ICT
2013
The World in
Facts and Figures
“I am pleased to present the latest ICT Facts and Figures which show continued and almost
universal growth in ICT uptake. Every day we are moving closer to having almost as
many mobile- cellular subscriptions as people on earth. This is exciting news. The mobile
revolution is m-powering people in developing countries by delivering ICT applications in
education, health, government, banking, environment and business. Let us all celebrate this
mobile miracle that I have no doubt will hasten our pace towards sustainable development.”
Brahima Sanou, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
6.8 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions
As the number of subscriptions approaches global population figures
mobile-cellular growth slows
7.1
8
Population
7
6.8
Billions
6
5
4
3
2
Mobile-cellular subscriptions
1
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012* 2013*
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: * Estimate
In 2013, there are almost as many mobile-cellular subscriptions as people in the world, with more than half in the
Asia-Pacific region (3.5 billion out of 6.8 billion total subscriptions).
As global mobile-cellular penetration approaches 100% and market saturation is reached, growth rates have
fallen to their lowest levels in both developed and developing countries.
Mobile-cellular penetration rates stand at 96% globally; 128% in developed countries; and 89% in developing
countries.
Mobile-cellular penetration, 2013*, and mobile-cellular subscription growth rates, 2005-2013*
180
170
160
35
126
30
0
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: * Estimate
Per cent
__Developing
__World
__
Developed
20
15
10
CIS
Developed
25
Europe
20
128
109
The Americas
40
63
89
96
World
60
89
Asia & Pacific
80
Developing
100
105
Arab States
120
Africa
Per 100 inhabitants
140
5
0
6.1
5.4
3.7
2005/06 06/07 07/08 08/0909/10 10/11 11/12*12/13*
2.7 billion people – almost 40% of the world’s
population – are online
In developing countries, 16% fewer women than men use the Internet
Internet users by development level, 2003-2013*, and by region, 2013*
Per 100 inhabitants
70
60
__
__
__
80
77
Developed
World
Developing
50
39
40
30
31
20
61
60
52
50
40
32
30
20
10
0
75
70
Per 100 inhabitants
80
38
16
10
0
200304 0506070809 101112*
13*
Africa
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: * Estimate
Asia
Arab
CIS & Pacific States
The
Europe
Americas
In 2013, over 2.7 billion people are using the
Internet, which corresponds to 39% of the world’s
population.
Europe is the region with the highest Internet
penetration rate in the world (75%), followed by
the Americas (61%).
In the developing world, 31% of the population is
online, compared with 77% in the developed world.
In Africa, 16% of people are using the Internet –
only half the penetration rate of Asia and the Pacific.
The gender gap: men and women online, totals and penetration rates, 2013*
Billions of people
41%
Internet users
1.4
37%
% all of men/women
1.2
33%
1.0
29%
0.8
0.6
74%
80%
0.4
0.2
0.0
WomenMenWomen Men WomenMen
Developed
Developing
World
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: * Estimate
More men than women use the Internet: globally, 37% of all women are online, compared with 41% of all men.
This corresponds to 1.3 billion women and 1.5 billion men.
The developing world is home to about 826 million female Internet users and 980 million male Internet users. The
developed world is home to about 475 million female Internet users and 483 million male Internet users.
The gender gap is more pronounced in the developing world, where 16% fewer women than men use the Internet,
compared with only 2% fewer women than men in the developed world.
750 million households – 41% globally –
connected to the Internet
Households with Internet access, 2013*
108
million
Households
without
Internet
Households
with
Internet
376
million
Developing countries
960
million
Developed countries
373
million
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: * Estimate
MAIN COLOURS
In 2013, 41% of the world’s households are connected to the Internet. Half of them are in the
developing world, where household Internet penetration has reached 28%.
C 10 Y 100 M 75 K 15
C 74 Y 45 M 0 K 27
In the developed world, 78% of all households are connected to the Internet.
90% of the 1.1 billion households
not connected
to the Internet are in the developing world.
SECONDARY
COLOURS
Households with Internet access, by region
C 70 Y 15 M 0 K 12
C 50 Y 10 M 100 K 0
C 0 Y 50 M 100 K 0
Percentage of households with Internet access
90
80
77
70
61
60
50
46
40
34
30
__
__
__
__
__
__
Europe
The Americas
CIS
Arab States
Asia & Pacific
Africa
33
20
10
7
0
200520062007200820092010 2011
2012*
2013*
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: * Estimate
Europe and Africa are the regions with the highest and the lowest levels of household Internet penetration
respectively: 77% in Europe, compared with 7% in Africa.
