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World Bank Group · Smartphone Ownership
Smartphone ownership by country
What share of adults have a smartphone as their main phone?
Sweden placed first of the 140 countries compared in 2024, at 97.36489%, and Chad last, at 8.66301%. In the middle country the figure was 78.77587%.
Part ofDigital & Technology
Smartphone ownership · 2024
Context statistic
Highest of 140Sweden
97.36489%012024 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 140 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale
2Photo: Ximonic , Simo Räsänen · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3Photo: User:Aconcagua · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Lowest in 2024
- 140
Chad8.66301% - 139
Madagascar8.91160% - 138
Malawi13.68247%
Positions out of 140. Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Highest on each continent
- Africa
Algeria84.33576% - Americas
United States92.63659% - Asia
Saudi Arabia94.52670% - EuropeSweden97.36489%
- Oceania
Australia90.32507%2 of 21 measured
- Every region
02Every measured country
Smartphone ownership on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 8.66301–48.54416%
- 49.00432–69.55680%
- 70.21799–82.54803%
- 82.55897–88.30711%
- 88.68510–97.36489%
- No reading in 2024
- Europe
85.85931%
the middle country, of 38 measured · 49 members
Sweden97.36489%
Moldova71.68310%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Asia
83.28282%
the middle country, of 38 measured · 52 members
Saudi Arabia94.52670%
Pakistan32.41208%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Americas
73.21906%
the middle country, of 22 measured · 48 members
United States92.63659%
Guatemala63.06848%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Africa
45.08389%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 55 members
Algeria84.33576%Chad8.66301%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
2 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia90.32507%
New Zealand88.76195%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
19 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Northern Europe
93.79705%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Sweden97.36489%
Ireland84.98297%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
89.53427%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Hong Kong92.43101%
Japan83.33127%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
86.61822%
the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members
Saudi Arabia94.52670%
Iraq71.13711%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Southern Europe
86.27675%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
Spain92.21085%
Serbia78.60049%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Western Europe
83.58239%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Netherlands89.74072%
Switzerland79.21815%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Europe
82.54803%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Czechia88.30711%Moldova71.68310%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- South-eastern Asia
81.14236%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 11 members
Singapore92.68046%
Philippines69.00377%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- South America
72.51628%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Uruguay91.28405%
Peru63.49255%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Central America
68.38284%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica80.70503%Guatemala63.06848%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Northern Africa
66.94847%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Algeria84.33576%
Egypt55.67421%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Southern Africa
49.00432%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
South Africa67.51038%
Botswana44.70564%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Southern Asia
42.97723%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Iran73.79187%Pakistan32.41208%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Africa
41.15344%
the middle country, of 14 measured · 16 members
Gambia64.10048%
Niger18.23916%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Eastern Africa
27.43396%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 19 members
Mauritius66.34818%Madagascar8.91160%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Middle Africa
26.58354%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
Gabon59.89435%Chad8.66301%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia90.32507%New Zealand88.76195%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
2 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad and Tobago82.03716%
Dominican Republic76.47591%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan89.76232%
Tajikistan64.70364%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States92.63659%
Canada84.06384%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
140 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 78.77587%; a quarter are above 86.93883%, and a quarter below 56.70300%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 140 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Adults with no phone at all count in the denominator, so a country's smartphone share can never exceed its phone ownership. The two together show whether a gap is about owning a phone at all or about what kind of phone.
Showing 25 of 140 countries
Values for 2024.
05In this edition
Smartphone ownership in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
97.36489%
Adults whose main mobile phone is a smartphone (% of population aged 15+)
Lowest reading
8.66301%
Adults whose main mobile phone is a smartphone (% of population aged 15+)
06By sex
Inside the number
World Bank Group also publishes separate female and male readings. The gap between them, where both exist.
Of the 138 countries with both readings, the female reading is higher in 28, the male reading in 110. The widest gaps each way:
07The measure
About smartphone ownership
Smartphone ownership is the share of adults whose main phone is a smartphone, from the World Bank's Global Findex survey. Where basic phones carry calls and text-based mobile money, a smartphone is what opens the internet, apps and most digital services — so this is the sharper of the two phone measures.
What the number is: Adults whose main mobile phone is a smartphone (% of population aged 15+).
What it does not measure
Owning a smartphone is not the same as using the internet: it says nothing about data costs, coverage or how often the phone goes online.
08Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Digital & Technology, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where smartphone ownership is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Mobile Phone OwnershipWorld Bank Group · 140 countries in commonρ 0.89
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 130 countries in commonρ 0.87
- GNI per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 89 countries in commonρ 0.85
Moves against
Where smartphone ownership is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 130 countries in commonρ −0.83
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 135 countries in commonρ −0.83
- Working Poverty RateILO · 90 countries in commonρ −0.83
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 177 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
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- All statistics
10Questions
Smartphone ownership: questions and answers
Which country has the highest smartphone ownership?
Sweden, at 97.36489%, among the 140 countries compared in 2024.
Which country has the lowest smartphone ownership?
Chad, at 8.66301%, among the 140 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Smartphone Ownership cover?
140 in 2024.
What is the world average smartphone ownership?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 140 compared in 2024, the figure was 78.77587%.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Smartphone Ownership published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. From World Bank Data360 (Global Findex 2025, survey wave 2024). Female and male shares are the Bank's own. The United Arab Emirates is not included because the Bank does not publish its 2024 figures. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
11Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Smartphone Ownership — World Bank Group
From World Bank Data360 (Global Findex 2025, survey wave 2024). Female and male shares are the Bank's own. The United Arab Emirates is not included because the Bank does not publish its 2024 figures.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: World Bank. The Global Findex Database 2025. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-26.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Sweden — User:Pieter Kuiper, Public domain
- Norway — Ximonic , Simo Räsänen, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Denmark — User:Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Smartphone ownership by country: Smartphone Ownership, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/smartphone-ownership