GSMA：2024年移動性別鴻溝報告 The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024

TheMobileGenderGapReport

2024

Copyright?2024GSMA

TheGSMAisaglobalorganisationunifyingthemobileecosystemtodiscover,developanddeliverinnovationfoundationaltopositivebusinessenvironmentsand

societalchange.Ourvisionistounlockthefullpowerofconnectivitysothatpeople,industry,andsocietythrive.Representingmobileoperatorsandorganisations

acrossthemobileecosystemandadjacentindustries,theGSMAdeliversforitsmembersacrossthree

broadpillars:ConnectivityforGood,Industry

ServicesandSolutions,andOutreach.Thisactivity

includesadvancingpolicy,tacklingtoday’sbiggest

societalchallenges,underpinningthetechnologyandinteroperabilitythatmakemobilework,andprovidingtheworld’slargestplatformtoconvenethemobile

ecosystemattheMWCandM360seriesofevents.

Weinviteyoutofindoutmoreat

FollowtheGSMAonX:

@GSMA

GSMAIntelligence

GSMAIntelligenceisthedefinitivesourceofglobalmobileoperatordata,analysisandforecasts,and

publisherofauthoritativeindustryreportsand

research.Ourdatacoverseveryoperatorgroup,

networkandMVNOineverycountryworldwide–fromAfghanistantoZimbabwe.Itisthemostaccurateandcompletesetofindustrymetricsavailable,comprisingtensofmillionsofindividualdatapoints,updateddaily.

GSMAIntelligenceisreliedonbyleadingoperators,

vendors,regulators,financialinstitutionsandthird-

partyindustryplayers,tosupportstrategicdecision

makingandlong-terminvestmentplanning.Thedataisusedasanindustryreferencepointandisfrequentlycitedbythemediaandbytheindustryitself.

Ourteamofanalystsandexpertsproduceregularthought-leadingresearchreportsacrossarangeofindustrytopics.

info@

GSMAConnectedWomen

TheGSMA’sConnectedWomenprogrammeworkswithmobileoperatorsandtheirpartnerstoaddressthebarrierstowomenaccessingandusingmobileinternetandmobilemoneyservices.Connected

Womenaimstoreducethegendergapinmobileinternetandmobilemoneyservicesandunlock

significantcommercialopportunitiesforthemobileindustryandsocio-economicbenefitsforwomen.

Formoreinformation,pleasevisit

/connectedwomen

AtIpsoswearepassionatelycuriousaboutpeople,

markets,brandsandsociety.Wedeliverinformationandanalysisthatmakesourcomplexworldeasierandfastertonavigateandinspiresourclientstomake

smarterdecisions.

Withastrongpresencein88countries,Ipsos

employsmorethan16,000peopleandhastheability

toconductresearchprogrammesinmorethan

100countries.FoundedinFrancein1975,Ipsosiscontrolledandmanagedbyresearchprofessionals.

Forthisstudy,IpsosworkedwiththeGSMAasa

fieldworkpartnerand,assuch,isnotresponsiblefortheanalysisorconclusionsinthisreport.

Partnership|Progress|Prosperity

ThismaterialhasbeenfundedbyUKAidfromtheUKGovernment;however,theviewsexpresseddonot

necessarilyreflecttheUKGovernment’sofficialpolicies.

ThisdocumenthasbeenfinancedbytheSwedish

InternationalDevelopmentCooperationAgency,Sida.Sidadoesnotnecessarilysharetheviewsexpressedinthismaterial.Responsibilityforitscontentsrests

entirelywiththeauthor.

Thisreportisbasedonresearchfundedinpartby

theBill&MelindaGatesFoundation.ThefindingsandconclusionscontainedwithinarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyreflectpositionsorpoliciesoftheBill&MelindaGatesFoundation.

Leadauthor:NadiaJeffrie

Contributors:KalvinBahia,DominicaLindsey,Anna-NoémieOuattaraBoni,ClaireSibthorpe,JakubZagdanski

