Laos mobile phone statistics show a market that expanded from almost no recorded cellular subscriptions in the early 1990s to broad population coverage and millions of mobile connections. The World Bank reports 64.76 mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people in 2023, while DataReportal counted 6.80 million cellular mobile connections at the start of 2024. These measures are not identical: subscriptions are reported per 100 inhabitants, while connections count active mobile links and can exceed or fall below the population measure depending on how people and SIMs are counted.
Contents
- Long-term subscription growth
- The rapid expansion from 2001 to 2011
- Subscriptions after the 2011 peak
- Mobile network coverage and broadband
- Internet users and mobile connections
- Affordability and international bandwidth
Long-term subscription growth
The World Bank’s World Development Indicators series, indicator IT.CEL.SETS.P2, records Lao PDR mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people. The earliest supplied observation is 0.006358107 in 1992. The measure remained below 0.1 per 100 people through 1996, reaching 0.07514006 in 1996 and 0.095426924 in 1997. It then rose to 0.122986391 in 1998 and 0.226177403 in 1999.
The 2000 observation was 0.23348379698675 subscriptions per 100 people. In 2001, the figure increased to 0.535091846717965, then reached 0.983088419678236 in 2002. By 2003, Lao PDR had 1.97044724018923 subscriptions per 100 people, followed by 3.53172273682179 in 2004.
This early period represents a shift from cellular access being recorded at a fraction of one subscription per 100 people to a measurable national telecommunications market. The values are annual World Bank observations for Lao PDR, rather than a count of unique people using phones. That distinction matters because a subscription is a service connection, not necessarily one person or one handset.
| Year | Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 0.006358107 |
| 1996 | 0.07514006 |
| 2000 | 0.23348379698675 |
| 2004 | 3.53172273682179 |
| 2008 | 32.8857244198174 |
| 2011 | 85.2839686365553 |
| 2023 | 64.7588066942788 |
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators, IT.CEL.SETS.P2.
The rapid expansion from 2001 to 2011
Growth accelerated sharply in the second half of the 2000s. The World Bank recorded 11.2024094632562 subscriptions per 100 people in 2005 and 16.9299201770861 in 2006. The 2007 figure was 24.4113505484264, and the 2008 figure was 32.8857244198174.
The series then passed 50 subscriptions per 100 people: 51.823574629881 in 2009 and 63.2029110570342 in 2010. It reached 85.2839686365553 in 2011. In the supplied annual series, 2011 is the highest reported value. The increase from 2004’s 3.53172273682179 to 2011’s 85.2839686365553 describes a major change in the scale of cellular availability over seven annual observations, although the indicator should not be read as a simple count of individual users.
The year-by-year path was not uniform. From 2005 to 2006, the measure rose from 11.2024094632562 to 16.9299201770861. It then rose to 24.4113505484264 in 2007, 32.8857244198174 in 2008, 51.823574629881 in 2009, and 63.2029110570342 in 2010. These observations show the strongest expansion in the supplied series occurred before the 2011 high point.
Subscriptions after the 2011 peak
The World Bank series declined after 2011 but remained far above its early-period levels. The 2012 value was 65.961259571669 subscriptions per 100 people. It rose to 69.7677113040611 in 2013, then stood at 68.9014991708403 in 2014.
The measure fell to 54.7979496136596 in 2015 and recovered to 57.2966195875928 in 2016. It then reached 52.8887895907566 in 2017 and 51.3792491489602 in 2018. The next observation was 64.0668582946144 in 2019, followed by 63.1139885984314 in 2020.
The most recent World Bank observations supplied are 64.7101497693472 in 2021, 63.3546046458219 in 2022, and 64.7588066942788 in 2023. The 2023 level was therefore higher than the 2022 level in this series, while remaining below the 2011 value of 85.2839686365553.
These annual observations should be kept separate from the ITU and DataReportal measures below. The World Bank series provides a long historical run, while the other sources give selected indicators for particular measurement periods. Differences between values can reflect the indicator definition, reporting method, reference date, and unit of measurement.
