Bosnia and Herzegovina: Fixed telephone subscriptions

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Bosnia and Herzegovina's fixed telephone subscriptions fell 5% on 2023 (from 613,464 to 583,045).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +2.4% and a typical year strayed about 24.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 112% in 2000 and the biggest yearly fall was 58.3% in 1994. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is downward, about 22,654 a year. A straight line explains 96% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 520,760 for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 4,819, against 73,493 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2024, Bosnia and Herzegovina had the 68th highest value of the 146 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2024 ranking

• Denmark — 65th of 146: 697,867
• Costa Rica — 66th of 146: 610,457
• Slovenia — 67th of 146: 607,443
• New Zealand — 69th of 146: 564,000
• Myanmar — 70th of 146: 558,671
• Bulgaria — 71st of 146: 551,943

What this measures

Fixed telephone subscriptions refers to the sum of active number of analogue fixed telephone lines, voice-over-IP (VoIP) subscriptions, fixed wireless local loop (WLL) subscriptions, ISDN voice-channel equivalents and fixed public payphones.

Limitations: Operators have traditionally been the main source of telecommunications data, so information on subscriptions has been widely available for most countries. This gives a general idea of access, but a more precise measure is the penetration rate - the share of households with access to telecommunications. During the past few years more information on information and communication technology use has become available from household and business surveys. Also important are data on actual use of telecommunications services. Ideally, statistics on telecommunications (and other information and communications technologies) should be compiled for all three measures: subscriptions, access, and use.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 33 values

Fixed telephone subscriptions in nearby economies

• Albania — 165,380 (2024)
• Andorra — 53,215 (2024)
• Armenia — 297,328 (2024)
• Austria — 3.48 million (2024)
• Azerbaijan — 1.33 million (2024)
• Belarus — 4.14 million (2024)
• Belgium — 2.49 million (2024)
• Bulgaria — 551,943 (2024)
• Croatia — 1.1 million (2024)
• Cyprus — 245,464 (2024)
• Czechia — 1.16 million (2024)

More infrastructure data for Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 3.84 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 121.23 (2024)
• Medium and high-tech exports (% manufactured exports) — 34.82% (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 18.43 (2024)
• Individuals using the Internet (% of population) — 86.1% (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$521.85 million (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 13.01% (2025)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 1,083 (2023)
• Railways, goods transported (million ton-km)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Bosnia and Herzegovina's fixed telephone subscriptions?

583,045 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1992?

It is down 2.83% from 600,000 in 1992 (0.09% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 1.06 million in 2007 and the lowest 237,843 in 1995.

How does Bosnia and Herzegovina rank?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IT.MLT.MAIN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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