Check out our insightful article to find out how many phone calls are made a day, which countries make the most phone calls each day, and some historical factoids relating to the legacy of the humble phone call.
This article will give you information on how many phone calls are made every day, by country, and in a general global sense.
You can find out which gender makes the most phone calls, male or female.
The article will also inform you about when the first phone call was made, who made it, and who made the first phone call on a mobile phone.
SellCell Key Findings:
Across the world, we make 13.5 billion phone calls every day, using mobile phones 1.
The average person makes or receives around eight phone calls every day, meaning that the US deals with around 2.4 billion phone calls across the 300 million cell phone users 1.
The first phone call to take place was in 1876, and we made the first mobile phone call in 1973. We now make 4.9 trillion phone calls per year, globally.
The most popular reason people make a phone call in the US is simply “just to say hello” to the person they are calling, which 26% of US adults do several times each day.
NOTE: SellCell has calculated the number of phone calls made per day by taking the number of mobile phone subscribers in a specific country (or globally) and multiplying it by the average number of phone calls per person per day, which currently stands at eight phone calls. Some people may have more than one subscription, which is why the number of active subscriptions may exceed the population of a country, in some cases.
How Many Phone Calls Are Made a Day, Globally?
We make billions of phone calls every day. Here are the figures for how many phone calls we make across the entire world.
How many phone calls are made a year?
4,927,500,000,000
4.9 trillion
How many phone calls are made a month?
405,000,000,000
405 billion
How many phone calls are made a day?
13,500,000,000
13.5 billion
How many phone calls are made an hour?
562,500,000
562.5 million
How many phone calls are made a minute?
9,375,000
9.4 million
How many phone calls are made a second?
156,250
156 thousand
Above data calculated based on average number of phone calls made per day
Across the world, we make a huge 13.5 billion phone calls every day, which is the equivalent of 4.9 trillion phone calls every year 1.
Every second, we make 156 thousand phone calls across the entire the globe.
This means we send more text messages each day than we make phone calls. According to SellCell’s text message study, we send 23 billion text messages every day.
TOTAL VOICE CALL MINUTES IN THE UNITED STATES (2005-2021)
Mobile voice call minutes in billions
2005
1495
2006
1798
2007
2119
2008
2203
2009
2275
2010
2241
2011
2296
2012
2300
2014
2455
2016
2751
2018
2389
2019
3100
2020
2900
2021
2400
In 2005, US mobile phone users made 1.4 trillion minutes worth of mobile phone calls. This number rose to 3.1 trillion minutes worth of calls in 2019, but the figure shows a decline between 2019 and 2021, when the USA made 2.4 trillion minutes worth of phone calls.
There are currently 361.62 million mobile phone subscriptions in the USA 3, which (based on the eight call per day average) means the USA makes 2.9 billion calls every day on mobile phones.
TOTAL VOICE CALL MINUTES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM (2007-2021)
Mobile voice call minutes in billions
2007
105.0
2008
119.0
2009
128.0
2010
131.0
2011
131.0
2012
132.1
2013
133.7
2014
137.3
2015
143.0
2016
151.7
2017
153.7
2018
160.7
2019
161.1
2020
189.7
2021
187.0
According to data, UK mobile phone owners made 105 billion minutes of phone calls in 2007. This number has steadily increased year-on-year, reaching 189.7 billion minutes in 2020. This figure dropped slightly in 2021, however, by 2.7 billion, with only 187 billion minutes of phone calls made that year.
The UK has 79.77 million mobile phone subscriptions 5, so using the average of eight calls per subscription per day, the UK makes 638.16 million mobile phone calls every day.
In 2009, mobile phone subscribers in China made 1.7 trillion minutes of phone calls. The number peaked in 2014, when the country made 2.9 trillion minutes of phone calls. This dropped back to 2.2 trillion in 2020, before a slight increase means China made 2.3 trillion minutes of calls in 2022.
