What is the highest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?

The highest recorded value was 1.55 per 100 people in 2009.

What is the lowest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?

The lowest recorded value was 0.4 per 100 people in 2024.

How does Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) rank for fixed telephone subscriptions?

Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 41st out of 45 groups with data for 2025.

Is fixed telephone subscriptions rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?

Over the last ten years it is down 62.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) data come from?

The figures come from World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), published as part of Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)

Name: Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
Creator: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)

Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income): Fixed telephone subscriptions was 0.4 per 100 people in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.4 per 100 people

Change on year

unchanged

Rank

41st

of 45 groups

All-time high

1.55 per 100 people

in 2009

All-time low

0.4 per 100 people

in 2024

Years of data

1960–2025

Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), 1960–2025

Source: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Measured in per 100 people.

Analysis

The most recent figure for fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) is 0.4 per 100 people, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 65 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 62.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) peaked at 1.55 per 100 people in 2009 and was at its lowest, 0.4 per 100 people, in 2024.

That places Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 41st out of 45 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.

Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), year by year

Annual values for Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), 1960 to 2025.
Year	per 100 people	Change
1960	0.5116 per 100 people	—
1961	0.5175 per 100 people	+1.2%
1962	0.5191 per 100 people	+0.3%
1963	0.5205 per 100 people	+0.3%
1964	0.5219 per 100 people	+0.3%
1966	0.4984 per 100 people	-4.5%
1967	0.4993 per 100 people	+0.2%
1968	0.5002 per 100 people	+0.2%
1969	0.501 per 100 people	+0.2%
1970	0.6241 per 100 people	+24.6%
1971	0.5062 per 100 people	-18.9%
1972	0.5072 per 100 people	+0.2%
1973	0.5079 per 100 people	+0.2%
1974	0.5084 per 100 people	+0.1%
1975	0.7066 per 100 people	+39.0%
1976	0.6947 per 100 people	-1.7%
1977	0.7258 per 100 people	+4.5%
1978	0.7864 per 100 people	+8.4%
1979	0.8174 per 100 people	+3.9%
1980	0.8478 per 100 people	+3.7%
1981	0.7037 per 100 people	-17.0%
1982	0.7329 per 100 people	+4.1%
1983	0.7646 per 100 people	+4.3%
1984	0.7775 per 100 people	+1.7%
1985	0.8044 per 100 people	+3.5%
1986	0.8508 per 100 people	+5.8%
1987	0.8735 per 100 people	+2.7%
1988	0.9058 per 100 people	+3.7%
1989	0.9438 per 100 people	+4.2%
1990	0.9881 per 100 people	+4.7%
1991	1.01 per 100 people	+1.8%
1992	1 per 100 people	-0.5%
1993	1.02 per 100 people	+2.0%
1994	1.05 per 100 people	+3.2%
1995	1.1 per 100 people	+4.7%
1996	1.16 per 100 people	+4.7%
1997	1.23 per 100 people	+6.3%
1998	1.32 per 100 people	+7.6%
1999	1.41 per 100 people	+7.0%
2000	1.38 per 100 people	-2.4%
2001	1.4 per 100 people	+1.6%
2002	1.45 per 100 people	+3.1%
2003	1.49 per 100 people	+3.3%
2004	1.51 per 100 people	+1.4%
2005	1.47 per 100 people	-2.6%
2006	1.54 per 100 people	+4.2%
2007	1.53 per 100 people	-0.5%
2008	1.49 per 100 people	-2.6%
2009	1.55 per 100 people	+4.5%
2010	1.46 per 100 people	-6.4%
2011	1.37 per 100 people	-6.2%
2012	1.28 per 100 people	-6.5%
2013	1.1 per 100 people	-13.5%
2014	1.08 per 100 people	-2.1%
2015	1.05 per 100 people	-2.8%
2016	1.08 per 100 people	+2.5%
2017	1.04 per 100 people	-3.5%
2018	0.8333 per 100 people	-19.9%
2019	0.7055 per 100 people	-15.3%
2020	0.6 per 100 people	-15.0%
2021	0.5 per 100 people	-16.7%
2022	0.5 per 100 people	+0.0%
2023	0.5 per 100 people	+0.0%
2024	0.4 per 100 people	-20.0%
2025	0.4 per 100 people	+0.0%

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	0.5099 per 100 people	0.4984 per 100 people	0.5219 per 100 people	9
1970s	0.6385 per 100 people	0.5062 per 100 people	0.8174 per 100 people	10
1980s	0.8205 per 100 people	0.7037 per 100 people	0.9438 per 100 people	10
1990s	1.13 per 100 people	0.9881 per 100 people	1.41 per 100 people	10
2000s	1.48 per 100 people	1.38 per 100 people	1.55 per 100 people	10
2010s	1.1 per 100 people	0.7055 per 100 people	1.46 per 100 people	10
2020s	0.4833 per 100 people	0.4 per 100 people	0.6 per 100 people	6

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)

38 Croatia 28.46 per 100 people compare
39 Brunei Darussalam 27.72 per 100 people compare
40 Faroe Islands 27.66 per 100 people compare
41 Israel 27.66 per 100 people compare
42 Canada 27.6 per 100 people compare
43 Hungary 26 per 100 people compare
44 Cyprus 25.4 per 100 people compare

See the full ranking of 260 places →

More infrastructure data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)

Mobile cellular subscriptions 1.10 billion (2025)
Mobile cellular subscriptions 92.7 per 100 people (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions 4.00 million (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions, per capita 0.003 units per person (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions, annual growth rate -20 % change on previous year (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions, gaps filled 4.00 million (2025)
Mobile cellular subscriptions, per capita 0.8324 units per person (2025)
Mobile cellular subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0.0005 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Mobile cellular subscriptions, gaps filled 1.10 billion (2025)

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) →

Frequently asked questions

What is fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?: Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) was 0.4 per 100 people in 2025, according to World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
What is the highest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?: The highest recorded value was 1.55 per 100 people in 2009.
What is the lowest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?: The lowest recorded value was 0.4 per 100 people in 2024.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) rank for fixed telephone subscriptions?: Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 41st out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
Is fixed telephone subscriptions rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?: Over the last ten years it is down 62.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) data come from?: The figures come from World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), published as part of Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income). Statizoid, drawing on World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 24 August 2026, from https://infrastructure.statizoid.com/stat/fixed-telephone-subscriptions-per-100-people/sub-saharan-africa-excluding-high-income/

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About this data

Indicator: Fixed telephone 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, 14,528 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed: 20 August 2026

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.