The majority of households in the Americas are online (61%), compared with around one third of households in
the Arab States and Asia and the Pacific.
Between 2009 and 2013, Internet penetration in households has grown fastest in Africa, with annual growth of
27%, followed by 15% annual growth in Asia and the Pacific, the Arab States and the CIS.
Fixed-broadband prices drop by 82%
between 2008 and 2012
As fixed-broadband services become more affordable, penetration increases
Fixed-broadband sub-basket
as % of GNI p.c.
__
__
__
164.6
100
85.1
80
30
Developing
World
Developed
Fixed-broadband penetration
115.1
120
59.4
60
59.7
40
40.3
41.8
30.1
28.5
20
2.5
0
2.01.7
20082009 2010
21.5
1.7
1.7
2011 2012†
25
20
15
27
__
__
__
Developed
World
Developing
10
10
5
6
0
2008 2009 2010 20112012* 2013*
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: Simple averages. † Preliminary result. * Estimate
By 2012, the majority of countries have reached the Broadband Commission
target of offering basic fixed-broadband services at below 5% of monthly GNI p.c.
Number of countries
60
Developed
Developing
50
40
36
30
11
20
10
1
22
26
19
18
19
6
0
0-2
2-5
7
4
4
5-8 8-1010-20 20-3030-4040-50 >50
Fixed-broadband sub-basket value 2012†
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: † Preliminary result, based on 173 countries
Over the past five years, fixed-broadband prices as a share of GNI per capita dropped by 82%. By 2012, fixedbroadband prices represented 1.7% of monthly GNI p.c. in developed countries. In developing countries, fixedbroadband services remain expensive, accounting for 30.1% of average monthly incomes.
In 95 countries – including 48 developing countries – the price of a monthly fixed-broadband subscription
represented 5% or less of monthly GNI p.c. in 2012.
As services are becoming more affordable, fixed-broadband uptake has shown strong growth and by 2013, there
are almost 700 million fixed-broadband subscriptions, corresponding to a global penetration rate of 9.8%.
In 2013, the total number of fixed-broadband subscriptions in developing countries surpasses those in developed
countries. But there is still a wide gap when it comes to fixed-broadband penetration rates, with 6.1% in developing
countries (and less than 1% in Sub-Saharan Africa), compared with 27.2% in developed countries.
High-speed access to the internet
Differences in broadband speed persist
Uptake of high-speed broadband (at least 10 Mbit/s) is highest in some Asian economies, including the Republic of
Korea, Hong Kong (China) and Japan, and in several European countries, such as Bulgaria, Iceland and Portugal.
In Africa, less than 10% of fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions offer speeds of at least 2 Mbit/s. This is also the
case of several countries in Asia and the Pacific, the Americas and some Arab States.
Fixed-broadband subscriptions, by speed, early 2012
Korea (Rep.)
Hong Kong, China
Japan
Singapore
Macao, China
Bangladesh
Iran (I.R.)
Bhutan
Bulgaria
Iceland**
Portugal
United Kingdom
Belgium
Andorra
Denmark
Romania
Netherlands
France
Greece
Spain
Hungary
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Norway*†
Israel
Finland†
Slovenia
Slovak Republic
Ireland
Germany
Austria
Malta
Poland**
Estonia
Croatia
Cyprus†
Italy
Turkey
Bosnia and Herzegovina
United States*†
Canada*†
Brazil
Trinidad & Tobago
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Belize
Venezuela
Guyana
Georgia
Russia
Azerbaijan
Armenia
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia*
Oman
Morocco
Jordan
Tunisia
Qatar
Egypt
Uganda
Senegal
Namibia
Côte d’Ivoire
Mauritius
Kenya
Benin
Asia & Pacific
Europe
Americas
CIS
Arab States
Africa
0%10% 20%30% 40%50% 60%70% 80% 90%
100%
≥10 Mbit/s
≥2 to <10 Mbit/s
≥256 kbit/s to <2 Mbit/s
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
Note: Refers to advertised speeds. * Data correspond to speed intervals slightly different from the ones defined by ITU. ** Breakdown
by speed available only for a part of the total fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions. † Data include fixed wireless broadband subscriptions
Continuous high growth of mobile broadband
More than 2 billion subscriptions worldwide by end 2013*
Americas
Europe
CIS
460 million subscriptions
422 million subscriptions
129 million subscriptions
48% penetration
68% penetration
46% penetration
28% CAGR (2010-2013)
33% CAGR (2010-2013)
27% CAGR (2010-2013)
Arab States
Africa
Asia-Pacific
71 million subscriptions
93 million subscriptions
895 million subscriptions
19% penetration
11% penetration
22% penetration
55% CAGR (2010-2013)
82% CAGR (2010-2013)
45% CAGR (2010-2013)
Denom
and classifications employed in these maps do not imply any opinion on the part of the ITU concerning the legal or other status of any territory or any endorsement or acceptance of any boundary.
