Smartphone ownership growing rapidly, but not always equally

MOBILE technology has spread rapidly around the globe, but a new Pew Research Center report finds the growth in mobile technology use to date has not been equal – either across nations or within them.

People in advanced economies are more likely to have mobile phones – smartphones in particular – and are more likely to use the internet and social media than people in emerging economies. And, even across advanced economies, smartphone ownership can vary widely by country. While around nine-in-ten or more South Korean, Israeli and Dutch people own smartphones, ownership rates are closer to six-in-ten in other developed nations like Poland, Russia and Greece.

In emerging economies, smartphone ownership rates also vary substantially, from highs of 60 percent in South Africa and Brazil to just around four-in-ten in Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria. Among the countries surveyed in the new report, ownership is lowest in India, where only 24 percent report having a smartphone.

Younger people in every country surveyed are much more likely to have smartphones, access the internet and use social media. In all the advanced economies surveyed, large majorities under the age of 35 own a smartphone. And while fewer young adults own smartphones in emerging economies, their ownership rates have increased substantially over the last five years.

These are among the major findings from a Pew Research Center survey conducted among 30,133 people in 27 countries from May 14 to Aug. 12, 2018. Additional key findings in the report include:

Smartphone age gap shrinks in many nations, widens in others: In many of the advanced economies surveyed, the age gap in smartphone ownership has been closing since 2015. Two factors may contribute to this narrowing gap: First, those under 35 were already very likely to own smartphones when asked in 2015, presenting a “ceiling” of sorts. Second, the older age group appears to be steadily adopting smartphone technology. For example, nine-in-ten or more Americans ages 34 and under have had a smartphone since 2015, while the ownership rate among the 50-and-older age group has risen from 53% to 67% over the same period. In most emerging economies, however, the age gap in smartphone ownership has been growing in recent years. In the Philippines, those 34 and under are 47 percentage points more likely to have a smartphone today than those ages 50 and older – compared with a gap of only 23 points in 2015.

In emerging economies, internet use is growing rapidly: Internet use is growing rapidly in the emerging economies surveyed. For example, five years ago less than half of the Mexican public (45 percent) and only about a third of Filipinos (34 percent) used the internet at least occasionally or owned a smartphone. Today, internet use in these countries stands at 73 percent and 66 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, internet use is nearly universal in most advanced economies surveyed. In the United States, Sweden, Australia, the Netherlands, Israel and South Korea, more than nine-in-ten use the internet. And in emerging economies, about half or more use the internet in every country but India.

In most countries, men and women are equally likely to own smartphones: Whereas age is one of the key factors associated with differences in smartphone ownership, internet use and social media use across all the countries surveyed, there are fewer differences when it comes to men and women and their technology adoption. In 18 of the 27 countries, for example, men and women are about equally likely to own smartphones. And the nine countries where men are more likely to own smartphones than women – Canada, France, Hungary, the UK, Russia, India, Kenya, Nigeria and Mexico – do not fit a single pattern in terms of economic development.

Social media use more common in advanced than emerging economies: Even as internet use has grown in emerging economies, social media use is somewhat less widespread: A median of around half (49 percent) report using social networking sites. This varies widely across the countries surveyed. In Mexico, the Philippines, Brazil and South Africa, half or more report using social media. In contrast, only around a quarter of Indians use social media sites.

(The findings are for immediate release and are available at: http://www.pewglobal.org/2019/02/05/smartphone-ownership-is-growing-rapidly-around-the-world-but-not-always-equally.)