Using the average of eight calls per day per mobile phone subscription, China makes on average 13.9 billion calls every single day, as it has 1.7 billion active phone subscriptions 7.
Back in 1999, German mobile phone owners made 32.2 billion minutes of phone calls. By 2006, this volume of calls had more than tripled to 109.9 billion minutes, and by 2020, the figure had risen to 286.2 billion minutes of calls.
Using the factor of eight average calls per person per day, and based on the 106.4 million active phone subscribers in Germany 9, a total of 851.2 million calls are made on average, every day in Germany.
According to the data shown above, Spain made 67.8 billion minutes of calls in 2007. This figure reached its highest in 2020, when there were 122.2 billion minutes of calls, before it dropped slightly to 120.2 billion minutes in 2021.
Using the average of eight calls per day per subscription, with 56.81 million mobile phone subscriptions 11, Spain makes on average 454.5 million calls every day.
*2019 figure is for the first half of that year only
In 2009, France made a total of 101.1 billion minutes of mobile phone calls. This has risen year on year; in 2014 standing at 147.1 billion minutes, and then in 2018 had reached 169.4 billion minutes of calls. Note that the 2019 figure is only for the first half of the year.
France had 72 million mobile phone subscriptions in 2013 13, so going from this figure and the average of eight calls per day per subscription, France will probably make over 576 million calls per day.
As the data above illustrates, in 2013, Italy made a total of 156.4 billion minutes of calls. By 2017, the number of calls had reached 175.8 billion. The figure peaked at 214.1 billion minutes in 2020, before dropping back down to 207.0 billion in 2021.
Using the average of eight calls per mobile phone subscription, and based on the 78.11 million mobile phone subscribers 15, we can estimate that Italy makes an average of 624.88 million calls each day.
In 2009, we can see that Turkey made 108.2 billion minutes of phone calls. This figure has grown each year, without a drop in usage below that of the previous year. By 2015, Turkey had made 222.6 billion minutes—over double that of 2009—and then in 2021 call volume hit 313.2 billion total minutes.
According to data, Turkey has 86.29 million phone subscribers 17, so with each of them making eight calls a day, that means Turkey makes a total of 690.32 million calls daily.
Data from 2014-15 shows that Mexico’s total number of call minutes dropped from 144.79 to 142.43 billion. This increased to 294.8 billion minutes in 2018. Note that the 2019 figure is for Q1-Q3 of that year only.
In terms of how many calls are made a day, with the factor of eight calls on average per mobile phone subscriber, and with a total of 123.92 million subscribers 19, we can estimate that Mexico makes approximately 991.36 million phone calls a day.
MOBILE PHONE USE BY FREQUENCY OF CALLING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Male
Female
Several times a day
49%
46%
Every day
21%
24%
Several times a week
16%
17%
At least once a week
6%
6%
At least once a month
4%
3%
Less than once a month
2%
2%
Never
1%
1%
As the chart above illustrates, it is men who make calls the most frequently, with 49% of men making calls several times a day, compared to 46% of women making calls with the same frequency.
For those who say they make a call every day, the tables turn, with 24% of women saying they do this, versus 21% of men who make one call every day.
Women also just about clinch it in terms of their call frequency, with 17% of females saying they make calls several times a week, against 16% of males who say the same thing.
1% of males and 1% of females say they never make a call, and 2% of both say they make a call less than once a month.
What Is the Average Duration of a Phone Call?
AVERAGE MOBILE CALL LENGTH IN THE UNITED STATES (1987-2012)
Call length in minutes
1987
2.33
1990
2.20
1995
2.15
2000
2.56
2001
2.74
2002
2.73
2003
3.07
2004
3.05
2005
3.00
2006
3.03
2008
2.27
2009
1.81
2010
1.79
2011
1.78
2012
1.80
The average length of a mobile phone call, in the USA, in 1987, was 2.33 minutes. By 2003, this duration rose to 3.07 minutes. This dropped to below 1987 levels in 2009, when call duration was 1.81 minutes, and this remained consistently around this duration until 2012 21.
