The mobile penetration rate in Sub-Saharan Africa was reported as ** percent by 2021, having risen significantly since 2012. Further growth is expected for 2025, when it is expected that **** of the Sub-Saharan African population will subscribe to a mobile service.

As of February 2025, Morocco had an internet penetration of over 92 percent, making it the country with the highest internet penetration in Africa. Libya ranked second, with 88.5 percent, followed by Seychelles with over 87 percent. On the other hand, The Central African Republic, Chad, and Burundi had the lowest prevalence of internet among their population. Varying but growing levels of internet adoption Although internet usage varies significantly across African countries, the overall number of internet users on the continent jumped to around 646 million from close to 181 million in 2014. Of those, almost a third lived in Nigeria and Egypt only, two of the three most populous countries on the continent. Furthermore, internet users are expected to surge, reaching over 1.1 billion users by 2029. Mobile devices dominate web traffic Most internet adoptions on the continent occurred recently. This is among the reasons mobile phones increasingly play a significant role in connecting African populations. As of early January 2024, around 74 percent of the web traffic in Africa was via mobile phones, over 14 percentage points higher than the world average. Furthermore, almost all African countries have a higher web usage on mobile devices compared to other devices, with rates as high as 92 percent in Sudan. This is partly due to mobile connections being cheaper and not requiring the infrastructure needed for traditional desktop PCs with fixed-line internet connections.

The smartphone penetration in South Africa was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total **** percentage points. After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the penetration is estimated to reach ***** percent and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the smartphone penetration of was continuously increasing over the past years. The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population. The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

The global smartphone penetration rate was estimated at ** percent in 2024, up from 2023. This is based on an estimated *** billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide and a global population of around *** billion. Regional differences in smartphone penetration Throughout the world, the smartphone penetration rate in the general population varies greatly. For example, in North America and Europe, the smartphone adoption rate stands at roughly ** and ** percent, respectively. Whereas in Sub-Saharan Africa, the same rate only stands at ** percent as of late 2023, showing a roughly ** percent difference in adoption rates between the highest and lowest ranked regions. Global smartphone shipments The number of global smartphone shipments saw a drop in recent years. However, the number of shipments is expected to recover to previous levels in the upcoming years. Most recently, Samsung and Apple have been leading the share of smartphone shipments worldwide, with other competitors such as Xiaomi and Oppo are catching up. Most of the top contributors to the smartphone market are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, which is also the region is the one with the most smartphone sales to end users as a whole.

There were an estimated *** million smartphone subscriptions worldwide in 2024, up from *** million the previous year. This figure is expected to exceed *** million by the end of the decade.

Today about 20 to 22 million people in South Africa use a smartphone, which accounts for about one third of the country’s population. The overall number of mobile connections is much higher though with more than 90 million, as feature phones are still popular and widely used in the country and on the continent overall. The number of smartphone users is forecast to grow by more than five million though till 2023.

Samsung most popular brand in South Africa

Samsung is currently the leading mobile phone vendor in South Africa. More than 40 percent of devices in use are currently made by the Korean tech giant. The Chinese telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics manufacturer, Huawei, and US-based Apple also have a strong presence in the South African market with a share of more than 15 percent each.

Leading mobile operator: Vodacom

There are three mobile network operators in South Africa which account for about 90 percent of the overall market: Vodacom, MTN, and Cell C. Vodacom, of which British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone holds a majority stake, has the largest share of subscribers with around 40 percent. MTN and Cell C are responsible for around 30 and 17 percent of the market respectively.

The population share with mobile internet access in South Africa was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 16.7 percentage points. After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the mobile internet penetration is estimated to reach 38.27 percent and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the population share with mobile internet access of was continuously increasing over the past years.The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population having access to the internet via a mobile broadband connection.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

The number of smartphone users in Africa was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 353.1 million users (+109.45 percent). After the eighteenth consecutive increasing year, the smartphone user base is estimated to reach 675.71 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Smartphone users here are limited to internet users of any age using a smartphone. The shown figures have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of smartphone users in countries like Caribbean and Europe.

As of February 2025, Nigeria had 107 million internet users - the highest number reported all over Africa. Meanwhile, Egypt ranked second with over 96 million users. The majority of web traffic in leading digital markets in Africa originated from mobile devices - in Nigeria, one of the countries with the largest number of internet users worldwide, 86.2 percent of web traffic was generated via smartphones and roughly 13.3 percent via PC devices. This is due in part to the fact that mobile connections are much cheaper and do not require the infrastructure that is needed for traditional desktop PCs with fixed-line internet connections. Anticipating remarkable growth: Africa's internet user surge and projected milestones The projected trend for Africa indicates a consistent rise in internet users from 2024 to 2029. It will have a collective addition of 337.3 million users (equivalent to a growth of 51.79 percent). Following fifteen successive years of growth, the user count is anticipated to reach a record high of 1.1 billion by 2029. Furthermore, the online penetration rate on the continent was 43 percent – which was below the global average, measured at around 68 percent. Unveiling internet trends The region has witnessed a steady increase in internet users over the years. In January 2024, Southern Africa stood out as the African region with the most substantial internet penetration rate, reaching approximately 73.1 percent. The proportion of individuals accessing the internet in this part of Africa and Northern Africa surpassed the global average (66.2 percent). Moreover, Morocco boasted an impressive internet penetration of about 91 percent, securing its position as Africa's foremost country. Libya held the second position with a penetration rate of approximately 88 percent, followed closely by Seychelles at around 86.7 percent.