Fieldworkpartner:Ipsos

Published:May2024

Contents

Introduction

4

Keyfindings

8

Definitions

13

Themobilegendergapin2023

14

Thejourneytomobileinternetuse

22

Thegendergapinmobileownership

Thegendergapinsmartphoneownership

26

28

Thegendergapinmobileinternetadoption

32

Spotlight:Perceptionsofwhethermobileinternetismore

importantformenorwomen

34

Understandingwomen’smobileinternetuse

36

Understandingbarrierstomobileinternetadoptionanduse

38

Awarenessofmobileinternet

43

Barrierstomobileinternetadoptionamongthosewhoareawareofit

44

Barrierstofurthermobileinternetuseamongexistingusers

46

Spotlight:Onlinesafetyandsecurityconcerns

50

Recommendations

54

Appendices

58

Appendix1:Barrierstomobileinternetadoptionanduse

59

Appendix2:Mobileinternetusecases

68

Appendix3:Methodology

70

Endnotes

73

4

Introduction

5

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024GSMA

Mobilephonesandmobileinternetcanbelife

changing,enablingpeopletostayconnectedtoeachotherandaccessinformationandservicesfromanywhere,includinghealthcare,education,e-commerce,financialservicesandincome-

generatingopportunities.In2023,theworldwasmoreconnectedthaneverbeforewithmorethan3.7billionpeople1inlow-andmiddle-income

countries(LMICs)accessingtheinternetona

mobilephone.2MobileistheprimarywaypeopleareaccessingtheinternetinLMICs,accountingfor84%ofbroadbandconnectionsin2023.3Thisisespeciallytruefortheunderserved,includingwomenandthosewholiveinruralareas.In10ofthe12countriessurveyedforthisreport,womenwhousetheinternetaremorelikelythanmentoaccessitexclusivelyonamobilephone.

AcrossLMICs,83%ofwomennowownamobilephone,60%ownasmartphoneand66%use

mobileinternet.However,mobileaccessanduseremainunequal.Womenarestilllesslikelythan

mentohaveaccesstomobilephones,mobile

money,mobileinternetandothermobileservices.Womenarealsolesslikelythanmentohave

equaluseoftheseservices,particularlythemostunderservedwomen,includingthosewhohave

lowliteracylevels,lowincomes,liveinaruralareaorhaveadisability.

Inlastyear’sreport,wesharedtheconcerning

findingsthat,forasecondyearinarow,women’sdigitalinclusioninLMICshadslowedandprogressinreducingthemobileinternetgendergaphad

stalled.Thisfollowedyearsofprogressinwhichthemobileinternetgendergaphadnarrowed

from25%in2017to15%in2020.Thisreductionwastheresultoffactorssuchaschangingmarketdynamicsandlowerprices,greaterawareness

ofmobileinternetand,during2020,COVID-19restrictionsandlockdownsthatdroveupmobileinternetuse.However,thesubsequentstalling

ofprogressinreducingthemobileinternetgendergaphighlightedthatwomenwere

disproportionatelynegativelyimpactedbytheeconomiccrisisthatoccurredinthewakeoftheCOVID-19pandemic.

Ourlatestdatashowsthatthemobileinternetgendergapnarrowedfrom19%in2022to15%in2023duetowomenadoptingmobileinternetatafasterratethanmen.Thisbringsusbacktowherewewerein2020,butitisnotyetclear

whetherthistrendwillcontinue.Itisessential

forwomen,andsocietiesmorebroadly,thatthismomentumcontinuesandthemobilegendergapcontinuestoclose.

Addressingthemobilegendergapprovides

significantsocialandcommercialbenefitsto

individuals,societiesandeconomies.ConnectivityisvitaltoachievingtheUnitedNationsSustainableDevelopmentGoals(SDGs),includingthose

relatedtohealth,educationandfinancialinclusion.GSMAanalysishasestimatedthatclosingthe

gendergapinmobileownershipandusein

LMICsoveraneight-yearperiodcoulddeliver

$230billioninadditionalrevenuetothemobile

industry.TheGlobalDigitalInclusionPartnershipestimatesthat32LMICsareontracktolosemorethanUSD500billioninGDPinthenextfiveyearsduetothedigitalgenderdivide.4

Weknowthatoncewomenstartusingmobile

phonesandmobileinternet,theyusuallyseethebenefitsanditimprovestheirlivestoasimilar

degreeasmen.In2022,wefoundthatacrossthe12surveycountries,mostpeoplewhousemobileinternetbelieveithashadapositiveimpact

ontheirlivesanduseiteveryday,withlittle

differencebygender.

InthisseventheditionofTheMobileGenderGapReport,wesharethelatestdataonwomen’s

mobileaccessanduseinLMICs,thebarriers

theyfaceandhowthiscomparestomen.We

sharerecommendationstoclosethemobile

gendergapandreachwomenwithmobile,withsuggestedactionsformobilenetworkoperators(MNOs),policymakersandregulators,the

developmentcommunityandotherstakeholders.

