Mobile Phone Usage Statistics 2026
By Axis Intelligence Research
Co-author: Alex Rivera | Last updated: October 22, 2026 | License: CC BY 4.0
82% of people aged 10 and over own a mobile phone, according to the ITU’s Facts and Figures 2025. Far fewer use it fully. Axis Intelligence Research’s new Mobile Use Depth Ratio (MUDR) finds that in rural Ethiopia, only 5.6 adults use mobile internet daily for three or more tasks for every 100 adults who own a phone.
Quick Answer
Mobile phone ownership is close to universal; mobile phone use is not. The ITU counts 82% of people aged 10+ owning a mobile phone in 2025, while GSMA counts 4.8 billion people (59% of the world) using mobile internet on their own device. Phones generate 58.99% of web page views (Statcounter, September 2026), yet Axis Intelligence Research calculates that smartphones carry only 24.5% of combined mobile and fixed network traffic.
Key Findings
- Axis Intelligence Research’s Mobile Use Depth Ratio (MUDR) ranges from 75.0 in urban Guatemala to 5.6 in rural Ethiopia, based on GSMA’s 2025 consumer survey of 14 low- and middle-income countries.
- Rural Nigeria shows the widest urban-rural split in mobile phone usage depth: a MUDR of 13.8 versus 42.7 in Nigerian cities, a 28.9-point gap calculated by Axis Intelligence Research from GSMA data.
- Axis Intelligence Research calculates that 92.0% of the 3.37 billion people not using mobile internet already live under a mobile broadband signal, using GSMA’s end-2025 usage-gap and coverage-gap counts.
- Phones win the page view but not the byte: mobile devices took 58.99% of web page views in September 2026 (Statcounter), while smartphones generated 24.5% of combined mobile-network and fixed traffic in 2025, per an Axis Intelligence Research calculation from Ericsson figures.
- Africa’s web is the most mobile-first: Axis Intelligence Research calculates 2.26 mobile page views for every desktop page view in Africa in September 2026, against 1.02 in North America and 0.98 in Oceania, from Statcounter data.
How Many People Use a Mobile Phone in 2026?
It depends on which of four measures you pick, and they are not interchangeable. Ownership counts people with a handset. Mobile internet use counts people who go online on it. Subscriptions count SIM cards, and one person can hold several.
| Measure | Figure | As of | What it counts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile phone ownership | 82% of people aged 10+ | 2025 | Individuals who own a mobile phone | ITU Facts and Figures 2025 |
| Internet users (any device) | 6.0 billion (74%) | 2025 | Individuals using the internet | ITU Facts and Figures 2025 |
| Mobile internet users, own device | 4.8 billion (59%) | End-2025 | People using mobile internet on a device they own or mainly use | GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Own-smartphone mobile internet users | 4.6 billion (56%) | End-2025 | People going online on their own smartphone | GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Shared or borrowed device only | 650 million (8%) | End-2025 | People online only through someone else’s phone | GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Mobile-cellular subscriptions | 9.2 billion (112 per 100 people) | 2025 | Active SIM subscriptions | ITU Facts and Figures 2025 |
| Worldwide mobile subscriptions | 8.84 billion | End-2025 | Mobile subscriptions, Ericsson definition | Ericsson Mobility Report |
| Smartphone subscriptions | 7.47 billion | End-2025 | Subscriptions used in smartphones | Ericsson Mobility Report |
The ITU and Ericsson subscription counts differ by about 0.36 billion. Both are reference figures built on different collection methods, so Axis Intelligence Research reports them side by side rather than averaging them. The ownership and usage figures also use different bases: the ITU measures people aged 10 and over, GSMA measures the total population.
The ITU’s own regional comparison shows where ownership and internet use split apart. In Africa, 66% of people own a mobile phone but only 36% are online, a 30-point difference. The gap is 14 points in the Arab States and 4 points in Asia-Pacific.
Ownership growth is slowing at the top. GSMA counts about 160 million new mobile internet subscribers in 2025, down from 190 million in 2024. For shipment, price and vendor data on the devices themselves, see our smartphone statistics page; for country-level internet adoption, see internet users by country.
Who still does not own a mobile phone?
Women and people in poorer economies. The ITU finds 78% of women and 87% of men aged 10+ own a mobile phone, a gender parity score of 0.90. In low-income economies, ownership is 53%, against more than 95% in high-income economies.