The population share with mobile internet access in Africa was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 21.7 percentage points. After the eighteenth consecutive increasing year, the mobile internet penetration is estimated to reach 46.22 percent and therefore a new peak in 2029. The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population having access to the internet via a mobile broadband connection.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the population share with mobile internet access in countries like Caribbean and Europe.

The number of smartphone users in South Africa was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 12 million users (+86.83 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the smartphone user base is estimated to reach 25.83 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of smartphone users of was continuously increasing over the past years.Smartphone users here are limited to internet users of any age using a smartphone. The shown figures have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

In 2020, South Africa had the most mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants when compared with other African countries, with approximately ****** inhabitants. This means that there is more mobile broadband subscribers in South Africa than there is inhabitants.

This statistic shows a ranking of the estimated number of mobile broadband connections per 100 inhabitants in 2020 in Africa, differentiated by country. Mobile broadband connections include cellular connections with a download speed of at least 256 kbit/s (without satellite or fixed-wireless connections). Cellular Internet-of-Things (IoT) or machine-to-machine (M2M) connections are excluded.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

Around four out of 10 people in Africa had internet access in December 2021. The online penetration rate on the continent was below the global average, measured at around 68 percent. According to Statista forecasts, the number of internet users in Africa increased to nearly 645 million in 2023, around 3.5 times more than in 2014. By 2029, over 1.1 billion individuals on the continent are expected to be connected to the internet. However, despite the rapid improvement in connectivity access, internet use in Africa remained the lowest worldwide.

The huge gap between African regions and countries

Inside Africa, internet access varies greatly. While nearly 70 percent of the population in the continent’s southern region was connected in 2023, the online penetration rate did not even reach 30 percent in both East and Central Africa. Likewise, connectivity differs drastically among countries. Morocco had an internet penetration of approximately 91 percent in 2024, the highest among African nations. On the other hand, only 11 percent of the population in The Central African Republic had access to an internet connection.

Mobile dominates web traffic in Africa

The predominant adoption of mobile devices has characterized internet use in Africa. In 2024, nearly 74 percent of the web traffic on the continent took place via mobile - more than in all other world regions. In Oceania, North America, and Europe, for instance, desktops still accounted for most of the online traffic. However, when it comes to mobile internet connectivity, Africa has been lagging behind. Below the Sahara, less than one-third of the population was connected to mobile internet services in 2021, against 55 percent worldwide.

This statistic shows a ranking of the estimated number of mobile internet users in 2020 in Africa, differentiated by country.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

The number of smartphone users in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, is forecast to grow to more than *** million by 2025. Currently, estimates from different sources put the number of smartphone users in Nigeria at roughly ** and ** million. The exact number of users is hard to pin down - however, the data found shows a strong growth outlook for the Nigerian smartphone market with user numbers to at least triple within the next five to six years. Strong population and GDP growth forecast The population and gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria are both forecast to grow steadily at an annual rate of * to * percent until 2022. Nigeria’s population is very young (average age of 18) and expected to grow to more than *** million people by 2020. Concurrently, the GDP is set to reach more than *** billion U.S. dollars by that time. The country’s telecoms industry also stands to profit from Nigeria’s overall growth due to its contribution to the country’s GDP being steady as of 2012 (*** to ** percent of annual GDP). Smartphone penetration set to rise The dynamic growth of Nigeria’s economy and population is set to impact the development of the country’s mobile market as well. There are around *** million mobile subscriptions in Nigeria. But currently, only around ** to ** percent of the population is using a smartphone. The majority of mobile users are still using feature phones which offer basic phone functions like voice calling and text messaging. Smartphone penetration is set to grow though to around ** percent by 2025, presenting strong growth opportunities for feature phone and smartphone manufacturers alike. At present, Samsung is the leading smartphone vendor in Nigeria. Although, Chinese manufacturers like Tecno, Itel (Hong Kong), and Infinix (Hong Kong) are also holding strong positions in the market.

This statistic illustrates the penetration rate of smartphones in the Middle East and Africa in 2016, by country. During the measured time period, the penetration rate of smartphones in the United Arab Emirates was approximately ** percent.

As of January 2024, the majority of web traffic in major African markets was via mobile. Sudan was ranked first, with almost ** percent of web traffic being generated via mobile during the most recently measured month. Chad was ranked second with ***** percent mobile traffic share. On the other hand, in only one African country was mobile web traffic lower than ** percent of the share, namely The Republic of Congo.

As of the third quarter of 2024, South Africa was the leading country in Africa in the adoption of mobile payment methods. In this country, around **** percent of internet users made mobile payments on a monthly basis. Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt followed, with **** percent, ** percent, and **** percent of internet users, respectively. In that year, the global average stood at ** percent.

By 2030, the share of smartphones as a percentage of total connections in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) was forecasted to reach ** percent, up from ** percent in 2023. Previous reports from the same source stated that the sim connection penetration rate in the region was forecasted to reach *** percent of the population by 2025.