France: Mobile cellular subscriptions

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, France's mobile cellular subscriptions rose 677,000 on 2022 (from 76.85 million to 77.53 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +2.55 million and a typical year strayed about 2.44 million from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 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 10.22 million in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 133,000 in 2010. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.4 million a year. A straight line explains 99% 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 81.94 million for 2026. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2021 to 2023 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 391,848, against 3.81 million 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 2023, France had the 2nd highest value of the 23 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 France in the 2023 ranking

• Japan — 1st of 23: 221.92 million
• Ukraine — 3rd of 23: 50.33 million
• Madagascar — 4th of 23: 23.54 million
• Yemen, Rep. — 5th of 23: 20.05 million

What this measures

Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions are subscriptions to a public mobile telephone service that provide access to the PSTN using cellular technology. The indicator includes (and is split into) the number of postpaid subscriptions, and the number of active prepaid accounts (i.e. that have been used during the last three months). The indicator applies to all mobile cellular subscriptions that offer voice communications. It excludes subscriptions via data cards or USB modems, subscriptions to public mobile data services, private trunked mobile radio, telepoint, radio paging and telemetry services.

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 52 values

Mobile cellular subscriptions in nearby economies

• Albania — 2.49 million (2024)
• Andorra — 127,571 (2024)
• Armenia — 4.01 million (2024)
• Austria — 11.35 million (2024)
• Azerbaijan — 11.32 million (2024)
• Belarus — 11.88 million (2024)
• Belgium — 12.2 million (2024)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 3.84 million (2024)
• Bulgaria — 7.98 million (2024)
• Croatia — 4.72 million (2024)
• Cyprus — 1.51 million (2024)

More infrastructure data for France

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 37.28 million (2023)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 56.11 (2023)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 497,793 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 4,302 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 64.64 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 116.69 (2023)
• Patent applications, nonresidents — 1,378 (2024)
• Patent applications, residents — 12,751 (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$28.76 billion (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP)

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 France's mobile cellular subscriptions?

77.53 million in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How does France rank?

2nd highest of 23 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in mobile cellular subscriptions unusual for France?

In 2023, France's mobile cellular subscriptions rose 677,000 on 2022 (from 76.85 million to 77.53 million). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +2.55 million and a typical year strayed about 2.44 million from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IT.CEL.SETS, 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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