Alex Rivera’s read: The 82% headline is the number every slide deck uses, and it is the least useful one for anyone selling an app, a payment service or a data plan. A handset that only makes calls, or that sits with a parent while the kids borrow it, counts as ownership. The figure that tracks revenue is the 59% who go online on their own device, and the gap between those two numbers is where the next billion users are hiding.
What Is the Mobile Use Depth Ratio (MUDR)?
The Mobile Use Depth Ratio (MUDR) is an Axis Intelligence Research metric that measures how far phone ownership converts into everyday, varied mobile internet use. It answers one question: for every 100 adults who own a mobile phone, how many use mobile internet daily for at least three different activities?
Formula:
MUDR = (share of adults with diverse daily mobile internet use ÷ share of adults owning a mobile phone) × 100
Both inputs come from GSMA’s mobile internet user journey, published in The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2026 (Figure 24) from its 2025 consumer survey of adults aged 18+. GSMA defines a mobile owner as someone with sole or main use of a SIM card who uses it at least once a month, and diverse daily use as performing at least three mobile internet use cases every day.
Worked example, rural Ethiopia: 4% diverse daily users ÷ 72% mobile owners × 100 = 5.6.
MUDR by country, urban and rural adults (2025)
| Country | Urban MUDR | Rural MUDR | Urban–rural gap (points) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guatemala | 75.0 | 70.5 | 4.5 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Indonesia | 73.6 | 70.5 | 3.1 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Mexico | 70.0 | 59.8 | 10.2 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Sri Lanka | 66.7 | 58.2 | 8.5 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Senegal | 62.9 | 50.6 | 12.3 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| India | 60.0 | 46.8 | 13.2 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Ghana | 52.1 | 40.2 | 11.9 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Egypt | 36.2 | 32.9 | 3.3 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Pakistan | 43.5 | 32.1 | 11.4 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Kenya | 53.2 | 31.2 | 22.0 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Bangladesh | 44.4 | 22.8 | 21.6 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Nigeria | 42.7 | 13.8 | 28.9 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Uganda | 24.5 | 11.4 | 13.1 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Ethiopia | 20.0 | 5.6 | 14.4 | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| 14-country simple average | 51.8 | 39.0 | — | Axis calculation |
Sorted by rural MUDR. All inputs, stage by stage, are in the downloadable CSV.
What the MUDR shows
Ownership is not the bottleneck in most of these countries. Mobile ownership sits between 72% and 97% in every urban and rural segment surveyed. The ratio falls apart later in the journey.
Egypt is the clearest case of a market that adopted but did not deepen. In urban Egypt, 77% of adults use mobile internet daily, yet only 34% do so for three or more activities, which is why its urban MUDR (36.2) trails Kenya’s (53.2) despite higher daily use.
Nigeria shows the opposite problem. Urban and rural ownership are almost identical (96% and 94%), but rural internet-enabled handset ownership drops to 51%, and only 13% of rural adults reach diverse daily use. The rural MUDR of 13.8 is less than a third of the urban 42.7.
Alex Rivera’s read: Read the MUDR as a refresh-cycle problem disguised as a usage statistic. In rural Nigeria the phone is there; the internet-capable phone is not. That gap is exactly where the 2026 memory-cost surge bites, because GSMA reports that an entry-level internet-enabled handset already costs 44% of monthly income for the poorest 20% in low- and middle-income countries. If entry-level prices climb this year, expect rural MUDR readings to stall before urban ones do.
What would move the MUDR up: cheaper internet-enabled handsets, which lift the third stage of the journey, and locally relevant services, which turn single-use daily users (mostly messaging and social apps) into diverse ones. Axis Intelligence Research will publish the next MUDR reading when GSMA releases its 2027 connectivity report.
Why Do 3.1 Billion People Under a Mobile Signal Not Use Mobile Internet?
Signal is no longer the main barrier. GSMA counts 3.4 billion people not using mobile internet at the end of 2025: 3.1 billion (38% of the world) live under mobile broadband coverage but do not use it, and 270 million (3%) have no coverage at all.
