One billion new unique mobile subscribers by 2020: report

Number of mobile users to go up from 3.6 bn to 4.6 bn, or more than half the global population, says GSMA study

At least one billion people will become mobile subscribers over the next five years, according to a report.

The new GSMA report forecast that the number of unique mobile subscribers will increase from 3.6 billion at the end of 2014 to 4.6 billion by 2020, up by four per cent per year over this period.

"A decade ago, just one in five of the global population was a mobile subscriber - we have now surpassed the 50 per cent milestone and can look forward to connecting a billion new subscribers over the next five years," said Director General of the GSMA Anne Bouverot.

By 2020, almost 60 per cent of the global population will subscribe to mobile services, up from half of the population at the end of 2014, a statement released here said.

Global subscriber growth over the next five years will therefore be concentrated in the developing world, driven by the increasing affordability of mobile devices and services.

The number of global SIM connections is forecast to grow from 7.1 billion in 2014 to 9 billion by 2020. This implies that every unique mobile subscriber will continue to account for roughly 1.8 SIM cards each, on average, during the period.

The new GSMA report, 'The Mobile Economy: 2015' was published at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In 2014, the mobile industry contributed $3 trillion to the world's economy, equivalent to 3.8 per cent of global GDP. By 2020, it is estimated that the contribution from the industry will increase to $3.9 trillion, representing 4.2 per cent of projected global GDP by this point, the report said.