Maldives vs Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries): Mobile cellular subscriptions

Maldives
148.14 per 100 people
in 2024
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
90.4 per 100 people
in 2025
Maldives rank
31st
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) rank
32nd

Mobile cellular subscriptions over time

  • Maldives
  • Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
050100150200196019922025

How they compare

Maldives currently reports 148.14 per 100 people against 90.4 per 100 people in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries), a difference of 57.74 per 100 people.

That makes Maldives's figure about 1.6 times Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)'s.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 53 shared years of data; in 1960 it was Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) ahead.

Maldives ranks 31st and Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 32nd of 213 countries.

Across the 7 decades both report, Maldives averaged higher in 3 and Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) in 2.

Head to head by decade

Decade Maldives Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) Difference Ahead
1960s 0 per 100 people 0 per 100 people 0 per 100 people
1970s 0 per 100 people 0 per 100 people 0 per 100 people
1980s 0 per 100 people 0.0001 per 100 people 0.0001 per 100 people Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
1990s 0.2126 per 100 people 0.2324 per 100 people 0.0199 per 100 people Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
2000s 59.41 per 100 people 14.2 per 100 people 45.21 per 100 people Maldives
2010s 164.46 per 100 people 65.63 per 100 people 98.83 per 100 people Maldives
2020s 141.18 per 100 people 86.12 per 100 people 55.06 per 100 people Maldives

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher mobile cellular subscriptions, Maldives or Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
Maldives, at 148.14 per 100 people against 90.4 per 100 people in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) as of 2024.
What is the difference in mobile cellular subscriptions between Maldives and Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
57.74 per 100 people, with Maldives ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Maldives and Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
53 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2024.
How do Maldives and Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) rank globally for mobile cellular subscriptions?
Maldives ranks 31st and Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 32nd of 213 countries.
Where does this data come from?
World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), published as Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Maldives vs Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries): Mobile cellular subscriptions. Statizoid, drawing on World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 22 August 2026, from https://infrastructure.statizoid.com/compare/mobile-cellular-subscriptions-per-100-people/maldives/sub-saharan-africa-ida-and-ibrd-countries/

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<a href="https://infrastructure.statizoid.com/compare/mobile-cellular-subscriptions-per-100-people/maldives/sub-saharan-africa-ida-and-ibrd-countries/">Maldives vs Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries): Mobile cellular subscriptions</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people)
Unit
per 100 people
Source
World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
260 places, 13,015 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions are subscriptions to a public mobile telephone service that provide access to the PSTN using cellular technology. The indicator includes (and is split into) the number of postpaid subscriptions, and the number of active prepaid accounts (i.e. that have been used during the last three months). The indicator applies to all mobile cellular subscriptions that offer voice communications. It excludes subscriptions via data cards or USB modems, subscriptions to public mobile data services, private trunked mobile radio, telepoint, radio paging and telemetry services.