UK Ranked 136th Out of 230 Countries for its High Mobile Data Price
A new study has analysed information from 6,313 mobile data plans across 230 countries in order to compare the cost of 1GB (Gigabyte) of mobile data (mobile broadband) around the entire world. Sadly the United Kingdom ranked a “disappointing” 136th with an average price in USD of $6.66 (£5) per Gigabyte.
The research, which was conducted by Cable.co.uk between 23rd October and 28th November 2018, found that India is the cheapest country in which to buy mobile data because the average cost of 1GB is just $0.26. On the flip side Zimbabwe in Africa came out as the most expensive ($75.20). Overall the average cost for a single Gigabyte of data across all countries was measured as $8.53 (£6.48).
Meanwhile the United States (USA) came out as one of the most expensive developed nations for purchasing mobile data, ranking just 182nd in the world and with an average 1GB cost of $12.37. Separately the report also noted that the UK was one of the most expensive countries in Europe for mobile data, which seems to contradict last week’s study from the European Commission (here).
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However we note the EC’s study examined a wider cross section of plans and used a grouped comparison (comparing like-for-like between plans as closely as possible). By comparison today’s study adopted a simple mean average for consumer SIM-Only and pure Mobile Broadband plans, with the average monthly cost of 1GB of data for each country as a whole being calculated by totalling the price of a gigabyte in each plan recorded (e.g. a 10GB SIM with a cost of $30 would be calculated at $3 per Gigabyte).
The results table below also includes an additional column to show the cheapest 1GB plan for each country. In this order the UK actually comes out as $0.26 per Gigabyte, which ranks us just 25th overall (considerably better than just looking at the average across various operators and plans for the whole market).
In the handful of cases where only “unlimited data” deals are available in a certain country, the average data usage, per user, in that country was used to calculate the cost of 1GB. We are thus unclear how Cable.co.uk might have factored “unlimited” plans more generally into their study, such as Three UK’s various “all-you-can-eat” data options.
| Rank | Country | Plans | Avg. Price of 1GB | Cheapest 1GB |
| 1 | India | 57 | $0.26 | $0.02 |
| 2 | Kyrgyzstan | 12 | $0.27 | $0.08 |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 26 | $0.49 | $0.28 |
| 4 | Ukraine | 12 | $0.51 | $0.21 |
| 5 | Rwanda | 36 | $0.56 | $0.04 |
| 6 | Sudan | 35 | $0.68 | $0.29 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 38 | $0.78 | $0.22 |
| 8 | Mongolia | 26 | $0.82 | $0.41 |
| 9 | Myanmar | 11 | $0.87 | $0.65 |
| 10 | Congo (Democratic Republic of) | 31 | $0.88 | $0.05 |
| 11 | Israel | 25 | $0.90 | $0.11 |
| 12 | Russian Federation | 31 | $0.91 | $0.14 |
| 13 | Bangladesh | 53 | $0.99 | $0.18 |
| 14 | Finland | 20 | $1.16 | $0.30 |
| 15 | Malaysia | 60 | $1.18 | $0.24 |
| 16 | Monaco | 3 | $1.21 | $0.90 |
| 17 | Indonesia | 60 | $1.21 | $0.13 |
| 18 | Bhutan | 37 | $1.25 | $0.51 |
| 19 | Iran | 36 | $1.28 | $0.38 |
| 20 | Vietnam | 41 | $1.31 | $0.06 |
| 21 | Poland | 57 | $1.32 | $0.13 |
| 22 | Denmark | 24 | $1.36 | $0.36 |