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: * Estimate
Active mobile-broadband subscriptions, 2007-2013*
In developing countries, the number of mobilebroadband subscriptions more than doubled from
2011 to 2013 (from 472 million to 1.16 billion) and
surpassed those in developed countries in 2013.
Africa is the region with the highest growth rates
over the past three years and mobile-broadband
penetration has increased from 2% in 2010 to 11%
in 2013.
__
__
__
80
70
Per 100 inhabitants
Mobile-broadband subscriptions have climbed
from 268 million in 2007 to 2.1 billion in 2013. This
reflects an average annual growth rate of 40%,
making mobile broadband the most dynamic ICT
market.
60
75
Developed
World
Developing
50
40
30
30
20
20
10
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: * Estimate
2012*
2013*
Mobile broadband much more expensive
in developing countries
But considerably cheaper than fixed-broadband services
By early 2013, the price of an entry-level mobile-broadband plan represents
between 1.2-2.2% of monthly GNI p.c. in
developed countries and between 11.324.7% in developing countries, depending on the type of service.
Price of mobile-broadband services, early 2013†
However, in developing countries, mobilebroadband services cost considerably less
than fixed-broadband services: 18.8% of
monthly GNI p.c. for a 1 GB postpaid
computer-based mobile-broadband plan
compared to 30.1% of monthly GNI p.c.
for a postpaid fixed-broadband plan with
1 GB of data volume.
7.5
11.3
1.3
Prepaid
handset-based
(500 MB)
11.4
15.7
1.4
Postpaid
computer-based
(1 GB)
12.7
18.8
2.2
Prepaid
computer-based
(1 GB)
Among the four typical mobile-broadband plans offered in the market, postpaid handset-based services are the
cheapest and prepaid computer-based
services are the most expensive, across
all regions.
Developed
World
Developing
1.2
Postpaid
handset-based
(500 MB)
17.7
24.7
0 5 10152025
Price of service as a % of GNI per capita†
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: Simple averages. † Preliminary result
Price of mobile-broadband services by region, early 2013†
% of GNI per capita
Europe
Arab States
CIS
The
Americas
Asia &
the Pacific
Africa
Prepaid handset-based (500 MB)
1.1
5.7
5.7
5.9
5.9
38.8
Postpaid handset-based (500 MB)
1.1
2.2
5.6
5.0
3.5
36.2
Prepaid computer-based (1 GB)
1.9
7.4
7.6
11.1
12.6
58.3
Postpaid computer-based (1 GB)
1.2
2.5
7.4
8.0
10.6
54.6
Source: ITU World Telecommunication /ICT Indicators database
Note: Simple averages. † Preliminary result
A regional comparison highlights that mobile-broadband services remain largely unaffordable in Africa, where
the price of a computer-based plan with 1GB of data volume represents on average more than 50% of GNI p.c.
Services are most affordable in Europe, where they represent on average less than 2% of GNI p.c.
In the Arab States and Asia and the Pacific region, postpaid handset-based services are relatively affordable,
accounting for 2.2% and 3.5% of monthly GNI per capita, respectively; prices in the Americas and CIS remain
relatively high (5% or above of monthly GNI p.c.) for all mobile-broadband services.
For more information:
ICT Data and Statistics Division
Telecommunication Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union
Place des Nations
1211 Geneva 20 - Switzerland
indicators@itu.int
www.itu.int/ict
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