Half of the people on the planet have a smartphone

The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) has released its “Mobile Internet Connectivity Report” for 2023, which shows that 55 percent of the world’s population, approximately 4.3 billion people, now own a smartphone. Also, according to this report, 4.6 billion people use mobile internet, of which 4 billion people access it through smartphones.

GSMA report It also shows the disparity between regions and their access to mobile internet. 69% of smartphone owners in North America, East Asia and Pacific use 4G devices, while the majority of users in sub-Saharan Africa have 3G phones. In the Middle East and North Africa, we are facing almost the same situation and one third of users use 3G internet.

Many users still do not use mobile internet

The growth of mobile Internet users is not so surprising, but nearly 3.4 billion people are still not connected to the mobile Internet. According to the World Mobile Communication System Association, 38% of people in areas where there is mobile broadband do not use mobile internet. The communication gap is significant in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and 59 and 52 percent of the population, respectively, are not connected to mobile internet.

Another interesting point of the GSMA report is that 600 million people or 8% of the world’s population use the Internet through feature phones. The report also says that digital skills, literacy, safety concerns and access to relevant content prevent mobile users from using smartphones to access the Internet.

According to GSMA Director General Mats Grenried, billions of people are not connected to the internet, denying them access to vital services and income-generating opportunities, and disproportionately affects poorer, less educated users, rural people and women.