Ensuringthatwomencanaccessandusemobileisessential,especiallyinourincreasinglydigitalworld.Mobilecanenablewomentobemore

resilientinthefaceofeconomic,climateand

politicalcrisesandshocks.Moreattention,effortandinvestmentareneededtoclosethemobile

internetgendergap–agoalwemustcontinuetostrivetomeetsothatwomen,theircommunitiesandsocietycanreapthefull,life-changing

benefitsofmobile.

1.3.4billionofwhomareadultsovertheageof18.

2.GSMAIntelligence,Q42023.

3.InternationalTelecommunicationUnion(ITU)estimatesfor2023.

4.GlobalDigitalInclusionPartnership.(2024).

ConnectedResilience:GenderedExperiencesofMeaningfulConnectivitythroughaGlobalPandemic

.

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

GSMA

GSMA

7

GSMA

GSMA

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

Thefindingsinthisreportare

basedontheresultsoftheannualGSMAConsumerSurvey,

whichthisyearhadmorethan

13,600

respondentsfrom

12LMICs

Theseface-to-face,nationally

representativesurveys5were

conductedbetweenAugustand

December2023.AnalysisofotherresearchanddatafromtheGSMA,andarangeofotherorganisationsthatinvestigateandtrackthe

mobilegendergap,alsoinformthefindingsofthisreport.

5.ExcludingEthiopia,which,duetoconflict,excludedthe

Tigrayregionandsixzonesin2022andtheAmhararegionandfourzonesin2023.

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

Thereportprovides:

Updatedfiguresongendergapsinmobileownership,

smartphoneownershipandmobileinternetadoptioninLMICsandhowthesefigureshavechangedovertime

Updatedinsightsonthe

barrierstomobileinternet

adoptionandnewdataon

thebarrierstofurthermobileinternetuse

Newdataonwomen’sand

men’sperceptionsofwhethermobileinternetisequally

importantforbothgenders

Aspotlightontheonlinesafetyandsecurity

experiencesofmaleand

femalemobileinternetusers

67

8

Keyfindings

9

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024GSMA

Keyfindings

1.Women’srateofmobileinternetadoptionincreasedoverthepastyearacrosslow-

andmiddle-incomecountries.Thereare

nowmorewomenusingmobileinternet

inthesecountriesthaneverbefore:66%

(1.5billion).Bycomparison,78%ofmennowusemobileinternet,buttheirrateofadoptionslowedin2023.

2.Thegendergapinmobileinternetadoptionacrosslow-andmiddle-incomecountrieshasnarrowedforthefirsttimesince2020duetowomenadoptingitatafasterratethanmen.

ThisreductionwasdrivenprimarilybySouthAsiaandbringstheoverallmobileinternet

gendergapbacktowhereitwasin2020.ThisgendergapalsonarrowedslightlyinSub-

SaharanAfricaforthefirsttimeinfiveyears.

3.Womenarenow15%lesslikelythanmentousemobileinternetacrosslow-andmiddle-incomecountries.Thistranslatestoaround265millionfewerwomenthanmen.

4.Ofthe785millionwomenwhoarestillnotusingmobileinternetinlow-andmiddle-

incomecountries,around60%liveinSouthAsiaandSub-SaharanAfrica.Womenin

theseregionsarestilltheleastlikelytousemobileinternetcomparedtomen,with

gendergapsof31%and32%,respectively.

5.Thegendergapinsmartphoneownershipacrosslow-andmiddle-incomecountries

hasnarrowedslightlyfrom15%to13%

overthepastyear.Thistranslatestoaround200millionfewerwomenthanmenwhoownone.Inthesecountries,60%ofwomennowownasmartphonecomparedto69%ofmen.

Smartphoneadoptionacrossthesecountries

continuestogrow,butataslowerratethanin

previousyears,especiallyformen.Oncewomenownasmartphone,thevastmajorityusemobileinternetandtoasimilarextentasmen.

6.Theunderlyinggendergapinmobile

ownershipacrosslow-andmiddle-incomecountrieshaschangedverylittlesince2017.Womenacrossthesecountriesare8%lesslikelythanmentoownamobilephone.

405millionwomenstilldonotownoneandareprovingdifficulttoreach.Ourpreviousresearchhasshownthatthetopbarriers

tomobileownershipforwomen(andmen)areaffordability(primarilyofhandsets)andliteracyanddigitalskills.

