About This Statistic
The statistic shows the total number of mobile phone users worldwide from 2013 to 2019. For 2017 the number of mobile phone users is forecast to reach 4.77 billion.
Mobile phone users worldwide - additional information
The number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to pass the five billion mark by 2019. In 2014, nearly 60 percent of the population worldwide already owned a mobile phone. The mobile phone penetration is forecasted to continue to grow, rounding up to 67 percent by 2019. The number of mobile connections is also expected to increase over the next few years, projected to reach almost of eight billion worldwide in 2015. China had just over 1.2 billion mobile connections in 2014, while India reached almost one billion. By 2019, China is predicted to reach 1.4 billion mobile connections and India almost 1.1 billion.
Most of the mobile market growth can be attributed to the increasing popularity of smartphones. In 2012, about a quarter of all mobile users were smartphone users. By 2018, this number is expected to double, reaching 50 percent. The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to grow by one billion in a time span of five years, which means the number of smartphone users in the world is expected to reach 2.6 billion by 2019. Samsung and Apple are leading smartphone vendors, with about a quarter and 15 percent of the market share respectively.
