Page 12 - Measuring digital development The affordability of ICT services 2024

The affordability of ICT services

Figure 3: Affordability trends by income groups (basket prices as a % of GNI per
capita)
Low income Lower-middle income Upper-middle income High-income
60

50
Fixed broadband

Mobile data & voice high
40 consumption
Mobile data & voice low
consumption
30 Data-only mobile
broadband
Mobile cellular low-usage
20

10
2% target
0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Note: Income groups correspond to the World Bank’s 2024 classification� Median values shown in the chart
were calculated as a percentage of GNI per capita for the set of economies for which data were available for
all years between 2018 and 2024 for a given basket to adjust the effect of changing data availability�
Source: ITU
Figure 3 shows that in high-income economies, cellular low-usage) to 13.3 per cent (mobile
the fixed-broadband basket cost only 1 per cent data and voice high-consumption). At 29.2
of GNI per capita in 2024, while the four mobile per cent, the fixed-broadband basket is totally
baskets were between 0.4 and 0.6 per cent. unaffordable to most people.
In upper-middle-income countries, the fixed-
broadband basket stood at 2.6 per cent of GNI Encouragingly, affordability improved for all
per capita, above the Broadband Commission baskets and all income groups. As progress
target, while the four mobile baskets ranged was more pronounced among lower-income
from 1 to 1.7 per cent. Affordability is already a groups, the affordability gap between income
barrier to connectivity in lower-middle-income groups shrank. For the mobile data and voice
countries, where only the entry-level mobile high-consumption basket, for instance, the
basket (1.5 per cent) was below the target, affordability gap between high-income and
while the other four baskets ranged from 2 to low-income countries decreased from 50.1
6.4 per cent. In low-income countries, mobile percentage points in 2018 to 12.7 percentage
basket costs ranged from 6.2 per cent (mobile points in 2024.

6