Mobile Phone Ownership and Usage

According to the latest figures from TGI, mobile phone ownership levels in Sweden are considerably higher than any other country, at 88% - Great Britain is second with 78% and Japan third with 74%. The study looked at 15 markets.

The Swedish figure is influenced by the fact that a relatively large proportion of people (almost a fifth of all adults) own a mobile for work purposes, which is paid for by their employer. Almost half of the country's mobile phone owners (43%) use them to make calls at least once a day, and 16% send SMS messages daily - relatively high usage versus the global norm. Sweden is also home to leading manufacturer Ericsson.

Growth markets are identified in Eastern Europe: in Romania , just over a third of people (36%) own a mobile phone, and in Russia under a quarter (22%), but ownership levels are growing at a rapid pace 28% in the last year in Romania). In Germany, ownership at 54% is low for Western Europe but use of features is high: for example, 75% of people who have a text messaging facility say they use it, compared with 71% in Britain, 68% in France and 65% in Spain . MMS / picture messaging capability is also very popular in Germany, and 42% of German owners claim to take advantage of SMS text information services, compared with just 7% in Britain.

In almost all the 15 markets, ownership of mobile phones is most common among young people (18-24 years): 96% of 18-24 years olds in Sweden and 88% in Germany are owners. The exceptions are China and Puerto Rico, where mobile phone penetration is highest amongst people aged 25-34 years, and the US which is the only market where ownership is higher among people aged 35-44 (64%) than those in the youngest age bracket (61%).

In 14 of the 15 markets analysed, men are more likely to be mobile phone owners than women: most pronouncedly in Turkey where 58% of men own a mobile compared with just 28% of women. The exception is the US where, by a small margin, a greater proportion of women own a mobile.



TGI can be found online at www.tgisurveys.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.