| 23 | Cambodia | 36 | $1.49 | $0.17 |
| 24 | Egypt | 37 | $1.49 | $0.48 |
| 25 | Ghana | 54 | $1.56 | $0.34 |
| 26 | Afghanistan | 46 | $1.60 | $0.66 |
| 27 | Armenia | 29 | $1.65 | $0.61 |
| 28 | Morocco | 34 | $1.66 | $0.58 |
| 29 | Western Sahara | 34 | $1.66 | $0.58 |
| 30 | Cameroon | 36 | $1.71 | $0.34 |
| 31 | Italy | 44 | $1.73 | $0.18 |
| 32 | Jordan | 49 | $1.79 | $0.42 |
| 33 | Pakistan | 58 | $1.85 | $0.29 |
| 34 | Chile | 60 | $1.87 | $0.73 |
| 35 | Dominican Republic | 9 | $1.88 | $1.42 |
| 36 | Austria | 59 | $1.88 | $0.28 |
| 37 | Romania | 19 | $1.89 | $0.13 |
| 38 | Guinea | 27 | $1.94 | $1.20 |
| 39 | Burundi | 31 | $2.00 | $0.37 |
| 40 | Kuwait | 36 | $2.01 | $0.06 |
| 41 | Lithuania | 11 | $2.06 | $0.63 |
| 42 | Palestine, State of | 30 | $2.06 | $0.20 |
| 43 | Slovenia | 28 | $2.21 | $0.08 |
| 44 | Nigeria | 57 | $2.22 | $0.26 |
| 45 | Nepal | 27 | $2.25 | $0.32 |
| 46 | Zambia | 45 | $2.25 | $0.42 |
| 47 | Turkey | 56 | $2.25 | $0.58 |
| 48 | Belarus | 25 | $2.36 | $0.31 |
| 49 | Lesotho | 30 | $2.43 | $0.68 |
| 50 | Australia | 56 | $2.47 | $0.11 |
| 51 | Peru | 23 | $2.48 | $1.57 |
| 52 | Réunion | 12 | $2.51 | $0.41 |
| 53 | Azerbaijan | 35 | $2.69 | $0.23 |
| 54 | Kenya | 54 | $2.73 | $0.28 |
| 55 | Thailand | 59 | $2.78 | $0.80 |
| 56 | Uruguay | 41 | $2.80 | $0.40 |
| 57 | Moldova | 15 | $2.82 | $0.78 |
| 58 | Bahrain | 20 | $2.83 | $1.81 |
| 59 | Tunisia | 37 | $2.87 | $0.31 |
| 60 | Ethiopia | 8 | $2.91 | $2.11 |
| 61 | Niger | 45 | $2.92 | $1.38 |
| 62 | France | 49 | $2.99 | $0.17 |
| 63 | Guernsey | 23 | $3.05 | $0.48 |
| 64 | Argentina | 36 | $3.05 | $0.65 |
| 65 | Åland Islands | 6 | $3.10 | $1.13 |
| 66 | Mauritania | 14 | $3.12 | $1.22 |
| 67 | Philippines | 19 | $3.16 | $0.95 |
| 68 | Albania | 33 | $3.22 | $0.68 |
| 69 | Uzbekistan | 56 | $3.27 | $0.43 |
| 70 | Senegal | 21 | $3.28 | $0.29 |
| 71 | Georgia | 36 | $3.33 | $0.32 |
| 72 | Madagascar | 26 | $3.39 | $0.80 |
| 73 | Lao People’s Democratic Republic | 37 | $3.42 | $0.29 |
| 74 | Brazil | 27 | $3.50 | $1.50 |
| 75 | Fiji | 14 | $3.57 | $0.47 |
| 76 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 20 | $3.58 | $0.49 |
| 77 | Malawi | 18 | $3.59 | $1.37 |
| 78 | Macedonia | 37 | $3.62 | $0.57 |
| 79 | Sweden | 58 | $3.66 | $0.37 |
| 80 | Estonia | 31 | $3.67 | $0.45 |
| 81 | Singapore | 37 | $3.67 | $0.37 |
| 82 | Mauritius | 11 | $3.71 | $1.75 |
| 83 | Liberia | 35 | $3.75 | $0.60 |
| 84 | Iceland | 23 | $3.78 | $0.26 |
| 85 | Spain | 56 | $3.79 | $0.77 |
| 86 | Jersey | 30 | $3.82 | $0.52 |
| 87 | Ireland | 24 | $3.95 | $0.65 |
| 88 | Hong Kong | 51 | $4.00 | $1.01 |
| 89 | Côte d’Ivoire | 11 | $4.10 | $2.30 |
| 90 | Syria | 29 | $4.14 | $0.51 |
| 91 | Cape Verde | 13 | $4.25 | $2.56 |
| 92 | Montenegro | 13 | $4.26 | $0.64 |
| 93 | Luxembourg | 17 | $4.39 | $0.45 |
| 94 | Timor-Leste | 25 | $4.48 | $2.50 |
| 95 | Guatemala | 19 | $4.53 | $1.43 |
| 96 | El Salvador | 27 | $4.55 | $1.33 |
| 97 | Belize | 34 | $4.57 | $2.56 |
| 98 | Qatar | 21 | $4.62 | $1.10 |
| 99 | Jamaica | 23 | $4.64 | $1.86 |
| 100 | Burkina Faso | 34 | $4.69 | $1.72 |
| 101 | Uganda | 51 | $4.69 | $0.88 |
| 102 | Serbia | 36 | $4.83 | $0.34 |
| 103 | Tajikistan | 34 | $4.84 | $1.05 |
| 104 | Macau | 39 | $4.84 | $1.78 |
| 105 | Libya | 13 | $4.87 | $1.20 |
| 106 | Croatia | 38 | $4.89 | $0.46 |
| 107 | Czech Republic | 22 | $4.91 | $1.76 |
