OECD members vs South Africa: Mobile cellular subscriptions

OECD members
1.69 billion
in 2022
South Africa
114.79 million
in 2024
OECD members rank
15th
South Africa rank
16th

Mobile cellular subscriptions over time

  • OECD members
  • South Africa
0500.0M1.0B1.5B196019922024

How they compare

OECD members currently reports 1.69 billion against 114.79 million in South Africa, a difference of 1.57 billion.

That makes OECD members's figure about 14.7 times South Africa's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 51 shared years of data; in 1960 it was South Africa ahead.

OECD members ranks 15th and South Africa ranks 16th of 48 groups.

OECD members has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade OECD members South Africa Difference Ahead
1960s 0 0 0
1970s 0 0 0
1980s 1.64 million 398 1.64 million OECD members
1990s 112.63 million 1.23 million 111.40 million OECD members
2000s 926.79 million 27.79 million 899.00 million OECD members
2010s 1.47 billion 78.72 million 1.39 billion OECD members
2020s 1.64 billion 98.85 million 1.55 billion OECD members

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher mobile cellular subscriptions, OECD members or South Africa?
OECD members, at 1.69 billion against 114.79 million in South Africa as of 2022.
What is the difference in mobile cellular subscriptions between OECD members and South Africa?
1.57 billion, with OECD members ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for OECD members and South Africa?
51 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2022.
How do OECD members and South Africa rank globally for mobile cellular subscriptions?
OECD members ranks 15th and South Africa ranks 16th of 48 groups.
Where does this data come from?
World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), published as Mobile cellular subscriptions. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Mobile cellular subscriptions
Source
World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
260 places, 13,039 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.