Japan vs North America: Fixed telephone subscriptions
Japan
47.7 per 100 people
in 2023
North America
23 per 100 people
in 2025
Japan rank
8th
North America rank
7th
Fixed telephone subscriptions over time
- Japan
- North America
How they compare
Japan currently reports 47.7 per 100 people against 23 per 100 people in North America, a difference of 24.7 per 100 people.
That makes Japan's figure about 2.1 times North America's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 64 shared years of data; in 1960 it was North America ahead.
Japan ranks 8th and North America ranks 7th of 213 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 2 and North America in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | North America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5.69 per 100 people | 28.03 per 100 people | 22.34 per 100 people | North America |
| 1970s | 23.36 per 100 people | 36.25 per 100 people | 12.89 per 100 people | North America |
| 1980s | 37.41 per 100 people | 48.67 per 100 people | 11.26 per 100 people | North America |
| 1990s | 48.22 per 100 people | 60.11 per 100 people | 11.89 per 100 people | North America |
| 2000s | 45.75 per 100 people | 59.58 per 100 people | 13.83 per 100 people | North America |
| 2010s | 50.22 per 100 people | 39.93 per 100 people | 10.29 per 100 people | Japan |
| 2020s | 48.51 per 100 people | 27.85 per 100 people | 20.66 per 100 people | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher fixed telephone subscriptions, Japan or North America?
- Japan, at 47.7 per 100 people against 23 per 100 people in North America as of 2023.
- What is the difference in fixed telephone subscriptions between Japan and North America?
- 24.7 per 100 people, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and North America?
- 64 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2023.
- How do Japan and North America rank globally for fixed telephone subscriptions?
- Japan ranks 8th and North America ranks 7th of 213 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), published as Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Fixed telephone subscriptions refers to the sum of active number of analogue fixed telephone lines, voice-over-IP (VoIP) subscriptions, fixed wireless local loop (WLL) subscriptions, ISDN voice-channel equivalents and fixed public payphones.