Axis Intelligence Research calculates the share of each region’s unconnected population that already has signal:
| Region | Usage gap (people) | Coverage gap (people) | Share of unconnected with signal | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe & Central Asia | 170M | 10M | 94.4% | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Middle East & North Africa | 340M | 20M | 94.4% | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| South Asia | 1.0B | 60M | 94.3% | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| East Asia & Pacific | 480M | 30M | 94.1% | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| North America | 70M | 5M | 93.3% | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 820M | 110M | 88.2% | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 210M | 30M | 87.5% | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
| World | 3.1B | 270M | 92.0% | Axis calculation from GSMA SOMIC 2026 |
Formula: usage gap ÷ (usage gap + coverage gap) × 100, using GSMA’s rounded absolute counts.
Do people in the usage gap own a phone?
Most do not. Of the 3.1 billion in the usage gap, GSMA estimates 920 million own a device but do not or cannot use it to go online, and 2.2 billion have no device at all. Many of the device-less are children; among adults in the usage gap, GSMA puts the no-device share at only around a third.
What stops them?
GSMA’s 2025 survey ranks handset affordability and literacy and digital skills as the top barriers to adoption among people aware of mobile internet. Once people are online, the order changes: safety and security concerns rank first as a barrier to using it more, followed by affordability and connectivity experience. GSMA also finds rural adults in low- and middle-income countries 28% less likely than urban adults to use mobile internet, and women 12% less likely than men.
What Share of Internet Traffic Comes From Mobile Phones?
Mobile devices generate most web page views but a minority of the bytes moving across networks. The two are different measures, and confusing them is one of the most common errors in mobile statistics.
Mobile vs desktop share of web page views, September 2026
| Region | Mobile | Desktop | Tablet | Mobile-to-desktop ratio (Axis) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 68.69% | 30.39% | 0.92% | 2.26 | Statcounter |
| Asia | 66.97% | 31.70% | 1.33% | 2.11 | Statcounter |
| World | 58.99% | 39.26% | 1.76% | 1.50 | Statcounter |
| Europe | 55.41% | 42.32% | 2.27% | 1.31 | Statcounter |
| South America | 51.98% | 47.46% | 0.56% | 1.10 | Statcounter |
| North America | 49.36% | 48.26% | 2.38% | 1.02 | Statcounter |
| Oceania | 47.94% | 49.14% | 2.92% | 0.98 | Statcounter |
Statcounter figures are measurement-firm estimates based on page views on sites running its tracking code. The ratio is an Axis Intelligence Research calculation: mobile share ÷ desktop share.
Oceania is the only region where desktop still edges out mobile in page views. North America is effectively tied. That matters for anyone designing a checkout or a news site: the “mobile-first” rule is a global average, not a North American fact. Our mobile commerce statistics page covers what this split does to conversion.
How much of total network traffic do phones carry?
Ericsson’s key figures put smartphone data traffic at 143 exabytes (EB) per month at the end of 2025, inside 146 EB of total mobile data traffic. Fixed wireless access (home broadband delivered over mobile networks) added 57 EB, for 203 EB of total mobile network traffic. Fixed networks carried 380 EB per month.
Axis Intelligence Research calculates that smartphones accounted for 24.5% of combined mobile-network and fixed traffic in 2025 (143 ÷ (203 + 380) × 100), and mobile networks as a whole, including fixed wireless access, for 34.8% (203 ÷ 583 × 100).
Alex Rivera’s read: Phones are where people start things; living-room screens and laptops on Wi-Fi are where the heavy bytes land. A product team reading “59% mobile” and cutting its desktop budget is reading the wrong denominator. Page views measure attention. Bytes measure the network bill. Both are true at once.
How Much Mobile Data Does a Smartphone Use per Month?
The average active smartphone used 22 GB of mobile data per month at the end of 2025, up from 19 GB in 2024, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report. Ericsson forecasts 42 GB by 2031.
| Region | GB per smartphone per month, 2025 | 2031 forecast | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| India, Nepal and Bhutan | 37 | 70 | Ericsson |
| GCC | 30 | 49 | Ericsson |
| North America | 25 | 52 | Ericsson |
| Western Europe | 25 | 59 | Ericsson |
| China | 24 | 47 | Ericsson |
| Central and Eastern Europe | 23 | 50 | Ericsson |
| North East Asia | 23 | 45 | Ericsson |
| South East Asia and Oceania | 21 | 40 | Ericsson |
| Middle East and North Africa | 21 | 47 | Ericsson |
| Latin America | 15 | 32 | Ericsson |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 5.3 | 12 | Ericsson |
| Global | 22 | 42 | Ericsson |
GSMA reports a lower global figure, 13.5 GB per month in 2025, because it measures traffic per connection across all mobile connections rather than per active smartphone. The two are compatible once the denominator is named. If you are sizing a plan, the per-smartphone number is the right benchmark; our US cell phone plan cost analysis shows what that usage costs by carrier.
