Number of global mobile subscriptions 1993-2021

The total number of mobile subscriptions is estimated to have exceeded eight billion for the first time in 2019, reaching 8.3 billion subscriptions. In 2021, this figure increased to 8.6 billion.

More smartphones than people

With a global population of 7.8 billion as of 2021, the number of smartphone subscriptions now significantly exceeds the number of people on the planet. This comes off the back of an extraordinary period of growth. The penetration rate broke 100 in the United States in 2014, and has been over 100 in countries including the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia for several years longer.
On other continents, such as Africa, the penetration rate has also increased steadily. Cameroon, for example, increased by 123 percent from 2010 to 2020, with 95.1 mobile subscriptions per 100 residents as of 2020, and the rate exceeded 114 in Kenya in 2020.

Moving towards 5G

5G subscriptions are forecast to increase worldwide from 2019 to 2025. The number of 5G mobile subscriptions worldwide is forecast to exceed 2.7 billion by 2025, with North East Asia, North America, and Western Europe having the most 5G subscriptions.