OECD members: Mobile cellular subscriptions

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, OECD members' mobile cellular subscriptions rose 42.36 million on 2021 (from 1.64 billion to 1.69 billion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +54.3 million and a typical year strayed about 38.91 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 154.32 million in 2000. 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 upward, about 25.38 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 1.75 billion for 2025. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2020 to 2022 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 24.76 million, against 48.92 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

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 51 values

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 OECD members

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 429.13 million (2022)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 31.35 (2022)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 20.67 million (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 121,066 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 2.43 billion (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 122.31 (2022)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 15.04% (2025)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$1 trillion (2025)
• Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.93% (2023)

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 OECD members's mobile cellular subscriptions?

1.69 billion in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

Is the latest change in mobile cellular subscriptions unusual for OECD members?

In 2022, OECD members' mobile cellular subscriptions rose 42.36 million on 2021 (from 1.64 billion to 1.69 billion). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +54.3 million and a typical year strayed about 38.91 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 is OECD members's mobile cellular subscriptions heading?

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.