Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remained the region with the lowest mobile Internet usage, with only 25 per cent of the population using it and the largest coverage gap at 10 per cent.

North America, Europe and Central Asia, and East Asia and Pacific are the regions with the highest proportions of the population using mobile Internet, with more than three quarters accessing it on their own devices.

The GSMA in its The-State-of-Mobile-Internet-Connectivity-2025, noted that in 2024, rates of mobile Internet adoption remained relatively unchanged in all regions except East Asia and Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean, where there were modest increases compared to 2023. Southeast Asia was the sub-region with the highest percentage increase in mobile Internet adoption.

The GSMA, which observed that Africa has the highest usage gap percentage, noted that Nigeria ranked among the top 20 countries by absolute usage gap. It revealed that 130 million Nigerians are not connected. India, as of 2024, according to the report, had 690 million people with usage gap. China, 240 million; Pakistan, 130 million; Ethiopia, 100 million; Indonesia, 110 million; Egypt, 60 million; Congo, 60 million USA, 60 million; Brazil, 50 million; Philippines, 50 million; Mexico, 40 million; Kenya, 40 million; Iran, 40 million.

Others are Uganda, 40 million; Sudan, 40 million; Iraq, 30 million and Russia, 30 million.
According to the telecom advocacy body, of which Nigeria is a member, connectivity continued to lag significantly in least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS), compared to other low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).

While 60 per cent of the population in other LMICs are mobile Internet subscribers, this drops to 25 per cent in LDCs, 29 per cent in LLDCs and 38 per cent in SIDS. Moreover, none of these three groups saw an increase in their rate of mobile Internet adoption in 2024 (or in fact since 2021).

The rural-urban gap in mobile internet adoption continues to shrink across LMICs but remains significant. Progress with closing the gender gap has stalled. In 2024, adults living in rural areas of LMICs were 25 per cent less likely than those in urban areas to use mobile Internet.

GSMA said this continued the shrinking of the gap seen since 2021. However, the rural-urban gap is much larger for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa, at 48 per cent and 29 per cent respectively. In terms of the gender gap, women are 14 per cent less likely than men to use mobile Internet across LMICs, which remains relatively unchanged from 2023.

It noted that at the regional level, mobile IInternet gender gaps are widest in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, at 32 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.

GSMA observed that around 250 million people started using a smartphone to access mobile Internet in 2024. At the end of 2024, 4.4 billion people were using their own smartphone to access mobile Internet, equivalent to 54 per cent of the global population. More than 80 per cent of mobile Internet subscribers globally now access the Internet on a 4G or 5G smartphone, with 5G smartphone use increasing rapidly.

However, it said globally, 16 per cent of mobile internet subscribers are still using 3G smartphones or a feature phone to access the Internet. This reaches 30 per cent in the Middle East & North Africa, 34 per cent in Latin America and Caribbean, and 60 per cent in SSA.

GSMA said the majority of the usage gap comprises those without access to a device. Of the 3.1 billion people who are covered by mobile broadband networks but are not mobile Internet subscribers, almost a third (one billion people) own a device but do not or cannot use it to access the Internet. The remaining two billion people have no device. It noted that in most regions, the proportion of the usage gap without a device remained relatively unchanged in 2024.