East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)'s fixed telephone subscriptions was 185 million in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 29.92% from 264 million in 2015 (3.49% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 185 million | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 215 million | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 264 million | 2015 |
| Highest | 412.67 million | 2007 |
| Lowest | 2.64 million | 1975 |
| Average since 2016 | 215.12 million | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 2.64 million |
What the numbers say
In 2025, East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)'s fixed telephone subscriptions fell 6.1% on 2024 (from 197 million to 185 million).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +6.6% and a typical year strayed about 14.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 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 47.6% in 1994 and the biggest yearly fall was 11.4% in 2015. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 5.12 million a year. A straight line explains 94% 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.
How it compares
See how every economy compares in the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD) | 185 million | 2025 |
| World | 815 million | 2025 |
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 51 values
| Year | Fixed telephone subscriptions |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 185,000,000 |
| 2024 | 197,000,000 |
| 2023 | 211,000,000 |
| 2022 | 210,000,000 |
| 2021 | 213,000,000 |
| 2020 | 215,000,000 |
| 2019 | 224,100,000 |
| 2018 | 225,000,000 |
| 2017 | 232,300,000 |
| 2016 | 238,800,000 |
| 2015 |
Fixed telephone subscriptions in nearby economies
- Afghanistan — 181,963 (2023)
- Algeria — 6.93 million (2024)
- Bahrain — 256,054 (2024)
- Djibouti — 28,673 (2023)
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 13.25 million (2024)
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 28.23 million (2024)
- Iraq — 5.28 million (2024)
- Israel — 2.56 million (2023)
- Jordan — 485,928 (2024)
- Kuwait — 572,621 (2023)
- Lebanon — 924,461 (2022)
More infrastructure data for East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions — 2.79 billion (2025)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 131 (2025)
- Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 8.7 (2025)
- Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 7.11 million (2023)
- Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 32,423 (2023)
- Air transport, passengers carried — 921.72 million (2023)
- ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 15.03% (2025)
- Research and development expenditure (% of GDP)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)'s fixed telephone subscriptions?
- 185 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1975?
- It is up 6,912% from 2.64 million in 1975 (8.87% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 412.67 million in 2007 and the lowest 2.64 million in 1975.
- Is the latest change in fixed telephone subscriptions unusual for East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)?
- In 2025, East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)'s fixed telephone subscriptions fell 6.1% on 2024 (from 197 million to 185 million). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +6.6% and a typical year strayed about 14.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
- Where does this data come from?
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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