7.Inmostofthesurveycountries,morethan

80%ofpeopleareawareofmobileinternetand,forthefirsttime,awarenessisalmost

equalbetweenmenandwomen.However,insomecountries,womenarearound20%lesslikelythanmentobeawareofmobileinternet.Awarenessdoesnotalwaysleadtoadoption,andbeyondbeingawarethatitexists,peoplemaynotbeawareofthedifferentwaysin

whichmobileinternetcanbeused.

8.Forthosewhoarealreadyawareofmobileinternet,thetop-reportedbarriersto

adoptingitareaffordability(primarilyofhandsets)andliteracyanddigitalskills.

Millionsmorewomenthanmenfacethese

barriersbecausetheyareoffline.Womenalsotendtoexperiencethesebarriersmoreacutelyduetosocialnormsandstructuralinequalities,suchaslowereducationandincome.

9.Oncemenandwomenusemobileinternet,

theirtopbarrierstofurtherusevaryby

country,butcommonlyreportedbarriersaresafetyandsecurityconcerns,affordability

(particularlydatabutalsohandsets)and

connectivityexperience.Thebarriersto

furtherusevarymorebylocalcontextandlessbygender.

10.Mostmobileinternetusersaccessiteveryday,regardlessofgender.However,femalemobileinternetuserstendtouseitfora

narrowerrangeofusecasesthanmenon

aweeklybasis.Themostpopularmobile

internetusecasesformenandwomenin

almosteverysurveycountryaresocialmediaandinstantmessaging.

11.Inmostsurveycountries,womenwhouse

mobileinternetaremorelikelythanmento

reportthattheywouldliketouseitmorethantheycurrentlydo.ThiswastrueformorethanhalfoffemalemobileinternetusersinEthiopia,Kenya,Bangladesh,IndiaandPakistan.

12.Mostpeoplewhoareawareofmobileinternetfeelthatitisequallyimportantforbothmenandwomentouseit.However,amongthosewhodonotfeelthatitisequallyimportant,

agreaterproportionbelievethatitismore

importantformentousemobileinternet.In11ofthe12surveycountries,70%to92%ofthosewhoareawareofmobileinternetbelievethatitisequallyimportantformenandwomen,withlittledifferencebygenderinmostcases.

10

11

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

INLOW-ANDMIDDLE-INCOMECOUNTRIES

66%

ofwomennowusemobile

internet

andtheirrateof

mobileinternet

adoptionincreased

overthepastyear

BUT

men’srateofadoptionslowed

THEGENDERGAPINMOBILEINTERNETNARROWEDFORTHEFIRSTTIMESINCE2020

THEGENDERGAPINMOBILEINTERNET

ISBACKTOWHEREITWASIN

2020

Thiswasdriven

primarilyby

South

Asia

Womenare15%

Thismeans

265M

fewerwomen

thanmenusemobileinternet

lesslikely

thanmentousemobileinternet

785M

womenarestill

notusingmobileinternet

Overthepastyear,thesmartphonegendergaphasnarrowedslightly

lesslikelythanmentoownasmartphone

Womenare

13%

200M

fewerwomenthanmenownasmartphone

AROUND

60%

LIVEIN

SouthAsiaandSub-Saharan

Africa

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

INLOW-ANDMIDDLE-INCOMECOUNTRIES

WO8%

lesslikelythanmentoownamobilephone

405M

womenstilldonotownamobilephone

MOBILEINTERNETADOPTION

Thetopbarriers

preventingwomenwhoareawareofmobileinternetfromadoptingitare:

FURTHERMOBILEINTERNETUSE

Thetopbarriers

preventingwomenwhousemobileinternetfromusingitmoreare:

1.SAFETYANDSECURITY

1.AFFORDABILITY

(PRIMARILYOFHANDSETS)

2.AFFORDABILITY

(PARTICULARLYOFDATABUTALSOHANDSETS)

2.LITERACYAND

DIGITALSKILLS

3.CONNECTIVITYEXPERIENCE

ACROSS12SURVEYCO

UNTRIES

Acrossthe12surveycountriesmostpeoplewhoareawareofmobileinternetfeelthatitis

equallyimportantfor

menandwomen

Acrossthe12surveycountries

Womenwhousemobileinternetaremorelikelythanmentoreportthat

Amongthosewhodonotthinkthis,agreaterproportion

believeitismoreimportantformentousemobileinternet

theywould

liketouseitmorethantheycurrentlydo

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

12

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024GSMA

Definitions

GENDERGAP

Thegendergapinmobilephoneownershipandmobileinternetadoptioniscalculatedusingthefollowingformula:

Gendergapin

ownership/adoption(%)

Maleowners/users

(%ofmalepopulation)

Femaleowners/users(%offemalepopulation)

=

Maleowners/users

(%ofmalepopulation)

MOBILEOWNER

“Mobilephoneowner”and“mobileowner”areusedinterchangeably

inthisreporttomeanapersonwhohassoleormainuseofaSIMcardormobilephonethatdoesnotrequireaSIMandusesitatleastonceamonth.ThevastmajorityofSIMownersalsohavesoleormainuseofahandset(amedianof92%acrossthecountries,rangingfrom88%

to97%).

