At year-end 2026 there will be 4 billion 5G mobile subscriptions worldwide, equivalent to 37.1% of total global mobile subscriptions.
Asia-Pacific (APAC) will account for the largest share of worldwide mobile 5G connections with 64.0% at end-2026, followed by Europe (13.1%), North America (12.0%), Africa & Middle East (7.2%) and Latin America (3.7%).
The adoption of mobile 5G services will be supported by increasing demand for mobile data connectivity at higher speeds, mainly driven by mobile video consumption, ultra-low latency communication services (e.g., gaming and AR/VR), and the development of the IoT industry.
The enterprise and government segments are also expected to drive 5G subscription adoption to a greater extent than they did for 4G/LTE, as the IoT industry develops around 5G use cases for verticals like logistics, manufacturing, smart cities, and transport.
