Survey reveals how the UK ranks for mobile data costs
A recent research project analysed a total of 5,603 different mobile data plans via mobile broadband offered in 237 countries. The idea was to compare the current price of 1 Gigabyte of data allowance, and the study uncovered that since 2022, the United Kingdom had slightly improved its ranking, rising from 59th place last year to 58th for 2023. The average price per Gigabyte was recorded as £0.51, down from £0.65.
In comparison, the United States was once more rated as among the most expensive countries in the world for purchasing mobile data. It ranked 219th, and has an average price per Gigabyte of £4.93 ($6 per Gigabyte). Meanwhile, the most affordable country was found to be Israel (£0.016 per Gigabyte) and the costliest was Zimbabwe (£35.93 per Gigabyte).
The results for the United Kingdom seem reasonable, however it should be mentioned that increasingly high data limits, especially on mobile plans which are 5G related, are now pushing the most high-priced tariffs into the category labelled “unlimited data”. The tariffs cannot be measured in a study such as this, which only aims to compare the various prices of 1 Gigabyte of data around the world.
It’s also worth noting that not all nations are included in the annual research report for mobile data. Information for several different countries is missing from the study due to either a lack of comparable information or unavailability of data. However, the data present can still help obtain an overview of different markets across the globe.