Telecoms comparison site
Cable.co.uk has looked at the cost of using 1GB of mobile data in 230 countries, analysing over 6,000 mobile data plans. It says Israel is the cheapest country for mobile data, with 1GB costing an average 0.05 US dollars (4p). The dearest place is Equatorial Guinea, where mobile data is almost a thousand times more expensive at $49.67/GB.
Kyrgyzstan was in second place, with 1GB costing an average $0.15, and Fiji was third at $0.19/GB.
The UK ranks 78th; 1GB of mobile data here costs an average $1.42 (£1.04), less than half the price of data in the USA ($3.33/GB) but significantly more than Italy, which has Europe’s cheapest mobile data ($0.27/GB).
Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at Cable.co.uk, said “Many of the cheapest countries in which to buy mobile data fall roughly into one of two categories. Some have excellent mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure and so providers are able to offer large amounts of data, which brings down the price per gigabyte. Others with less advanced broadband networks are heavily reliant on mobile data and the economy dictates that prices must be low, as that’s what people can afford.”
Cable.co.uk collected the data from companies in each country offering SIM-only mobile plans.
The figures refer a collection period between 8th December 2020 and 25th February 2021.