How Many Hours a Day Do People Spend on Their Phones?
Sensor Tower estimates consumers spent 5.3 trillion hours in iOS and Google Play apps in 2025, up 3.8% year over year, or roughly 3.6 hours per day per mobile user (Sensor Tower, State of Mobile 2026). Time in generative AI apps reached 48 billion hours.
In the UK, Ofcom reports adults spend an average of four and a half hours online a day across personal devices, with most of that time on a smartphone, where adults use 41 apps a month (Ofcom, Online Nation 2025). UK children aged 8–14 spend almost 3 hours online daily, and 15% to 24% of their time on YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp falls between 9pm and 5am.
The Sensor Tower and Ofcom figures measure different things (app time on phones worldwide versus all online time in one country) and should not be combined. Daily checking habits and compulsive use are covered on our smartphone addiction statistics page; app spending is on mobile app revenue statistics.
Are People Making Fewer Phone Calls and Sending Fewer Texts?
Yes, and texts are falling much faster than calls. UK mobile users made 149.01 billion minutes of calls and sent 21.51 billion SMS and MMS in 2025, down 5.6% and 23.3% from 2024, according to Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, which publishes operator-reported traffic every quarter (Ofcom, Telecommunications Market Data Update). Mobile data moved the other way: 11,743 petabytes in 2025, up 12.4%.
| Quarter | Mobile voice minutes | Change y/y | SMS + MMS messages | Change y/y | Mobile data (PB) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | 38.10bn | −7.5% | 5.86bn | −19.8% | 2,691 | Ofcom |
| Q2 2025 | 37.09bn | −6.1% | 5.44bn | −22.7% | 2,911 | Ofcom |
| Q3 2025 | 36.86bn | −3.9% | 5.24bn | −24.4% | 3,055 | Ofcom |
| Q4 2025 | 36.96bn | −4.8% | 4.96bn | −26.5% | 3,087 | Ofcom |
| Q1 2026 | 36.34bn | −4.6% | 4.61bn | −21.3% | 3,042 | Ofcom |
| Q2 2026 | 35.20bn | −5.1% | 4.51bn | −17.1% | 3,294 | Ofcom |
Figures from Ofcom’s Q2 2026 data file (Table 2), which includes revisions to earlier quarters. Year-over-year changes are Axis Intelligence Research calculations from the same file.
In the first half of 2026, Axis Intelligence Research calculates that UK voice minutes fell 4.9% and SMS/MMS fell 19.3% versus the first half of 2025, while mobile data rose 13.1%. The UK had 91.06 million mobile subscriptions at the end of 2025, per Ofcom, which puts 2025 traffic at roughly 1,636 minutes of calls and 236 texts per subscription for the year.
The volumes that are disappearing have not gone silent; they moved into WhatsApp, iMessage and app-based calling, which run over mobile data and are not counted as calls or texts. Ofcom’s Online Nation data lists WhatsApp among the three most-used smartphone apps for UK adults.
US note: CTIA’s 2026 Annual Survey Highlights (September 2026) report 2025 data traffic but no 2025 voice or message counts, so this page does not publish a US call or text figure.
US mobile data traffic
Data is where the growth is. US wireless data traffic reached 159.3 trillion megabytes in 2025, up 20% from 2024, per CTIA’s 2026 Annual Survey.
| Year | US wireless data traffic (trillion MB) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 29 | CTIA 2026 Annual Survey Highlights |
| 2019 | 37 | CTIA 2026 Annual Survey Highlights |
| 2020 | 42 | CTIA 2026 Annual Survey Highlights |
| 2021 | 53 | CTIA 2026 Annual Survey Highlights |
| 2022 | 74 | CTIA 2026 Annual Survey Highlights |
| 2023 | 100 | CTIA 2026 Annual Survey Highlights |
| 2024 | 132 | CTIA 2026 Annual Survey Highlights |
| 2025 | 159.3 | CTIA 2026 Annual Survey Highlights |
CTIA counts nearly 603 million US wireless connections, about 1.8 per person, and says 46% of devices on networks are something other than a phone. CTIA is the wireless industry’s trade association, and its survey is built from carrier-reported data; it remains the reference series for US traffic. Nearly 16 million Americans now subscribe to 5G home broadband, which inflates mobile-network traffic without adding phone usage.
