Countries with higher economic output tend to have more mobile subscriptions.
Comparing Mobile cellular subscriptions with Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (constant 2015 US$) across 190 countries, 2023–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.81
- Holding size constant
- +0.42
- Countries compared
- 190
- Period
- 2023–2025
What might link these
Economic activity (GVA) may drive demand for mobile services, infrastructure investment, or digital inclusion. However, the drop in correlation after controlling for GDP suggests population size and wealth are major drivers.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. Correlation does not imply causation; other factors like infrastructure quality or policy could influence both indicators.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.