Israel And Italy Have Cheapest Mobile Data Out Of 237 Countries

The cost of mobile data varies wildly around the world, ranging from an average $0.02 per gigabyte in Israel, to a whopping $43.75 in Zimbabwe, with the UK ranked 58th in affordability and the US coming close to the bottom of the table at 219th.

These figures come from data gathered by price comparison site Cable.co.uk, which said it looked at 5,603 mobile data plans on cellular networks in 237 countries to compare the cost of 1GB of data access.

The company has published an interactive map on its site, allowing surfers to check out the average price, the cheapest offer, and the most expensive data tariff in each country examined.

There is also a table listing the average price in every country.

Israel is perhaps the surprising winner of the lowest mobile data cost, with $0.02 per GB being the average, $0.001 the lowest, and even the highest just $0.22.

Also surprising is that the US is one of the most expensive nations on the planet for mobile data, according to Cable.co.uk, coming in at 219th of 237 countries, with an average cost of $6.00 per GB. The cheapest you can get it is a much more reasonable $0.75, but the most expensive plan will cost you an eye-watering $83.33.

• T-Mobile US exposes some customer data – but don't call it a breach
• India calls for all mobile phones to include FM radios
• £2B in UK taxpayer cash later, and still no Emergency Services Network
• MotherDuck scores $47.5m to prove scale-up databases are not quackers

The UK is much cheaper, with an average price of $0.62, a cheapest price of $0.10, while the most expensive plan at $21.23 is still enough to make the average Brit choke on their morning cuppa. However, that still leaves the UK in 58th position for affordability.

According to the data, five of the 10 most expensive countries for mobile data are in sub-Saharan Africa, while island nations also tend to be on the costly side. The British Overseas Territory of the Falklands is the second most expensive, for example, with an average price of $40.58 per GB.

Cable.co.uk said that the countries in their survey can be pigeonholed into four categories. Those with excellent infrastructure, especially 4G or 5G networks, which tend to have a low cost per gigabyte; those with heavy reliance on mobile data because of little or no fixed-line broadband availability, which also tend to be cheaper; and wealthy economies with relatively good mobile infrastructure, where data pricing tends towards the global average.

The fourth category covers countries where, although mobile data is widely available and widely used, basic or overburdened infrastructure dictates a limited-use culture. Such countries tend to be at the most expensive end of the table.

The global average figure is put at $2.61, which is an improvement from the average of $8.18 in 2019.

In a canned statement, Cable.co.uk consumer telecoms analyst Dan Howdle said: "It's encouraging to see the price of data coming down across the globe as whole, with the vast majority of countries offering 1GB of mobile data for less than USD 2.00. It's a very different picture to the one we saw in 2019." ®