How Many 5G Subscribers in the World?

There are an estimated 1.48 billion 5G subscribers in the world.
By 2028, 4.6 billion people will have a 5G subscription.
Saudi Arabia 5G networks reach spectacular download speeds of over 400Mbps.

How many 5G subscribers are there in the world? What is the breakdown of people who subscribe to 5G by country? In which countries can you get the fastest 5G networks? Well, we’re going to dive into the 5G phenomenon and bring you some hard numbers to go by. We will take a close look at how widespread 5G technology is and how it is expected to grow in the coming years.

You can find out how many 5G subscribers there are in the world by country.
The data will show what percentage of people have 5G as opposed to 4G and 3G.

Gone are the days of dial-up and we’ve lost the patience to wait long minutes for a page to load. Now we want our internet to be fast and reliable and any delay gets on our nerves. Thankfully, 5G is here to provide significantly faster data speeds even when compared to 4G, with download speeds being anywhere from 10 to 100 times faster. For obvious reasons, choosing a 5G network is preferable, but it’s just not available everywhere, unfortunately.

How Many 5G Subscribers in the World By Country

According to data from 2022, there were nearly 951 million 5G subscribers in the world, but 2023 projections indicated a 50% jump to 1.48 billion users. For 2023, we see a high number of 5G subscribers in the North East Asia region, as well as North America, which comes in second.

The forecasts for the next five years, however, indicate a serious spike in 5G subscribers in other areas too. So much, in fact, that the North America region falls completely off the chart, going from second place to sixth.

FORECAST NUMBER OF MOBILE 5G SUBSCRIPTIONS WORLDWIDE BY REGION FROM 2019 TO 2028
	India, Nepal, Bhutan	South East Asia & Oceania	North East Asia	Central & Eastern Europe	Western Europe	North America	Latin America	Middle East & Africa
2019		0.11	9.82	0.03	1.07	1.07		0.59
2020		1.22	134.81	0.12	5.5	13.97	1.33	1.47
2021		9.29	397.17	1.32	31.93	54.55	3.49	11.87
2022	9.99	25.5	643.07	4.79	69.07	166.03	7.06	25.4
*2023	60.53	49	881.09	14.39	143.31	252.31	21.76	58.11
*2024	110.29	88	1101.46	37.21	233.6	307.75	59.24	111.04
*2025	199.82	141	1267.86	74.11	319.68	347.62	113.17	175.34
*2026	325.48	214	1397.32	120.23	385.56	374.76	180.35	250.22
*2027	498.32	313	1511.96	173.08	443.14	397.07	253.32	331.76
*2028	699.84	433	1615.39	229.4	491.79	405.4	328.04	421.25

The number of 5G subscribers in the North East Asia will go from 881 million to 1.6 billion in the next five years. ¹
5G popularity will also grow exponentially in India, Nepal, and Bhutan in the same five-year period, jumping from just 60 million to nearly 700 million.
Similarly, there will be an uptick of 5G users in the Middle East and Africa, where the numbers will jump from just 58 million to over 421 million.

How Many 5G Subscribers in the World By Year

NUMBER OF 5G SUBSCRIPTIONS WORLDWIDE FROM 2019 TO 2028
	Millions of 5G subscriptions
2019	12.47
2020	158.41
2021	509.62
2022	950.90
*2023	1,480.50
*2024	2,048.57
*2025	2,638.60
*2026	3,247.91
*2027	3,921.65
*2028	4,624.12

At its very start, in 2019, there were a mere 12.47 million 5G subscribers. ²
Data shows an estimated 1.48 billion worldwide subscribers in 2023.
By the end of 2028, there are expected to be around 4.6 billion 5G subscribers. ³

How Many 5G Subscribers vs 4G vs 3G

MOBILE COVERAGE RATE BY TECHNOLOGY WORLDWIDE FROM 2011 TO 2028
	5G	LTE	All 3GPP cellular technologies
2011		5%	87%
2012		10%	89%
2013		18%	90%
2014		30%	91%
2015		43%	92%
2016		56%	93%
2017		66%	93%
2018		74%	94%
2019	2%	79%	94%
2020	15%	83%	95%
2021	25%	86%	95%
2022	35%	88%	95%
*2023	48%	90%	95%
*2024	59%	92%	95%
*2025	68%	94%	96%
*2026	75%	95%	96%
*2027	80%	96%	96%
*2028	84%	96%	96%

5G technology is quickly becoming more widespread across the world, having already made its debut in major cities around the globe. While 4G and 3G networks continue to serve millions of users, they are limited in comparison to the high speeds and broad connectivity that 5G has to offer. With 5G, users can enjoy faster download and upload speeds, ultra-low latency, and improved network reliability. This cutting-edge technology is expected to revolutionize the way we communicate and interact with the world around us, from improved online gaming experiences to autonomous vehicles and smarter cities.

In 2023, 5G is estimated to have reached 48% coverage rate, while 4G sits at 90% and 3G at 95%. ⁴
Within the next five years, 5G coverage is expected to reach a massive 84%. ⁵
At the same time, 3G and 4G networks will cover 96% of the world, offering better connectivity to people everywhere.
5G network growth is also somewhat limited by the costs of installation and the fact that operators are only allowed to build the 5G networks wherever they have existing cell towers and essential infrastructure. ⁶

What Percent of People Have 5G?

DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLD POPULATION FROM 1950 TO 2050
	World population in billions
1950	2.54
1955	2.77
1960	3.03
1965	3.34
1970	3.70
1975	4.08
1980	4.46
1985	4.87
1990	5.33
1995	5.74
2000	6.14
2005	6.54
2010	6.96
2015	7.38
2020	7.79
2025	8.18
2030	8.55
2035	8.89
2040	9.20
2045	9.48
2050	9.74

In 2020, the world population was estimated at 7.79 billion, while the number of 5G subscribers was of only 158 million, indicating that only about 2% of people had 5G. ⁷
For 2025, forecasts indicate there will be 8.18 billion people in the world and over 32% of then will have access to 5G (over 2.6 billion).

What Is the Forecast for 5G Subscriptions?

NUMBER OF 5G SUBSCRIPTIONS WORLDWIDE FROM 2019 TO 2028
	Millions of 5G subscriptions
2019	12.47
2020	158.41
2021	509.62
2022	950.90
*2023	1,480.50
*2024	2,048.57
*2025	2,638.60
*2026	3,247.91
*2027	3,921.65
*2028	4,624.12

In 2022, data shows the world had 950,90 million 5G subscribers. ⁸
Estimates indicate that by the end of 2023, the number of 5G subscriptions will have jumped to 1.48 billion.
The number of 5G subscribers will likely continue to increase by about 5-600 million each year, with a 2028 forecast of 4.6 billion.

How Many People Have a 5G Phone?

PERCENTAGE OF CONSUMERS WHO OWN A 5G CAPABLE SMARTPHONE IN 2022, BY SELECTED COUNTRIES
	Do not own a 5G capable smartphone	Already own a 5G capable smartphone	Intend to upgrade to a 5G subscription
Global average across 5G markets	17%	13%	30%
Algeria	20%	10%	30%
Argentina	21%	12%	33%
Australia	15%	8%	23%
Belgium	7%	4%	11%
Brazil	35%	24%	59%
Canda	14%	3%	17%
Chile	23%	17%	34%
China	9%	21%	30%
Colombia	19%	20%	39%
Finland	6%	4%	10%
France	10%	6%	16%
Germany	15%	8%	23%
Greece	16%	10%	26%
*India	21%	38%	59%
Indonesia	23%	30%	53%
Ireland	13%	6%	19%
Italy	14%	11%	25%
Japan	7%	3%	10%
Malaysia	18%	25%	43%
Mexico	28%	20%	48%
Oman	19%	13%	32%
Peru	23%	17%	40%
Portugal	17%	9%	26%
Qatar	21%	16%	37%
Romania	21%	10%	31%
Saudi Arabia	28%	20%	48%
Singapore	12%	12%	24%
South Africa	25%	17%	42%
South Korea	9%	3%	12%
Spain	15%	8%	23%
Sweden	12%	6%	18%
Switzerland	8%	5%	13%
Taiwan	8%	9%	17%
Thailand	24%	23%	47%
United Arab Emirates	29%	20%	49%
United Kingdom	14%	7%	21%
United States	14%	8%	22%

While 5G towers are rather widespread across countries, it doesn’t mean that people also have the right phone to enjoy it. On average, in 2022, only 13% of the world’s population had a 5G capable device, although 30% intended to upgrade to a 5G subscription.

Estimates also indicated, however, that smartphone companies would sell over 710 million devices with 5G capabilities in the same year.

Data shows only 8% of people in the US had a smartphone with 5G capabilities, but 22% were looking for an upgrade. ⁹
In the United Kingdom, we saw only 7% of the population owning a 5G-ready device, with 21% hoping to get one soon.
India is the country with the highest percentage of people owning a 5G smartphone – 38%, with another 59% looking forward to upgrading.
Over the years, over 870 5G smartphone models have been launched, 80 of them since the start of 2023.¹⁰

How Fast Is 5G?

AVERAGE 5G DOWNLOAD SPEED COMPARED TO 4G DOWNLOAD SPEED IN 2020, BY COUNTRY
	4G Download Speed	5G Download Speed
USA	28.9	50.9
Netherlands	57.4	79.2
Germany	30.6	102
UK	25.9	133.5
Hong Kong	24.6	142.8
Switzerland	46	150.7
Kuwait	22.4	171.5
Canada	59.4	178.1
Taiwan	32.5	210.2
Australia	42.8	215.7
South Korea	58.9	312.7
Saudi Arabia	28.9	414.2

The most spectacular 5G download speeds can be found in Saudi Arabia where data shows they can reach 414.2 Mbps, a massive difference when compared to the 28.9 Mbps 4G reaches. ¹¹
In the United States the average 5G download speeds are of 50.9 Mbps, just over the 28.9 Mbps 4G gets.
Some 5G connections are slower in some countries than in others because of low-band carrier frequencies used in the rollouts. This happened with some of the biggest US carriers, including AT&T and T-Mobile which used these frequencies to reach people farther from the towers in the detriment of speed. ¹²

Who Really Has the Most 5G Coverage?

NUMBER OF CITIES IN WHICH 5G IS AVAILABLE 2023 BY COUNTRY
	Number of cities in which 5G is available
United States	503
China	356
*Finland	137
Philippines	105
Canada	90
South Korea	85
Japan	76
Italy	65
United Kingdom	61
France	52

5G coverage is massive in the United States ¹³ when looking at the number of cities where such networks are available – 503.
Second in line is China where you can find 5G networks in 356 cities, while in third place we find Finland where there are 137 cities. ¹⁴
While the number of cities with 5G coverage may be important, the way 5G was deployed and maximum speeds in these countries is also important. While South Korea may only appear on this chart with 85 cities, download speeds are six times those in the United States.

As you can see, as 5G availability continues to grow cross across the world, more and more people decide to switch to this new technology. It also helps that 5G smartphones are more affordable and dozens of new models are coming out each year. The predictions over the next five years indicate massive growth for both 5G coverage and adoption rates.