Which country has the lowest internet price?
Iran has the lowest mobile data cost in the world by the ITU measure, at $0.52 for a 5 GB plan, followed by Indonesia at $0.92 and Cambodia at $1.00. Those three are the cheapest mobile data plans in the 213-economy dataset. The dollar figures for Iran partly reflect the rial's exchange rate in 2025 rather than local prices alone; the ITU's purchasing-power-parity column adjusts for that difference.
For travelers buying an eSIM rather than a local SIM, the picture differs. Among travel eSIM plans, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau and Australia all offer a 10 GB, 30-day plan at $9.99, working out to $1.00 per GB, the lowest tier in that catalog.1 The ITU and travel-eSIM rankings measure different things: ITU records the cheapest qualifying plan of the leading domestic operator, while travel eSIM prices are set for visitors and change frequently.
Why is mobile data so expensive in the United States?
What the numbers show is that the cheapest 5 GB plan from the leading US operator cost $43.52 in 2025, placing the United States 10th dearest of 213 economies, against a world median of $10.
Market structure, infrastructure costs, spectrum policy and the number of competing operators all shape domestic prices, but those factors are not covered by the sources available here.
How are US carriers competing on price globally?
The ITU data ranks domestic plan prices, not carrier competitiveness across borders, so a direct comparison of how US carriers position themselves globally is not possible from this dataset. What the chart shows is that for travel eSIM plans, the United States ties with the Philippines and Turkey at $12.99 for a 10 GB, 30-day plan, the 12th cheapest destination among 59 with a plan at that tier.1
That places the US well above the cheapest travel-eSIM destinations in East and Southeast Asia, where seven countries offer the same plan at $9.99.1 The median across all 59 destinations with a 10 GB plan is $22.99, so the US travel-eSIM price sits below the midpoint of that group.1
Which 5 countries have less internet access?
The chart covers mobile data cost by country but does not rank economies by internet access or connectivity levels, so a list of the five countries with the least internet access cannot be drawn from this data. The ITU dataset measures the price of a 5 GB mobile plan, not the share of the population that uses the internet or has a connection.
What do analysts say about mobile data affordability targets?
The Broadband Commission set a target that mobile broadband should cost no more than 2% of monthly income per head by 2025. The ITU data shows that 75 of 205 economies still miss that threshold, with the Central African Republic at the extreme end where 5 GB costs 53.67% of monthly income per head.
The International Telecommunication Union found that mobile broadband became more affordable globally between 2022 and 2025, though lower-income users still pay much more relative to their incomes than wealthier users.2 South Africa's Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi told Parliament that data prices in South Africa had fallen between 35% and 40% since 2025, and the government's Medium-Term Development Plan targets a 60% reduction in data costs by 2029.2 That kind of national policy response is one path toward closing the affordability gap the ITU figures reveal, though whether other high-cost economies follow similar approaches remains to be seen.