IDA total's mobile cellular subscriptions was 1.73 billion in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 52.86% from 1.13 billion in 2015 (4.33% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 1.73 billion | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 1.48 billion | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 1.13 billion | 2015 |
| Highest | 1.73 billion | 2025 |
| Lowest | 0 | 1960 |
| Average since 2016 | 1.48 billion | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 0 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, IDA total's mobile cellular subscriptions rose 43 million on 2024 (from 1.69 billion to 1.73 billion).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +56.26 million and a typical year strayed about 44.89 million 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 132.56 million in 2008. 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 upward, about 65.91 million a year. A straight line explains 98% 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| IDA total | 1.73 billion | 2025 |
| World | 9.17 billion | 2025 |
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 54 values
| Year | Mobile cellular subscriptions |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,731,000,000 |
| 2024 | 1,688,000,000 |
| 2023 | 1,677,000,000 |
| 2022 | 1,615,000,000 |
| 2021 | 1,541,000,000 |
| 2020 | 1,479,000,000 |
| 2019 | 1,403,900,000 |
| 2018 | 1,307,100,000 |
| 2017 | 1,213,300,000 |
| 2016 | 1,174,600,000 |
| 2015 |
Mobile cellular subscriptions in nearby economies
- Afghanistan — 25.63 million (2024)
- Algeria — 54.05 million (2024)
- Bahrain — 2.56 million (2024)
- Djibouti — 558,607 (2023)
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 113.19 million (2024)
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 159.39 million (2024)
- Iraq — 46.08 million (2024)
- Israel — 16.65 million (2024)
- Jordan — 8.05 million (2024)
- Kuwait — 8.11 million (2023)
- Lebanon — 4.25 million (2022)
More infrastructure data for IDA total
- Fixed telephone subscriptions — 22 million (2025)
- Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 1.1 (2025)
- Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 1.06 million (2023)
- Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 5,784 (2023)
- Air transport, passengers carried — 81.07 million (2023)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 87.1 (2025)
- Scientific and technical journal articles — 72,990 (2023)
- ICT goods imports (% total goods imports) — 2.75% (2023)
- ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 10.09% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is IDA total's mobile cellular subscriptions?
- 1.73 billion in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- Is the latest change in mobile cellular subscriptions unusual for IDA total?
- In 2025, IDA total's mobile cellular subscriptions rose 43 million on 2024 (from 1.69 billion to 1.73 billion). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +56.26 million and a typical year strayed about 44.89 million 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.
- Where does this data come from?
- The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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