South Africa vs Turkey: Mobile cellular subscriptions

South Africa
114.79 million
in 2024
Turkey
94.32 million
in 2024
South Africa rank
16th
Turkey rank
19th

Mobile cellular subscriptions over time

  • South Africa
  • Turkey
025.0M50.0M75.0M100.0M125.0M196019922024

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 114.79 million against 94.32 million in Turkey, a difference of 20.47 million.

That makes South Africa's figure about 1.2 times Turkey's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 53 shared years of data; in 1960 it was Turkey ahead.

South Africa ranks 16th and Turkey ranks 19th of 212 countries.

Across the 7 decades both report, South Africa averaged higher in 2 and Turkey in 3.

Head to head by decade

Decade South Africa Turkey Difference Ahead
1960s 0 0 0
1970s 0 0 0
1980s 398 3,092 2,694 Turkey
1990s 1.23 million 1.49 million 262,664 Turkey
2000s 27.79 million 40.85 million 13.06 million Turkey
2010s 78.72 million 72.37 million 6.35 million South Africa
2020s 103.95 million 89.05 million 14.90 million South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher mobile cellular subscriptions, South Africa or Turkey?
South Africa, at 114.79 million against 94.32 million in Turkey as of 2024.
What is the difference in mobile cellular subscriptions between South Africa and Turkey?
20.47 million, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for South Africa and Turkey?
53 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2024.
How do South Africa and Turkey rank globally for mobile cellular subscriptions?
South Africa ranks 16th and Turkey ranks 19th of 212 countries.
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.