Page 2 - The affordability of ICT services 2023

The affordability of ICT services 2023

Figure 1: Progress towards the Broadband Commission affordability target

Mobile broadband basket Fixed broadband basket

2022
2022
2023
2023
LDCs
LDCs

<2% 2-5% 5-10% 10-20% 20%< <2% 2-5% 5-10% 10-20% 20%<

Note: The two charts show the distribution of economies by affordability for 2022 and 2023, defined by the price of the data-only mobile-broadband
and fixed-broadband baskets as a percentage of monthly GNI per capita. The LDC component for each year is shown hatched with lines. Only those
economies that had basket data available for 2022 and 2023 for mobile broadband (188 economies) and fixed broadband (178 economies) are
considered.
Source: ITU

Assessing progress towards Regional trends
the affordability target
The affordability of broadband services varies significantly
across regions. In 2023, only a quarter of countries in
Affordability of ICT services is defined as the cost of an Africa met the 2 per cent target for the entry-level mobile-
established minimum combination of telecommunication broadband basket, while in Europe all economies except
services (the usage of Internet data, voice calls, text one met the target (Figure 2, left side).
messaging) relative to a given income. The United Nations
Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Five per cent of monthly GNI per capita is considered an
Broadband Advocacy Target 2 calls for broadband to be important threshold below which a positive association
affordable by 2025, with entry-level broadband services in is observed between falling prices and increasing
low- and middle-income countries at less than 2 per cent penetration rates (see ITU Global Connectivity Report
of monthly gross national income (GNI) per capita. Out of 2022). Encouragingly, for the data-only mobile broadband
188 economies for which data is available, a record 114 basket, no country in Europe, the Community of
economies met this target in 2023, up from 103 in 2022. Independent States (CIS), nor most countries in the
Americas, Arab States, and Asia-Pacific regions are below
Fixed-broadband subscriptions are typically shared by this threshold. In the Africa region, just over half of the
multiple members of a household, whereas an entry- economies are below the five per cent threshold for data-
level data-only mobile-broadband subscription generally only mobile broadband.
gives access to only one person, and an assessment of
the affordability of the two baskets may therefore differ. In contrast, the entry-level fixed-broadband basket
Nevertheless, when applying the same two per cent remains too expensive, except in Europe. The basket costs
threshold for the more costly fixed-broadband basket, 71 more than five per cent of the average income in about a
economies met the target in 2023, the same total as in third of the economies in the Americas, Arab States and
2022 (Figure 1). the Asia-Pacific regions, and in all but six economies of
Africa, and prices above 10 per cent were registered in 36
In 2023, only 4 out of the 46 least developed countries countries and above 20 per cent in 18 countries (Figure 2,
(LDCs) met the 2 per cent target: Angola, Bangladesh, right side).
Bhutan, and Lao P.D.R. There were a further 16 LDCs
2
where mobile-broadband cost less than 5 per cent of All five price baskets monitored by the ITU have made
monthly GNI per capita, however, LDCs represented more significant improvements in affordability since 2018.
than three quarters of economies where access to mobile The six-year trend of improving affordability was clearly
broadband services cost more than 5 per cent of GNI per impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Figure 3). From
capita. 1 2020 to 2021, the stagnating (non-promotional) basket
prices combined with a crisis-driven decline in GNI per

1 This analysis is complemented by the ICT price data visualization tool,
which provides maps, country-level tables and historical data. 2 An overview of the baskets is provided in the Methodology section.

March 2024 2