The Mobile Economy 2021

Please sign in or register for a free public account to access this report.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the health and livelihoods of individuals and communities around the world. Mobile has been particularly instrumental during this period, keeping people connected and underpinning new services in response to the pandemic. This includes enabling people to work and learn remotely, supporting innovative health solutions and providing a platform for people to access digital financial services.
By the end of 2020, 5.2 billion people subscribed to mobile services. There will be nearly half a billion new subscribers by 2025, most of which will come from Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2020, mobile technologies and services generated $4.4 trillion of economic value added globally. This figure will grow by $480 billion by 2025 to nearly $5 trillion as countries increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the increased take-up of mobile services. 5G is also expected to benefit all economic sectors of the global economy during this period.
The launch of commercial 5G services in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa over the last year means that the technology is now available in every region of the world. The pandemic has had little impact on 5G momentum; in some instances, it has even resulted in operators speeding up their network rollouts, with governments and operators looking to boost capacity at a time of increased demand. By the end of 2025, 5G will account for just over a fifth of total mobile connections. Meanwhile, 4G still has significant headroom for growth, especially in developing regions. Adoption of the technology is expected to peak at just under 60% by 2023 as 5G begins to gain traction in new markets.
Related research
The Mobile Economy China 2025
Mobile is a powerful engine behind China’s economy, driving growth across industries, creating jobs and boosting GDP. As 5G technology matures, China is positioning itself as a global leader through rapid infrastructure deployment, including the transition to 5G-Advanced, and the integration of 5G-enabled solutions across the economy.
What did operators focus on at MWC Barcelona 2025?
GSMA Intelligence's Chart of the Month is a visual way of telling an important story in the mobile and broader tech ecosystem. From the shape and size of markets to trends in consumer behaviour, we aim to provide food for thought through informative visuals designed to bring colour and clarity to complex issues facing the industry. This edition looks at which topics telecoms operators focused on at MWC Barcelona 2025.
Operators at MWC Barcelona 2025: innovations, strategies and messaging
This report examines operators’ engagement at MWC Barcelona 2025, highlighting their announcements, innovations, strategy updates and messaging, in addition to examining implications for telecoms ecosystem players. We show our findings for 18 major operators across 12 areas of focus, including AI, 5G, B2B and B2C, cloud/edge and emerging tech such as APIs and non-terrestrial networks.
Authors
How to access this report
Annual subscription: Subscribe to our research modules for comprehensive access to more than 200 reports per year.
Enquire about subscriptionContact our research team
Get in touch with us to find out more about our research topics and analysis.
Contact our research teamMedia
To cite our research, please see our citation policy in our Terms of Use, or contact our Media team for more information.
Learn moreRelated research
The Mobile Economy China 2025
Mobile is a powerful engine behind China’s economy, driving growth across industries, creating jobs and boosting GDP. As 5G technology matures, China is positioning itself as a global leader through rapid infrastructure deployment, including the transition to 5G-Advanced, and the integration of 5G-enabled solutions across the economy.
What did operators focus on at MWC Barcelona 2025?
GSMA Intelligence's Chart of the Month is a visual way of telling an important story in the mobile and broader tech ecosystem. From the shape and size of markets to trends in consumer behaviour, we aim to provide food for thought through informative visuals designed to bring colour and clarity to complex issues facing the industry. This edition looks at which topics telecoms operators focused on at MWC Barcelona 2025.
Operators at MWC Barcelona 2025: innovations, strategies and messaging
This report examines operators’ engagement at MWC Barcelona 2025, highlighting their announcements, innovations, strategy updates and messaging, in addition to examining implications for telecoms ecosystem players. We show our findings for 18 major operators across 12 areas of focus, including AI, 5G, B2B and B2C, cloud/edge and emerging tech such as APIs and non-terrestrial networks.
- 200 reports a year
- 50 million data points
- Over 350 metrics