Low & middle income: Fixed telephone subscriptions

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Low & middle income's fixed telephone subscriptions fell 2.9% on 2021 (from 429.95 million to 417.48 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +6% and a typical year strayed about 9.5% 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 19.9% in 2000 and the biggest yearly fall was 6.8% 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 2013 to 2022 the straight-line trend is downward, about 15.6 million a year. A straight line explains 89% 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.

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 48 values

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 Low & middle income

• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 6.51 billion (2022)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 104.4 (2022)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 13.24 million (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 56,028 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 1.68 billion (2023)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 6.81 (2022)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 21.24% (2025)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 1.66 million (2023)
• ICT goods imports (% total goods imports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Low & middle income's fixed telephone subscriptions?

417.48 million in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1975?

It is up 1,941% from 20.46 million in 1975 (6.63% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 664.92 million in 2007 and the lowest 20.46 million in 1975.

Is the latest change in fixed telephone subscriptions unusual for Low & middle income?

In 2022, Low & middle income's fixed telephone subscriptions fell 2.9% on 2021 (from 429.95 million to 417.48 million). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +6% and a typical year strayed about 9.5% 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?

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.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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