| 108 | Sint Maarten | 26 | $4.92 | $1.11 |
| 109 | Vanuatu | 16 | $4.94 | $3.39 |
| 110 | Guinea-Bissau | 7 | $4.96 | $2.10 |
| 111 | American Samoa | 11 | $4.97 | $3.89 |
| 112 | Honduras | 16 | $5.02 | $2.48 |
| 113 | Costa Rica | 18 | $5.04 | $2.72 |
| 114 | Algeria | 21 | $5.15 | $0.48 |
| 115 | Brunei Darussalam | 9 | $5.25 | $2.29 |
| 116 | Maldives | 16 | $5.27 | $2.59 |
| 117 | Colombia | 57 | $5.28 | $0.72 |
| 118 | Gambia | 20 | $5.33 | $2.45 |
| 119 | São Tomé and Príncipe | 19 | $5.33 | $1.38 |
| 120 | Panama | 29 | $5.56 | $2.00 |
| 121 | Slovakia | 32 | $5.56 | $0.82 |
| 122 | Saudi Arabia | 42 | $5.62 | $0.38 |
| 123 | Congo | 41 | $5.63 | $1.23 |
| 124 | Sierra Leone | 13 | $5.79 | $3.49 |
| 125 | Gabon | 10 | $5.84 | $1.72 |
| 126 | Tanzania | 40 | $5.93 | $0.43 |
| 127 | Northern Mariana Islands | 22 | $5.99 | $1.74 |
| 128 | Central African Republic | 11 | $6.03 | $2.87 |
| 129 | Nicaragua | 32 | $6.04 | $2.45 |
| 130 | Guadeloupe | 9 | $6.06 | $0.90 |
| 131 | Suriname | 23 | $6.08 | $1.91 |
| 132 | Paraguay | 30 | $6.18 | $2.47 |
| 133 | Somalia | 24 | $6.19 | $1.60 |
| 134 | Isle of Man | 14 | $6.42 | $0.90 |
| 135 | Hungary | 18 | $6.56 | $1.51 |
| 136 | United Kingdom | 60 | $6.66 | $0.26 |
| 137 | San Marino | 6 | $6.86 | $1.54 |
| 138 | Bahamas | 16 | $6.89 | $2.00 |
| 139 | Ecuador | 18 | $6.93 | $0.65 |
| 140 | Germany | 58 | $6.96 | $1.88 |
| 141 | Latvia | 13 | $7.12 | $2.09 |
| 142 | Bulgaria | 26 | $7.15 | $0.58 |
| 143 | South Africa | 58 | $7.19 | $0.71 |
| 144 | Barbados | 35 | $7.21 | $1.83 |
| 145 | Guyana | 25 | $7.24 | $4.09 |
| 146 | Mexico | 57 | $7.38 | $2.06 |
| 147 | Saint Barthélemy (St. Barts) | 17 | $7.40 | $0.56 |
| 148 | Faroe Islands | 7 | $7.77 | $1.15 |
| 149 | Haiti | 24 | $7.91 | $0.46 |
| 150 | Angola | 13 | $7.95 | $1.91 |
| 151 | The Netherlands | 41 | $7.99 | $0.90 |
| 152 | Iraq | 24 | $8.00 | $1.46 |
| 153 | Palau | 7 | $8.34 | $3.13 |
| 154 | Japan | 60 | $8.34 | $1.04 |
| 155 | Solomon Islands | 16 | $8.37 | $6.13 |
| 156 | Martinique | 30 | $8.46 | $0.78 |
| 157 | Bolivia | 28 | $8.51 | $2.08 |
| 158 | Niue | 10 | $9.20 | $4.37 |
| 159 | Lebanon | 20 | $9.21 | $1.30 |
| 160 | Mali | 15 | $9.22 | $3.10 |
| 161 | Taiwan | 35 | $9.49 | $1.03 |
| 162 | Caribbean Netherlands | 34 | $9.57 | $2.00 |
| 163 | Saint Lucia | 25 | $9.78 | $2.33 |
| 164 | New Zealand | 42 | $9.79 | $1.91 |
| 165 | China | 28 | $9.89 | $0.87 |
| 166 | Mayotte | 8 | $10.18 | $0.90 |
| 167 | United Arab Emirates | 21 | $10.23 | $2.17 |
| 168 | Svalbard and Jan Mayen | 11 | $10.26 | $2.32 |
| 169 | Saint-Martin (France) | 29 | $10.40 | $0.56 |
| 170 | Namibia | 24 | $11.02 | $2.35 |
| 171 | Kiribati | 22 | $11.05 | $4.30 |
| 172 | Puerto Rico | 21 | $11.12 | $3.00 |
| 173 | Oman | 38 | $11.28 | $3.90 |
| 174 | Papua New Guinea | 34 | $11.51 | $6.83 |
| 175 | Grenada | 20 | $11.56 | $4.24 |
| 176 | Antigua and Barbuda | 41 | $11.71 | $1.94 |
| 177 | Togo | 3 | $11.76 | $11.49 |
| 178 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 23 | $12.00 | $3.69 |
| 179 | Canada | 60 | $12.02 | $3.73 |
| 180 | Swaziland | 45 | $12.14 | $1.58 |
| 181 | Belgium | 60 | $12.30 | $2.21 |
| 182 | United States | 32 | $12.37 | $1.50 |
| 183 | Curaçao | 25 | $12.42 | $7.72 |
| 184 | Comoros | 10 | $12.57 | $2.29 |
| 185 | Cuba | 5 | $12.58 | $11.25 |
