outcomes
Portable electronics can support financial access, but payment indicators often combine phones, internet and cards. The World Bank’s Global Findex survey found that global adult account ownership reached 76% in 2021, up from 68% in 2017 and 51% in 2011; accounts include banks, other financial institutions and mobile-money providers.
| Outcome | Period and population | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Account ownership | Developing economies, adults, 2017 | 63% |
| Account ownership | Developing economies, adults, 2021 | 71% |
| Mobile-money account ownership | Sub-Saharan Africa, adults, 2021 | 33% |
| Gender gap in account ownership | Developing economies, 2021 | 6 percentage points |
Source: COVID-19 Drives Global Surge in use of Digital Payments, World Bank Global Findex 2021.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 35% of unbanked adults cited lacking a mobile phone as a reason for not having a mobile-money account in 2021. This is a self-reported reason among unbanked adults, not an estimate of overall phone ownership.
More than 40% of adults in low- and middle-income economies excluding China who made merchant payments by card, phone or internet did so for the first time since the pandemic began. In India, more than 80 million adults made their first digital merchant payment after the pandemic began, while the corresponding estimate for China exceeded 100 million adults; these measures combine card, phone and internet channels.