The mobile industry contributes nearly $4 trillion to the global economy. It's more important than ever
Men are silhouetted against a video screen as they pose with Samsung Galaxy S3, Nokia Lumia 820 and iPhone 4 smartphones (L-R) in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, May 17, 2013. Image: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
The mobile revolution has completely changed our lives, and as data from GSMA shows, it has had the same effect on the global economy. Last year, 4.6 percent of global GDP came from the mobile industry - equating to $3.9 trillion. The APAC region contributed the most to this total, with $1.6 trillion generated. In terms of regional dominance though, mobile is the most important to the economy in West Africa, accounting for 8.7 percent of total GDP. The situation is very similar in Sub-Saharan Africa, too, where the proportion is 8.6 percent.
Looking back over previous years, it is also clear how this importance is increasing around the globe. In 2014, the global economy had the mobile industry to thank for 3.8 percent of GDP. In 2022, GSMA forecasts this to have reached 4.8 percent.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Stay up to date:
The New Data Economy
Forum Stories newsletter
Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.
More on Circular EconomySee all
Robin Pomeroy and Natalie Marchant
December 19, 2024