How Many Americans Own a Cell Phone in 2026?
98% of US adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone, according to Pew Research Center’s fact sheet published October 19, 2026, based on a survey of 5,511 adults fielded January 30 to June 18, 2026 (Pew Research Center).
| Survey date | US adults owning a smartphone | Source |
|---|---|---|
| May 2011 | 35% | Pew Research Center |
| May 2013 | 56% | Pew Research Center |
| April 2015 | 67% | Pew Research Center |
| November 2016 | 77% | Pew Research Center |
| February 2019 | 81% | Pew Research Center |
| February 2021 | 85% | Pew Research Center |
| September 2023 | 90% | Pew Research Center |
| June 2024 | 91% | Pew Research Center |
| June 2025 | 91% | Pew Research Center |
| June 2026 | 91% | Pew Research Center |
Pew changed survey mode in 2023 and 2024, so pre-2023 and post-2023 readings are not strictly comparable. Ownership has held at 91% for three surveys running.
How many Americans rely only on a smartphone for internet?
16% of US adults are “smartphone-only” internet users, meaning they own a smartphone but have no home broadband, per Pew’s 2026 data. The share was 8% in 2013 and peaked at 20% in 2018.
Alex Rivera’s read: With US ownership stuck at 91% for three years, growth in American mobile usage now comes from upgrades and heavier data use, not from new owners. The smartphone-only 16% is the group to watch when handset prices rise: for them, a phone that dies is their entire home internet going offline.
Methodology
Collection. Axis Intelligence Research fetched every source listed on this page between October 19 and 21, 2026, and logged each figure with its URL and retrieval date in the CSV. Sources by type: intergovernmental statistics (ITU Facts and Figures 2025), industry body research and survey data (GSMA State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2026, GSMA Consumer Survey 2025), operator-vendor measurement (Ericsson Mobility Report key figures, June 2026 update), national survey and regulator data (Pew Research Center, Ofcom Online Nation and Telecommunications Market Data Update), trade association carrier data (CTIA), and measurement-firm estimates (Statcounter, Sensor Tower). No secondary statistics aggregator was used as a source.
MUDR. For each of the 14 countries and two segments (urban, rural) in GSMA’s Figure 24, MUDR = stage 6 (diverse daily mobile internet use) ÷ stage 1 (mobile ownership) × 100, rounded to one decimal. Both stages are shares of adults aged 18+. The ratio compares two population shares; it is not the share of owners who are diverse daily users, because GSMA does not require stage 6 users to own the phone they use. Survey samples range from 212 to 1,518 rural and 217 to 841 urban respondents per country. The 14-country averages are unweighted.
Signal-without-use share. Usage gap ÷ (usage gap + coverage gap) × 100, using GSMA’s rounded absolute counts from Figure 4. Rounding of the inputs can move each regional result by up to about one point.
Traffic shares. Smartphone share = 143 EB ÷ (203 EB + 380 EB). Mobile network share = 203 EB ÷ 583 EB. All inputs come from the same Ericsson table and reference year.
Mobile-to-desktop ratio. Statcounter mobile share ÷ desktop share for September 2026, by region.
What we did not merge. ITU and Ericsson subscription counts, ITU ownership (ages 10+) and GSMA usage (total population), and Sensor Tower and Ofcom time-spent figures each use different bases. They are shown side by side, never averaged.
About This Dataset
The CSV contains 471 rows: ITU ownership, internet use and subscription figures; GSMA regional connectivity and the full six-stage user journey for 14 countries; every MUDR input and output; Statcounter regional platform shares; Ericsson subscription and traffic figures with 2031 forecasts; Pew US ownership series; CTIA US traffic and connection figures; Ofcom UK voice, SMS and data volumes (2025 and Q1 2025–Q2 2026); Sensor Tower and Ofcom time-spent data. Each row carries source_org, source_document, source_url, retrieved_date, is_primary and axis_calculated, with a method_note on every Axis Intelligence Research calculation.
