Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) vs United Kingdom: Mobile cellular subscriptions
Mobile cellular subscriptions over time
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
- United Kingdom
How they compare
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) currently reports 1.10 billion against 84.10 million in United Kingdom, a difference of 1.02 billion.
That makes Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)'s figure about 13.1 times United Kingdom's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 53 shared years of data; in 1960 it was United Kingdom ahead.
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 22nd and United Kingdom ranks 24th of 46 groups.
Across the 7 decades both report, Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) averaged higher in 3 and United Kingdom in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) | United Kingdom | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1970s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 398 | 200,500 | 200,102 | United Kingdom |
| 1990s | 1.46 million | 7.40 million | 5.94 million | United Kingdom |
| 2000s | 113.12 million | 61.37 million | 51.75 million | Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) |
| 2010s | 662.45 million | 78.62 million | 583.83 million | Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) |
| 2020s | 991.60 million | 81.78 million | 909.82 million | Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher mobile cellular subscriptions, Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) or United Kingdom?
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), at 1.10 billion against 84.10 million in United Kingdom as of 2025.
- What is the difference in mobile cellular subscriptions between Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) and United Kingdom?
- 1.02 billion, with Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) and United Kingdom?
- 53 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2024.
- How do Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) and United Kingdom rank globally for mobile cellular subscriptions?
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 22nd and United Kingdom ranks 24th of 46 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
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.