“Time is money,” they say. Depending on where in the world you are, data can be expensive, too.
But when judging the value of a country’s mobile data plans, you need to take all three variables into account. What use is cheap data if you spend minute after minute waiting for it to load?
It’s a question many of us asked as the world slowed down for the COVID-19 pandemic. If you thought your mobile connection had symptoms of coronavirus, you were right: the whole world got bored and went online at the same moment. Mobile broadband speeds fell to half their regular speed in the area around Wuhan, China in January 2020. Two months later, New York’s broadband connections slowed by a quarter.
However, data is getting faster in general. The average mobile download speed rose from 22.81 Mbps to 27.69 Mbps in the 12 months up to July 2019. And 5G promises to deliver speeds over 1 Gigabit per second.
To figure the state of play, Top Dollar gathered the cost and speed of mobile data in every country. They compared the price to Mbps (megabits per second) to find the best value around the world and price-per-1GB to average local income to see where mobile data is most affordable.
Top Dollar collected the data on the price of 1GB of mobile data from Cable, national net income per capita from World Bank, and download speed of mobile data from SpeedTest. in May 2021.
Which countries get the best and worst value mobile data?
Based on a 10GB plan, people in Israel enjoy the best value mobile data in the world, paying once cent per 1Mbps download speed. Data is often 2G in the less populated areas of Namibia, with 3G only becoming available in bigger towns. Moreover, they pay over $11 for it.
Which countries get the best value mobile data?
Rank
Country
Value, $
1
Israel
0.01
2
China
0.03
3
Italy
0.06
4
Australia
0.06
5
France
0.06
6
Kyrgyzstan
0.06
7
Kuwait
0.07
8
Fiji
0.07
9
Moldova
0.08
10
Denmark
0.09
Which countries get the worst value mobile data?
Rank
Country
Value, $
1
Namibia
11.36
2
Syria
3.20
3
Cuba
2.82
4
Panama
2.34
5
Tajikistan
1.89
6
Colombia
1.58
7
Ivory Coast
1.43
8
Czech Republic
1.40
9
Paraguay
1.33
10
Afghanistan
1.24
Which countries get the most and least affordable mobile data?
People in Israel get the most affordable data in the world. It costs just 0.02% of the average monthly paycheck to buy a 10GB mobile data plan. Meanwhile, in Malawi, the cost of mobile data equates to a shocking 841.78% of the average monthly wage.
Which countries get the most affordable mobile data?
Rank
Country
% of the average monthly wage
1
Israel
0.02
2
Italy
0.12
3
France
0.15
4
Denmark
0.18
5
Australia
0.20
6
Iceland
0.26
7
Singapore
0.27
8
Finland
0.29
9
Kuwait
0.30
10
Austria
0.34
Which countries get the least affordable mobile data?
Rank
Country
% of the average monthly wage
1
Malawi
841.78
2
Chad
534.27
3
The central African Republic
268.25
4
Yemen
257.01
5
Sao Tome and Principe
255.21
6
Equatorial Guinea
180.52
7
Madagascar
135.88
8
Burundi
125.03
9
The Gambia
114.96
10
Togo
91.20
Key Findings
● Israel has the best value mobile data in the world: US$0.01 for 10GB data per 1Mbps download speed. ● Namibia has the worst value mobile data globally: $11.36 for 10GB data per 1Mbps download speed. ● Mobile data is also most affordable in Israel, where 10GB costs the equivalent of 0.02% of the average monthly paycheck. ● Malawi has the least affordable mobile data globally, with 10GB costing 841.78% of the average monthly paycheck. ● Israel and China Among Countries with Fastest, Cheapest Mobile Data