| 186 | Aruba | 22 | $12.70 | $7.41 |
| 187 | Andorra | 10 | $12.71 | $5.83 |
| 188 | Gibraltar | 11 | $12.82 | $3.21 |
| 189 | Micronesia (Federated States of) | 7 | $12.87 | $0.83 |
| 190 | Guam | 35 | $12.97 | $1.74 |
| 191 | Virgin Islands (U.S.) | 21 | $13.10 | $2.40 |
| 192 | Norway | 49 | $13.21 | $1.27 |
| 193 | French Guiana | 28 | $13.41 | $0.57 |
| 194 | Liechtenstein | 17 | $13.95 | $3.49 |
| 195 | Portugal | 25 | $13.98 | $2.12 |
| 196 | Botswana | 15 | $14.12 | $9.01 |
| 197 | Dominica | 25 | $14.60 | $6.17 |
| 198 | Montserrat | 17 | $14.61 | $4.93 |
| 199 | Anguilla | 23 | $14.90 | $1.97 |
| 200 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 31 | $15.05 | $5.38 |
| 201 | South Korea | 15 | $15.12 | $0.47 |
| 202 | Yemen | 29 | $15.73 | $4.00 |
| 203 | Mozambique | 34 | $15.82 | $0.80 |
| 204 | Greenland | 3 | $16.79 | $12.60 |
| 205 | New Caledonia | 9 | $16.91 | $11.26 |
| 206 | Trinidad and Tobago | 7 | $17.10 | $9.79 |
| 207 | Cook Islands | 8 | $18.12 | $11.38 |
| 208 | Virgin Islands (British) | 42 | $18.55 | $5.83 |
| 209 | Malta | 29 | $18.79 | $2.26 |
| 210 | Seychelles | 23 | $19.55 | $3.66 |
| 211 | Turkmenistan | 7 | $19.81 | $10.01 |
| 212 | Switzerland | 12 | $20.22 | $8.30 |
| 213 | Cyprus | 13 | $20.25 | $6.39 |
| 214 | Benin | 16 | $20.99 | $17.24 |
| 215 | French Polynesia | 14 | $21.64 | $8.91 |
| 216 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 26 | $23.09 | $10.00 |
| 217 | Chad | 10 | $23.33 | $9.39 |
| 218 | Tonga | 8 | $25.52 | $4.43 |
| 219 | Cayman Islands | 26 | $26.79 | $3.99 |
| 220 | Wallis and Fortuna | 6 | $26.86 | $15.40 |
| 221 | Nauru | 5 | $28.13 | $12.25 |
| 222 | Tokelau | 15 | $29.96 | $17.06 |
| 223 | Samoa | 42 | $30.09 | $1.33 |
| 224 | Greece | 15 | $32.71 | $2.37 |
| 225 | Bermuda | 25 | $37.74 | $6.25 |
| 226 | Djibouti | 5 | $37.92 | $2.81 |
| 227 | Falkland Islands | 4 | $47.39 | $28.00 |
| 228 | Saint Helena | 4 | $55.47 | $51.70 |
| 229 | Equatorial Guinea | 12 | $65.83 | $27.58 |
| 230 | Zimbabwe | 37 | $75.20 | $12.50 |
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Do we have any idea if these costs are “normalised” against the earnings/cost of living in the countries?
I don’t think so. Looking at their methodology it says: “Package prices were recorded in their advertised currency, then converted to US Dollars (USD) in order to form a basis for comparison.”
I do not think it would make any difference considering there are a handful of countries ranked well above us with similar earnings/living expenses.
So it’s useless then
Seems like an excuse just to post an article.
Ah. So a couple of points.
Cable.co.uk – nothing further on that.
These are expressed in USD, no adjustment for Purchasing Power Parity. $20 US is somewhat more to someone in Bangladesh than someone here, and somewhat more here than someone in Switzerland.
These numbers seem from another planet. About a fiver per gigabyte of mobile data? Did they go for the very lowest packages they could find, completely ignoring that those include tons of calls and texts so the incremental cost of the data is actually much lower?
This is absolutely meaningless clickbait from Cable, however it is appropriate for Mark to report on these things as they do get eyeballs elsewhere and need his expert background and analysis.
There go any chances I had of a job working for cable.co.uk…