Mobile network coverage and broadband
The ITU Digital Development Dashboard for Laos reported that 95% of the population was covered by a mobile-cellular network in 2021. In the same year, at least 3G mobile network coverage reached 85% of the population, while at least 4G coverage reached 52%.
Coverage describes the share of the population living within the reach of a network; it does not mean every covered person had a handset, an active subscription, or affordable data. The three ITU coverage figures also describe different network thresholds. The 95% mobile-cellular figure includes mobile network coverage generally, while the 3G and 4G figures apply more specific technology minimums.
The ITU reported 65 mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in Laos in 2021. It also reported 56 active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants that year. Mobile broadband was therefore a substantial part of the subscription base, but it was measured separately from total mobile-cellular subscriptions.
| ITU Laos indicator | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Population covered by a mobile-cellular network, 2021 | 95% |
| Population covered by at least a 3G network, 2021 | 85% |
| Population covered by at least a 4G network, 2021 | 52% |
| Mobile-cellular subscriptions, 2021 | 65 per 100 inhabitants |
| Active mobile-broadband subscriptions, 2021 | 56 per 100 inhabitants |
Source: ITU Digital Development Dashboard: Laos.
Internet users and mobile connections
DataReportal’s Digital 2023 Laos report counted 4.70 million internet users in January 2023. Internet penetration was 62.0% at that time, and the report counted 3.35 million social media users. These figures describe the January 2023 measurement point and should not be treated as annual averages.
The same report said mobile connections in Laos were equivalent to 85.1% of the total population in January 2023. It reported that the number of mobile connections increased by 464 thousand, or 7.8%, between 2022 and 2023. The mobile-connection percentage and the number of connections are different presentations of the same reporting context: one is expressed relative to the population, and the other describes the change in connection count.
DataReportal’s Digital 2024 Laos report placed the number of internet users at 5.08 million at the start of 2024. Internet penetration was 66.2% at the start of 2024. Compared with the January 2023 report, the measurement point for these figures moved from January 2023 to the start of 2024, so the dates remain important when reading the change.
At the start of 2024, DataReportal counted 6.80 million cellular mobile connections in Laos. Those connections were equivalent to 88.5% of the total population. The report said the number of mobile connections increased by 283 thousand, or 4.3%, between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024.
| DataReportal measure | January 2023 | Start of 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 4.70 million | 5.08 million |
| Internet penetration | 62.0% | 66.2% |
| Cellular mobile connections | Not stated as a count in the supplied 2023 facts | 6.80 million |
| Mobile connections as share of population | 85.1% | 88.5% |
Sources: DataReportal Digital 2023: Laos and DataReportal Digital 2024: Laos.
The two DataReportal reports also provide two reported connection changes: an increase of 464 thousand, or 7.8%, between 2022 and 2023, and an increase of 283 thousand, or 4.3%, between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024. They use different comparison periods, so the percentages should not be combined or interpreted as one continuous annual rate.
Affordability and international bandwidth
The ITU Digital Development Dashboard reported international bandwidth of 26 kbit/s per internet user in Laos in 2021. This is a capacity measure per internet user, not a speed guarantee for an individual mobile customer. It should therefore be read alongside, rather than substituted for, coverage, subscriptions, or internet-user counts.
The ITU also reported two affordability measures for 2022. At high consumption, the mobile data and voice basket cost 8.2% of GNI per capita. The mobile cellular basket cost 3.0% of GNI per capita. These percentages express the cost of the specified baskets relative to GNI per capita; they are not prices in a currency and do not describe every customer’s actual monthly bill.
Taken together, the figures show several distinct dimensions of Laos mobile connectivity. The World Bank series tracks annual cellular subscriptions per 100 people from 1992 through 2023. ITU data adds 2021 coverage, broadband, bandwidth, and 2022 affordability measures. DataReportal provides January 2023 and early-2024 snapshots of internet users, penetration, and mobile connections. Keeping the source, geography, unit, and measurement date attached to each statistic is essential when comparing them.