FEATUREPHONEOWNER

Amobileownerthathassoleorprimaryuseofafeaturephone.Afeaturephoneisaninternet-enabledmobilephonewithasmallscreenandbasickeypadwithseverallettersperbutton.Afeaturephonemayhavesome

pre-installedappsbutdoesnothavetheabilitytodownloadappsfromanonlineappstore,suchasGooglePlayortheAppStore.Smartfeaturephonesareasubgroupoffeaturephonesandarenotrecordedasa

separatecategoryinthesurvey.

SMARTPHONEOWNER

Amobileownerthathassoleorprimaryuseofasmartphone.A

smartphoneisamobilephonewithatouchscreendisplay,anadvanced

operatingsystem(AndroidoriOS)andtheabilitytodownloadappsfromanonlineappstore,suchasGooglePlayortheAppStore.

MOBILEINTERNETUSER

Apersonwhohasusedtheinternetonamobilephoneatleastoncein

thelastthreemonths.6Mobileinternetusersdonothavetopersonally

ownamobilephone.Therefore,theycanbenon-mobilephoneowners

whousemobileinternetbyaccessingitonsomeoneelse’smobilephone.

6.Respondentswereaskedthequestion:“Haveyoueverusedtheinternetonamobilephone?Pleasethinkaboutallthedifferentwaysofusingtheinterneton

amobilephone.Justtoconfirm,peopleareusingtheinternetontheirmobilephoneswhentheydoanyofthefollowing:visitinternetwebsites(e.g.Googleor

Amazon),visitsocialnetworkingwebsites(e.g.Facebook,Twitter,YouTube,Weibo),sendemailsorinstantmessages(e.g.WhatsApp,Snapchat,WeChat,LINE)ordownloadapps.”Mobileinternetusersarethosewhoanswered,“Yes,Ihaveusedtheinternetonamobilephoneinthepastthreemonths.”

13

Themobilegender

gapin2023

15

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024GSMA

2023wasadifficultyearacrossLMICs,with

climatecrises,geopoliticalshocksandhigh

inflationaffectingentirepopulations.Duringthisyear,women’soverallmobileownershipremainedrelativelyunchangedinthesecountrieswhile

smartphoneownershipincreasedslightly.Despiteachallengingyear,theirlevelsofmobileinternetadoptionincreasedin2023comparedto2022.

Themobileinternetandsmartphoneownershipgendergapsalsonarrowedforthefirsttime

since2020.

AcrossLMICs,womenarestill8%lesslikelythanmentoownamobilephone,whichtranslates

into145millionfewerwomenthanmen.This

gendergaphasseenlittlechangesince2017

(seeFigure1)andthe405millionwomenwho

stilldonotownamobilephoneareproving

difficulttoreach.Thegendergapinsmartphoneownershipnarrowedslightlyfrom15%in

2022to13%in2023,but940millionwomen

(comparedto720millionmen)stilldonotownasmartphone.Addressingthesegendergapsiscrucial,asowningamobilephone,particularlyasmartphone,significantlyincreasesmobile

internetuseamongbothmenandwomen.

Between2017and2020,themobileinternet

gendergapnarrowedsubstantially,butin

2021and2022progressstalled(seeFigure1).

However,ourlatestdatashowsthatforthefirsttimeinthreeyears,themobileinternetgendergaphasnarrowedonceagain,withwomennow15%lesslikelythanmentouseit.Thisisdue

toahigherrateofmobileinternetadoptionbywomenin2023andaslowerrateofadoptionbymencomparedto2022(seeFigure2).Itisyettobedeterminedwhetherwomen’srateof

mobileinternetadoptionwillcontinueto

increaseandthemobileinternetgendergapwillcontinuetonarrow.

MorewomenacrossLMICsareusingmobileinternetthaneverbefore,withanadditional120million

womenadoptingitin2023–50millionmorethanin2022.However,therearestill265millionfewerwomenthanmeninthesecountriesusingand

reapingthebenefitsofmobileinternet.

