What is fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa 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?

The highest recorded value was 1.56 per 100 people in 2009.

What is the lowest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?

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

How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for fixed telephone subscriptions?

Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 43rd out of 47 groups with data for 2025.

Is fixed telephone subscriptions rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Over the last ten years it is down 60.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa 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

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

Sub-Saharan Africa: Fixed telephone subscriptions was 0.4 per 100 people in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.4 per 100 people

Change on year

unchanged

Rank

43rd

of 47 groups

All-time high

1.56 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, 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 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 60.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 1.56 per 100 people in 2009 and was at its lowest, 0.4 per 100 people, in 2024.

That places Sub-Saharan Africa 43rd out of 47 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, year by year

Annual values for Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 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	0.5063 per 100 people	-18.9%
1972	0.5072 per 100 people	+0.2%
1973	0.508 per 100 people	+0.2%
1974	0.5085 per 100 people	+0.1%
1975	0.707 per 100 people	+39.1%
1976	0.6952 per 100 people	-1.7%
1977	0.7264 per 100 people	+4.5%
1978	0.7872 per 100 people	+8.4%
1979	0.8183 per 100 people	+4.0%
1980	0.8489 per 100 people	+3.7%
1981	0.7045 per 100 people	-17.0%
1982	0.7337 per 100 people	+4.2%
1983	0.7656 per 100 people	+4.3%
1984	0.7787 per 100 people	+1.7%
1985	0.8056 per 100 people	+3.5%
1986	0.8521 per 100 people	+5.8%
1987	0.8748 per 100 people	+2.7%
1988	0.9072 per 100 people	+3.7%
1989	0.9452 per 100 people	+4.2%
1990	0.9897 per 100 people	+4.7%
1991	1.01 per 100 people	+1.9%
1992	1 per 100 people	-0.5%
1993	1.02 per 100 people	+2.0%
1994	1.06 per 100 people	+3.2%
1995	1.11 per 100 people	+4.7%
1996	1.16 per 100 people	+4.8%
1997	1.23 per 100 people	+6.3%
1998	1.33 per 100 people	+7.6%
1999	1.42 per 100 people	+6.9%
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	1.5 per 100 people	+3.3%
2004	1.52 per 100 people	+1.4%
2005	1.48 per 100 people	-2.6%
2006	1.54 per 100 people	+4.2%
2007	1.53 per 100 people	-0.4%
2008	1.49 per 100 people	-2.6%
2009	1.56 per 100 people	+4.5%
2010	1.46 per 100 people	-6.4%
2011	1.37 per 100 people	-6.1%
2012	1.28 per 100 people	-6.5%
2013	1.11 per 100 people	-13.4%
2014	1.08 per 100 people	-2.1%
2015	1 per 100 people	-7.8%
2016	1.1 per 100 people	+10.0%
2017	1 per 100 people	-9.1%
2018	0.8 per 100 people	-20.0%
2019	0.7 per 100 people	-12.5%
2020	0.7 per 100 people	+0.0%
2021	0.6 per 100 people	-14.3%
2022	0.5 per 100 people	-16.7%
2023	0.5 per 100 people	+0.0%
2024	0.4 per 100 people	-20.0%
2025	0.4 per 100 people	+0.0%

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

Year	Change	From	To
1975	+39.1%	0.5085 per 100 people	0.707 per 100 people

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	0.6388 per 100 people	0.5063 per 100 people	0.8183 per 100 people	10
1980s	0.8216 per 100 people	0.7045 per 100 people	0.9452 per 100 people	10
1990s	1.13 per 100 people	0.9897 per 100 people	1.42 per 100 people	10
2000s	1.48 per 100 people	1.38 per 100 people	1.56 per 100 people	10
2010s	1.09 per 100 people	0.7 per 100 people	1.46 per 100 people	10
2020s	0.5167 per 100 people	0.4 per 100 people	0.7 per 100 people	6

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa

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
45 North Macedonia 25.02 per 100 people compare
46 Liechtenstein 24.81 per 100 people compare

See the full ranking of 261 places →

More infrastructure data for Sub-Saharan Africa

Mobile cellular subscriptions 1.20 billion (2025)
Mobile cellular subscriptions 90.4 per 100 people (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions 5.00 million (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions, per capita 0.0038 units per person (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions, annual growth rate -16.67 % change on previous year (2025)
Fixed telephone subscriptions, gaps filled 5.00 million (2025)
Mobile cellular subscriptions, per capita 0.9049 units per person (2025)
Mobile cellular subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0.0005 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Mobile cellular subscriptions, gaps filled 1.20 billion (2025)

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa?: Fixed telephone subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa 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?: The highest recorded value was 1.56 per 100 people in 2009.
What is the lowest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?: The lowest recorded value was 0.4 per 100 people in 2024.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for fixed telephone subscriptions?: Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 43rd out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
Is fixed telephone subscriptions rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?: Over the last ten years it is down 60.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa 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. Statizoid, drawing on World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 30 September 2026, from https://infrastructure.statizoid.com/stat/fixed-telephone-subscriptions-per-100-people/sub-saharan-africa/

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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: 261 places, 14,535 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed: 17 September 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.