Research shows that Cyprus ranks 150th out of 155 countries, 5 places away from the most expensive mobile data in the world.
The graph created by the Visual Capitalist team uses numbers from the Cable.co.uk website database to show the average cost of a gigabyte (GB) of mobile data in 155 different countries and administrations. Despite the global reach of the "mobile economy", it is clear that there is still a way to go
to achieve real access by all citizens of the states.
Interestingly, the country in 155th place pays 30.000% more expensive mobile phone data than the country in first place, paying the cheapest mobile phone data.
Even in a saturated market, mobile networks have continued to expand. In the last five years alone, nearly a billion people have gained access to mobile data services.
Despite the growing prevalence of these networks worldwide, access costs can vary considerably from country to country - especially when it comes to the price of mobile data.
Differences in mobile phone data costs
Researchers have identified many key elements that help explain the cost of mobile data between countries:
Existing infrastructure (or lack thereof): This may seem paradoxical, but most mobile networks rely on a fixed connection. As a result, countries with existing infrastructure are able to offer mobile access plans with more data, at a cheaper price. This is true for India and Italy. Countries with little or no infrastructure rely on more expensive alternatives, such as satellites, with the cost usually being passed on to the consumer.
Dependence on mobile phone data: When mobile phone data is the main source of internet in a particular area, the adoption of this particular way of accessing the internet is almost universal. High demand usually leads to an increase in providers, an increase in competition, which in turn reduces costs for the average consumer. Kyrgyzstan is a good example.
Low data consumption: Countries with poor infrastructure tend to use less data. With mobile apps due to low demand offering smaller data limits, the total average cost per GB tends to increase. Countries like Malawi and Benin are examples of this.
Average consumer income: Relatively rich nations tend to charge more for mobile services, as the general population can generally afford it, with the average consumer paying more with the cost of mobile data services being higher. This is evident in countries such as Canada or Germany.
Cheapest countries for 1 GB of data
Even among the cheapest countries for mobile data, cost fluctuations are significant. Here's a look at the five cheapest countries for 1 GB of data:
The most expensive countries for 1 GB of data
At the other end of the spectrum, here are the five most expensive countries for a mobile gigabyte:
Cyprus follows in the next position.
One striking trend is that four in five of the most expensive mobile data countries are in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
An important factor behind the high cost of data in SSA is the lack of infrastructure. With overloaded networks, the data bundles offered in the area are generally smaller. This increases the average cost per GB compared to countries with unlimited packages.
Another factor that contributes to the high cost of SSA is the lack of competition in the market. In countries with multiple competing networks, such as Nigeria, data costs are declining.
Source: Sigmalive