Fixed telephone subscriptions in South Africa
South Africa: Fixed telephone subscriptions was 1.58 per 100 people in 2024. ▲ Rising
Fixed telephone subscriptions in South Africa, 1960–2024
Source: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Measured in per 100 people.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 1.58 per 100 people for fixed telephone subscriptions in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 65 years on record.
That represents a change of down 26.1% on the previous year and down 75.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, fixed telephone subscriptions in South Africa peaked at 11.8 per 100 people in 1999 and was at its lowest, 1.58 per 100 people, in 2024.
South Africa ranks 163rd of 213 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.87 per 100 people | 3.8 per 100 people | 3.93 per 100 people | 10 |
| 1970s | 4.49 per 100 people | 4.1 per 100 people | 5.25 per 100 people | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.79 per 100 people | 5.54 per 100 people | 7.97 per 100 people | 10 |
| 1990s | 9.28 per 100 people | 8.14 per 100 people | 11.8 per 100 people | 10 |
| 2000s | 9.95 per 100 people | 9.41 per 100 people | 10.52 per 100 people | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.37 per 100 people | 3.4 per 100 people | 9.29 per 100 people | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.34 per 100 people | 1.58 per 100 people | 3.47 per 100 people | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More infrastructure data for South Africa
- Fixed telephone subscriptions 1.01 million (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions 179.34 per 100 people (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions 114.79 million (2024)
- Air transport, passengers carried 15.45 million (2023)
- Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide 169,154 (2023)
- Air transport, freight 59.67 million ton-km (2023)
- Renewable internal freshwater resources, total 44.8 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita 718.2 cubic meters (2022)
- Individuals using the Internet 78.4% (2024)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, domestic 17.4% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is fixed telephone subscriptions in South Africa?
- Fixed telephone subscriptions in South Africa was 1.58 per 100 people in 2024, according to World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
- What is the highest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 11.8 per 100 people in 1999.
- What is the lowest fixed telephone subscriptions recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.58 per 100 people in 2024.
- How does South Africa rank for fixed telephone subscriptions?
- South Africa ranks 163rd out of 213 countries with data for 2024.
- Is fixed telephone subscriptions rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 75.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
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.