This page updates when a new edition of any core input is published: GSMA’s connectivity report (annual, September), ITU Facts and Figures (annual, fourth quarter), Ericsson Mobility Report (June and November), Pew’s mobile fact sheet, Ofcom’s quarterly telecoms data, CTIA’s annual survey, and Statcounter’s monthly platform data.
License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Axis Intelligence Research, Mobile Phone Usage Statistics 2026, 2026.
Cite This Research
APA: Axis Intelligence Research, & Rivera, A. (2026, October 22). Mobile phone usage statistics 2026: Who owns a phone, who actually uses it, and what the network carries. Axis Intelligence. https://axis-intelligence.com/mobile-phone-usage-statistics/
MLA: Axis Intelligence Research, and Alex Rivera. “Mobile Phone Usage Statistics 2026: Who Owns a Phone, Who Actually Uses It, and What the Network Carries.” Axis Intelligence, 22 Oct. 2026, axis-intelligence.com/mobile-phone-usage-statistics/.
Chicago: Axis Intelligence Research and Alex Rivera. “Mobile Phone Usage Statistics 2026: Who Owns a Phone, Who Actually Uses It, and What the Network Carries.” Axis Intelligence, October 22, 2026. https://axis-intelligence.com/mobile-phone-usage-statistics/.
Embed-ready line: “In rural Ethiopia, only 5.6 adults use mobile internet daily for three or more tasks for every 100 who own a phone, according to Axis Intelligence Research’s Mobile Use Depth Ratio (MUDR), based on GSMA data.”
Questions People Ask About Mobile Phone Usage
How many people own a phone but never use it to go online?
GSMA estimates 920 million people living under mobile broadband coverage own a mobile device but do not or cannot use it to access the internet (end-2025). A further 2.2 billion people in covered areas have no device at all. Most of the device-less are under 18.
Is most internet traffic now coming from phones?
Most web page views, yes: mobile devices took 58.99% of global page views in September 2026, per Statcounter. Most bytes, no: Axis Intelligence Research calculates smartphones generated 24.5% of combined mobile-network and fixed traffic in 2025, based on Ericsson figures. Fixed networks still carry the heavy video and download traffic.
Is 22 GB of mobile data a month normal?
Yes, 22 GB per month is the global average for an active smartphone at the end of 2025, per Ericsson. North American and Western European smartphones averaged 25 GB, Indian smartphones 37 GB, and Sub-Saharan African smartphones 5.3 GB.
Which countries use their phones least deeply?
Among the 14 low- and middle-income countries GSMA surveyed, rural Ethiopia (MUDR 5.6), rural Uganda (11.4) and rural Nigeria (13.8) have the lowest Mobile Use Depth Ratios, per Axis Intelligence Research. Urban Guatemala (75.0) and urban Indonesia (73.6) have the highest.
Why do rural phone owners use mobile internet less?
The largest drop usually comes between knowing mobile internet exists and owning an internet-enabled phone, GSMA reports. In rural Nigeria, 86% of adults are aware of mobile internet but only 51% own an internet-enabled phone. Handset cost is the top reported barrier; an entry-level internet-enabled handset costs 44% of monthly income for the poorest 20% in low- and middle-income countries.
Will rising smartphone prices reduce mobile phone usage?
GSMA warns that rising memory costs are pushing up entry-level handset prices, the main barrier to new mobile internet users. New user growth is already slowing, from 190 million in 2024 to 160 million in 2025. Existing users are less exposed: in the US, CTIA reports real prices for typical unlimited plans fell more than 10% in 2025.
Are people texting less than they used to?
Yes, in carrier SMS at least. UK mobile users sent 21.51 billion SMS and MMS in 2025, down 23.3% from 2024, while call minutes fell 5.6% to 149.01 billion, according to Ofcom. The decline continued into Q2 2026 (−17.1% for messages). Messaging has shifted to data-based apps such as WhatsApp, which are not counted as texts.
Is desktop browsing dead?
No. Desktops still produced 39.26% of global web page views in September 2026 and 48.26% in North America, per Statcounter. In Oceania, desktop (49.14%) still edges out mobile (47.94%).