The number of mobile phone subscriptions has skyrocketed over the past 12 years. Fewer than 1 billion mobile subscriptions were active in 2000, while there are six billion subscriptions active today. Last year alone, mobile users downloaded more than 30 billion apps.

Additionally, the vast majority of today’s mobile subscriptions (5 billion) are in developing countries, a sign of mobile technology’s importance in countries which haven’t gone through the expensive and difficult process of building land-based communications infrastructure.


“The challenge now is to enable people, businesses, and governments in developing countries to develop their own locally-relevant mobile applications so they can take full advantage of these opportunities.”


“Mobile communications offer major opportunities to advance human and economic development –- from providing basic access to health information to making cash payments, spurring job creation, and stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes,” said World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte in a statement.