Fixed telephone subscriptions in North America
North America: Fixed telephone subscriptions was 23 per 100 people in 2025. ▲ Rising
Fixed telephone subscriptions in North America, 1960–2025
Source: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Measured in per 100 people.
Analysis
In 2025, fixed telephone subscriptions in North America stood at 23 per 100 people. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
The figure is down 4.2% on the previous year and down 40.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, fixed telephone subscriptions in North America peaked at 68.15 per 100 people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 23 per 100 people, in 2025.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 28.03 per 100 people | 26.52 per 100 people | 30.35 per 100 people | 10 |
| 1970s | 36.25 per 100 people | 32.72 per 100 people | 41.22 per 100 people | 10 |
| 1980s | 48.67 per 100 people | 42.1 per 100 people | 53.7 per 100 people | 10 |
| 1990s | 60.11 per 100 people | 54.91 per 100 people | 67.8 per 100 people | 10 |
| 2000s | 59.58 per 100 people | 50.16 per 100 people | 68.15 per 100 people | 10 |
| 2010s | 39.93 per 100 people | 32 per 100 people | 48.7 per 100 people | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.4 per 100 people | 23 per 100 people | 30.5 per 100 people | 6 |
More infrastructure data for North America
- Fixed telephone subscriptions 89.00 million (2025)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions 112 per 100 people (2025)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions 434.00 million (2025)
- Air transport, passengers carried 1.03 billion (2023)
- Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide 10.35 million (2023)
- Air transport, freight 44,799 million ton-km (2023)
- Renewable internal freshwater resources, total 5,668 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita 15,198 cubic meters (2022)
- Individuals using the Internet 95.6% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, domestic 13.2% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is fixed telephone subscriptions in North America?
- Fixed telephone subscriptions in North America was 23 per 100 people in 2025, according to World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
- What is the highest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 68.15 per 100 people in 2000.
- What is the lowest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 23 per 100 people in 2025.
- Is fixed telephone subscriptions rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 40.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), published as part of Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Fixed telephone subscriptions refers to the sum of active number of analogue fixed telephone lines, voice-over-IP (VoIP) subscriptions, fixed wireless local loop (WLL) subscriptions, ISDN voice-channel equivalents and fixed public payphones.