Thewidestgendergapsinmobileownership

andmobileinternetadoptionhaveconsistentlybeeninSub-SaharanAfricaandSouthAsia.

However,themobileinternetgendergapin

bothregionsnarrowedoverthepastyear,mostnotablyinSouthAsiafrom41%in2022to31%

in2023.WhilethemobileinternetgendergapinSub-SaharanAfricanarrowedslightlyfrom

36%in2022to32%in2023,itisstillnotnotablydifferentfromwhatitwasin2017(34%).

Womenare

lesslikelythanmentoownamobilephone

8%

Womenare

15%

lesslikely

thanmentousemobileinternet

fewerwomenthanmenusingit

265million

16

17

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

17%

16%

16%

15%

13%

11%

10%

8%

8%

8%

15%

13%

7%

21%

19%

15%

GendergapinmobileownershipGendergapinsmartphoneownership

26%28%22%

18%

17%

15%

15%

59%60%59%

SouthAsia

41%

46%

41%

34%

Sub-SaharanAfrica

14%

14%

14%

13%

14%

14%

13%

24%

26%

25%

27%

30%

29%

28%

23%

23%

23%

21%

18%

16%

17%

MiddleEast&NorthAfrica

10%

9%

10%

10%

11%

9%

10%

0%1%1%1%1%1%1%

1%2%2%2%1%1%2%

Source:GSMA,2023

MobileownershipisdefinedashavingsoleormainuseofaSIMcard(oramobilephonethatdoesnotrequireaSIM)andusingitatleast

onceamonth.

Mobileinternetuseisdefinedashavingusedtheinternetonamobilephoneatleastonceinthelastthreemonths.Mobileinternetusersdonothavetopersonallyownamobilephone.

Thegendergapinmobileownership,

smartphoneownershipandmobileinternetusereferstohowmuchlesslikelyawomanistoownamobile(orasmartphoneortousemobileinternet)thanaman.

Regionalaverageswerecalculatedfrom

country-leveldatabasedonsurveyresults

andmodelleddataforadultsaged18+.Someofthepercentagesshowminordifferences

frompreviousreports.Thisisduetochangesinthegroupofcountriesdefinedas“l(fā)ow-

andmiddle-income”andthefactthatour

modellingusesthemostup-to-datedatafromoursurveyandthird-partysources.

EastAsia&Paci?c

-0%

-

Europe&CentralAsia

-1%

-1%

--

5%5%3%

4%2%1%

1%

2017201820192020202120222023

2%1%1%1%1%1%1%

7%4%

2%

2%

3%

4%

4%

LatinAmerica&Caribbean

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

Figure1

GendergapsacrossLMICsandbyregion,2017-2023

GENDERGAPSINMOBILEOWNERSHIPANDSMARTPHONEOWNERSHIP

AcrossLMICsoverall

9%

2017

20182019

Gendergapinmobileownership

2020

202120222023

Gendergapinsmartphoneownership

GENDERGAPINMOBILEINTERNETADOPTION

AcrossLMICsoverall

25%

23%

18%

15%

20172018

20192020202120222023

Gendergapinmobileinternetadoption

Gendergapinmobileinternetadoption

57%

66%

SouthAsia

50%

35%

41%41%

31%

Sub-SaharanAfrica

34%

38%

36%

35%

36%

36%

32%

21%

21%

21%

19%

15%

15%

16%

7%

10%

8%

4%

4%

6%

4%

MiddleEast&NorthAfrica

EastAsia&Paci?c

Europe&CentralAsia

7%

7%

6%

3%

4%

4%

4%

5%

LatinAmerica&Caribbean

2%

0%

0%

2%

2%

0%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

Numberofadults(millions)

Numberofadults(millions)

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024

Figure2

AdoptionofmobileinternetbymenandwomeninLMICs

Totaladultpopulation

Men

Women

2000

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

2000

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

201820192020202120222023201820192020202120222023

Numberofadditionalmobileinternetusersthatyear

Numberofexistingmobileinternetusersthatyear

Source:GSMA,2023

Mobileinternetuseisdefinedashavingusedtheinternetonamobilephoneatleastonceinthepastthreemonths.

Mobileinternetusersdonothavetopersonallyownamobilephone.

Basedonsurveyresultsandmodelleddataforadultsaged18+.

18

TheMobileGenderGapReport2024GSMA

Country-levelgendergapsinmobile

ownershipandmobileinternetadoption

Womenremainlesslikely