These countries have the most mobile phone users

Lomb // Shutterstock The smartphone revolution of 2007 dramatically transformed how people interact with technology and the outside world. It was a significant advancement beyond standard consumer mobile phones, which enabled people to communicate with each other on the go. Combined with breakthroughs in telecommunication technologies like 3G, 4G, and 5G–which enabled the transmission of an increasing amount of data at faster speeds–smartphones soon became indispensable in everyday life. In our pockets, we now have the power to instantly call, text, or video chat with family and friends around the world, find answers to any question in the time it takes to type a search query, send and make payments through digital wallets, stream TV series and films, post updates to your followers about what you just ate, play countless games to crush candy or catapult birds, and more. During the COVID-19 pandemic, smartphones became essential as many countries, such as Singapore and Qatar, began mandating that residents keep contact-tracing applications on their phones at all times. The devices also made life much easier for many people who needed to order groceries and food deliveries during lockdowns and self-quarantine. As the role of smartphones in work, life, and leisure has expanded over the years, mobile phones have become more of a necessity than a luxury. Unsurprisingly, the number of smartphones sold worldwide has risen from approximately 122.3 million in 2007 to around 1.4 billion in 2022, according to data from Statista. In the United States alone, 85% of residents have a smartphone, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey. Some people have more than one device to help create boundaries between different parts of their life in our increasingly interconnected digital world. Though cellphones have become ubiquitous in many regions, there are plenty of places in the world that lack internet-ready economies, have low internet penetration, and have poor or underdeveloped data infrastructure–all of which are essential for people to make the best of their devices. To address these issues, organizations like the World Bank have invested in efforts to bolster broadband access in countries such as Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Gabon, and Malawi, among others. The organization’s Digital Development Global Practice liaises with local governments to promote inclusive and responsible digitalization in developing countries. In partnership with Visible, Stacker used data from the International Telecommunication Union via the World Bank to examine the rate of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide. The data includes billable and prepaid devices. While rates surpass one phone per person in many places, ownership of multiple devices per person inflates the overall average. The global rate of mobile phone subscriptions is climbing