In the UK, pre-COVID data shows that the average call duration was around 3.66 minutes in February 2020 22, which rose to almost 5.50 minutes during lockdown.
AVERAGE NUMBER OF PHONES CALL BY AGE IN THE UNITED STATES
Average number of calls per day
18-29
10
30-49
8
50-64
5
65+
3
It should come as no surprise that the age group responsible for making phone calls most frequently is 18-29; they make an average of ten calls per day.
Those aged between 30-49 are a little less chatty, and make on average eight phone calls each day, which is three calls on average more than those aged 50-64, who make five calls a day.
Those aged 65 and over make three calls on average, every day.
Why Do People Make Phone Calls: What Is the Reason for a US Mobile Phone Owner to Make a Call?
Report where you are or check on where someone else is
21%
24%
19%
17%
19%
0%
Coordinate where you are physically meeting someone
11%
15%
25%
30%
18%
0%
Have a long conversation to discuss important personal matters
9%
10%
24%
29%
28%
0%
The most popular reason for US adults to make a call, with 26% of people saying they do this several times a day, is just to say hello and have a chat with the recipient. 22% of people say they make a call for this reason once per day, and 24% say they do it a few times a week.
23% of people make several calls a day because they need to do things that are work-related, while 32% of people never have to make a phone call relating to work duties.
In terms of reporting their whereabouts, or checking someone else’s whereabouts, 21% of people make several calls a day, while 24% of people carry out this duty once per day.
Only 11% of people will make several calls a day to coordinate where they are going to physically meet someone (presumably because a text or WhatsApp message is easier for the recipient to refer to).
9% of people use the phone in order to have long conversations to discuss important personal matters; the majority of people don’t do this very often, as only 10% of people do it once per day. 28% of people claim they never have long phone conversations.
What Are People’s Attitudes Towards Cell Phones in the US?
ATTITUDES TOWARDS CELL PHONES IN THE UNITED STATES
Agree
Disagree
Both / Neither
Don’t Know
I feel safer because I can always use my cell phone to get help
91%
8%
1%
0%
I like that my cell phone makes it easy to arrange plans with other people
88%
10%
1%
0%
I think its rude when someone interupts a conversation or meeting to check their cell phone
86%
12%
1%
0%
I get irritated when a call or text on my cell phone interupts me
42%
53%
4%
1%
When I am bored, I use my cell phone to entertain myself
39%
60%
0%
0%
Most people like the fact that their phone provides an extra level of security, with 91% of people saying that they feel safer because they can always use their cell phone to get help.
88% of people also agree that having a cell phone means they can arrange plans with other people much more easily.
86% of US citizens think it is rude when someone interrupts a conversation or meeting to check their cell phone.
53% of people don’t care if a call or text interrupts them, but it irritates 42% of people when this happens.
39% of US individuals turn to their phone when they are bored, as a form of entertainment, but 60% don’t see the entertainment value of their phone.
When Was the First Phone Call Made?
The first ever phone call (made on a landline phone as it significantly predates mobile phones) took place on the 7th March 1876 26.
Alexander Graham Bell made the call; we credit him with patenting the first telephone, although there is conjecture as to whether the idea was actually his… 27
The first mobile phone call took place on April 3rd, 1973 28, and Marty Cooper placed the call.
With the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook, Google, iPhone, and myriad other voice and video call services on offer at all times, it might seem that the traditional “phone call” doesn’t have much fight left in it. However, looking at the data above, it seems that we are still making a heck of a lot of phone calls every day.
So, it is unlikely that picking up the phone for a quick chat will fall out of favor just yet, but as we are given more and more options, the good old phone call could soon find it is replaced by something we would consider a little more modern; after all, when Alexander Graham Bell patented the first telephone, it is doubtful he was thinking that one day we’d be able to see the person we are conversing with, too!
