Smartphone penetration worldwide as share of global population 2016-2023

The global smartphone penetration rate was estimated at 69 percent in 2023, up from 2022. This is based on an estimated 6.7 billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide and a global population of around 7.4 billion.

Regional differences in smartphone penetration

Throughout the world, the smartphone penetration rate in the general population varies greatly. For example, in North America and Europe, the smartphone adoption rate stands at roughly 86 and 82 percent, respectively. Whereas in Sub-Saharan Africa, the same rate only stands at 55 percent as of late 2023, showing a roughly 30 percent difference in adoption rates between the highest and lowest ranked regions.

Global smartphone shipments

The number of global smartphone shipments saw a drop in recent years. However, the number of shipments is expected to recover to previous levels in the upcoming years. Most recently, Samsung and Apple have been leading the share of smartphone shipments worldwide, with other competitors such as Xiaomi and Oppo are catching up. Most of the top contributors to the smartphone market are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, which is also the region is the one with the most smartphone sales to end users as a whole.