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THE WORLD IN 2009:

ICT FACTS AND FIGURES

A decade of ICT growth driven by mobile technologies

80
Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions
70
Internet users
67.0

60
Fixed telephone lines An estimated 4.6 bn
per 100 inhabitants

Mobile broadband subscriptions


subscriptions globally
50 Fixed broadband subscribers
by the end of 2009
40

30
25.9

20 17.8
9.5
10
7.1
0
‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09*

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database.


* Estimates.

Mobile cellular has been the most rapidly adopted technology in history.
Today it is the most popular and widespread personal technology on the
planet, with an estimated 4.6 billion subscriptions globally by the end of 2009
Mobile broadband subscriptions overtook fixed broadband subscribers in
2008, highlighting the huge potential for the mobile Internet
In 2009, more than a quarter of the world’s population are using the Internet

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ICTs at home

100
6
70.8 % 80
Billions of people (Bn)

6.9 Bn
4 60 In 2009, over a quarter of the world’s
% population – or 1.9 billion people –
4.9 Bn
27.3 % 40
have access to a computer at home
2
1.9 Bn 20

0 0
Total People with People with
population access to a access to a
TV at home PC at home

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database.


Note: Estimates.

100

Whereas three quarters of house- 1.5 77.2 %


Billions of households (Bn)

80
holds globally have a TV, one third has 1.7 Bn
a computer. With prices in continuous 1 60

decline, and ongoing convergence of 1.3 Bn %


34.3 %
40
devices, the gap is likely to narrow 0.5
0.6 Bn
quickly 20

0 0
Total Households Households
households with a TV with a PC

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database.


Note: Estimates.

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The rise of mobile broadband...
...but not everywhere

Millions

700

CIS
600
Africa
500 Arab States

The Americas
400
Asia & Pacific
300 Europe

200

100

0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009*

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database.


Note: The regions refer to the 191 ITU Member States.
* Estimates.

Asia and the Pacific and Europe have the greatest numbers of mobile broadband
subscriptions

There is a dramatic broadband divide, with very few fixed broadband subscribers
or mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa

There are substantial differences within regions. The US accounts for 82.6% of mobile
broadband in the Americas. In Asia and the Pacific, Japan and the Republic of Korea
account for 70%

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Catching up
Developing countries only 10 years behind Sweden*

Sweden: 2008 benchmark for mobile phones, 2007 benchmark for infant mortality

In 2008, mobile phone penetration for developed countries was at a level


Developed countries 2.3 where Sweden was 2.3 years earlier

In 2008, mobile phone penetration for developed countries was at a level


Developing countries 9.4 where Sweden was 9.4 years earlier

Mobile cellular penetration

Infant mortality

In 2007, infant mortality rate for developed countries was at a level


Developed countries 12.0 where Sweden was 12 years earlier

In 2007, infant mortality rate for developing countries was at a level where Sweden was 72 years earlier

Developing countries 72.0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Years
Source: ITU and SICENTER, based on ITU and UNICEF data.
Note: The time distance model measures the number of years a country (or region) lags behind other countries (or regions) in terms of
development benchmarks, such as mobile cellular penetration and infant mortality.
* Sweden was chosen as a benchmark as it ranked first in ITU’s ICT Development Index.

In 2008, mobile phone penetration in developing countries had reached that of


Sweden under ten years earlier; for infant mortality, the rate in developing countries in
2007 was at the level where Sweden was 72 years earlier

Even the country furthest behind (Myanmar) in terms of mobile cellular penetration is
where Sweden was just 24 years earlier. By comparison, the GDP lag for most of the
Least Developed Countries (LDCs), compared to Sweden, is over 160 years

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The global broadband divide
Fixed broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants, 2008

0 - 2.4
2.5 - 9.9
10.0 - 19.9
Denominations and classifications employed in these maps do not imply any opinion on the part of 20.0 - 25.0
the ITU concerning the legal or other status of any territory or any endorsement or acceptance of any >25
boundary. No data

Over the past 5 years, the total number of fixed broadband subscribers has grown
more than threefold, from about 150 million in 2004, to almost 500 million by the end
of 2009

In Africa, there is only one fixed broadband subscriber for every 1’000 people, while in
Europe there are 200 subscribers for 1’000 people

In 2008, China overtook the US as the largest fixed broadband market in the world.
At the end of 2008, China’s fixed broadband penetration was 6.2 subscribers per 100
inhabitants, the highest of any low or lower-middle-income economy in Asia and the
Pacific

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How much are we paying?
289

ICT Price Basket 2008

%
In Africa, the cost
45 In Europe, where 2’500
of the ICT Price

Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (US$)


Basket represents income levels are
40
41 per cent of the highest, relative prices
region’s monthly for telecom services
35 2’000
average income are lowest

30
1’500
25 ICT Price Basket Value

20 Monthly GNI per capita (US$)


1’000
15

10 500

– 0
Africa Asia & Pacific Arab States CIS Americas Europe

The relative price for ICT services is highest in Africa, the region
with the lowest income levels

40 Developed

35 Developing
27.6
30

25 20.5
17.8
PPP $

16.8 17.1
20

15

10

0
Fixed Mobile Fixed
line cellular broadband

Source: ITU, www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/publications/idi/2009/index.html


Note: The ITU’s ICT Price Basket shows how much countries are paying for telecommunication services, relative to income levels. It is
composed of three sub-baskets: fixed telephone, mobile cellular and fixed broadband Internet tariffs. The ICT Price Basket is computed as
the sum of these three tariffs, as a percentage of monthly Gross National Income per capita.

The price for fixed broadband access remains prohibitively high in most
developing countries, effectively limiting access to the Information Society

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Better business conditions facilitate telecoms investment
US$

600
Telco investment per
capita
500

400

300

200
Country rank in
the “Ease of
doing business”
100
indicator

0
200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicator Database and World Bank Doing Business (www.doingbusiness.org ).
Note: Telecom investment data for 2007 or 2006, as available.

A relatively better performance in the “Ease of doing business” country rankings


is associated with higher levels of telecom investment per capita

Who ranks where in ITU’s latest ICT Development Index (IDI)?


Top five economies within each region

Regional Global Global Global Global Global Global


Europe Asia&Pacific Americas Arab States CIS Africa
IDI Rank IDI Rank IDI Rank IDI Rank IDI Rank IDI Rank IDI Rank

1 Sweden
nd 1 1 Korea (Rep.) 2 United States 17 UAE 32 Russia 50 Seychelles 57

Hong Kong,
2 Denmark 3 China 11 Canada 19 Bahrain 42 Ukraine 51 Mauritius 62

3 Netherlands 4 Japan 12 Argentina 47 Qatar 44 Belarus 54 South Africa 87

4 Iceland 5 Australia 14 Chile 48 Saudi Arabia 55 Moldova 68 Cape Verde 105

5 Norway 6 Singapore 15 Uruguay 49 Kuwait 57 Kazakhstan 69 Gabon 107

Region with the highest Region with the lowest


IDI scores IDI scores

Source: The ITU IDI is a composite index based on 11 indicators. The Index, which captures the level of advancement of ICTs in more than
150 countries worldwide and compares progress made between 2002 and 2007, was published in the 2009 Measuring the Information Society Report.

While Russia ranks 50th, globally, it is first within the CIS region

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For more information:

Market Information and Statistics Division


Telecommunication Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union

indicators@itu.int
www.itu.int/ict

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