Mobile Subscriptions by Country 2023

About This Dataset

This chart counts active mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people in 2023. It measures SIM cards and subscriptions, not individual users, so people holding several SIMs are counted more than once, which is why every country listed exceeds 100.

✨ AI Insight

Fiji tops the list at 361 subscriptions per 100 people, meaning roughly 3.6 active SIMs for every man, woman and child, followed by Hong Kong on 319.5. These figures do not indicate that people own more phones than anywhere else; they reflect cheap prepaid SIMs, multiple network subscriptions to secure coverage, and dormant cards left counted as active. Hong Kong and Macao's high rates are also inflated by cross-border and tourist SIMs. Every country listed exceeds 170, and Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates and Russia all sit near or above 180. Japan at 178.4 is the only large developed economy in the top ten, showing this measure rewards prepaid markets rather than wealth.

Source: World Bank (International Telecommunication Union)

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Fiji leads with 361 in 2023.

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Average value in 2023: 217 · median: 187.

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Gap in 2023: Fiji is 2.1× larger than Singapore.