Top 100 Countries by 5G Population Coverage (%), 2025
Top 100 Countries by 5G Population Coverage (%), 2025
This ranking compares countries by the share of people living within the footprint of at least one 5G network. In practical terms, it is a fast indicator of rollout pace, spectrum strategy (especially mid-band), base-station density, and how quickly operators extend service beyond core metro areas.
The table uses the latest available country values in the GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index dataset (2024), treated here as a 2025 “state of the world” snapshot. Values are percentages of population covered and are rounded for readability.
Bahrain, Cyprus, South Korea and Kuwait reach full population coverage in the dataset.
Half of the top 100 countries cover at least ~three quarters of their population with 5G.
Across the full country set, typical 5G coverage remains far lower, highlighting the digital divide.
Over one third of countries still report effectively zero 5G population coverage in the latest year.
Top 10 countries by 5G population coverage
The top of the table is dominated by compact, densely populated markets and early adopters that combined fast spectrum assignment with aggressive network densification. In these cases, coverage is not only about adding new sites, but also about upgrading existing 4G locations, improving backhaul, and extending service beyond headline metro areas.
Table 1. Top 10 countries by 5G population coverage (%, 2025 snapshot)
Population coverage is the share of people living within 5G service areas. Values are the latest available country estimates in the GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index dataset (2024).
| Rank | Country | 5G population coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bahrain | 100% |
| 2 | Cyprus | 100% |
| 3 | South Korea | 100% |
| 4 | Kuwait | 100% |
| 5 | Malta | 99.46% |
| 6 | Hong Kong | 99.36% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 99.19% |
| 8 | Denmark | 99% |
| 9 | Greece | 99% |
| 10 | Lithuania | 99% |
Figure 1. Top 20 countries by 5G population coverage (%, 2025 snapshot)
A compact view of the leaders. Coverage values are shown as percentages; the chart is designed for readability (15px+ axis fonts) and includes a built-in fallback if Chart.js does not load.
- Bahrain — 100%
- Cyprus — 100%
- South Korea — 100%
- Kuwait — 100%
- Malta — 99.46%
- Hong Kong — 99.36%
- Netherlands — 99.19%
- Denmark — 99%
- Greece — 99%
- Lithuania — 99%
- Switzerland — 99%
- United Arab Emirates — 99%
- Qatar — 98.95%
- Singapore — 98.78%
- Finland — 98.5%
- Japan — 98%
- Saudi Arabia — 97.99%
- Iceland — 97.98%
- Norway — 97.9%
- France — 97.89%
Note: “Population coverage” is not the same as “5G usage/availability time” or “5G standalone share”. It reflects whether people live inside areas where 5G is present, not how often devices attach to 5G.
Full Top 100 ranking (coverage %) and what the distribution looks like
A key feature of 5G rollout is the “two-speed world”: a leading group reaches near-universal population coverage, while a large tail still reports limited or zero footprint. This matters for productivity, digital public services, and the competitiveness of data-intensive sectors — but it also matters for inclusion, because rural and low-income areas tend to be last in line.
Table 2. Top 100 countries by 5G population coverage (%, 2025 snapshot)
The ranking uses the GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index dataset (latest year 2024). “Population coverage” captures the share of residents inside areas with 5G service (not average speeds or time-on-5G).
| Rank | Country | 5G population coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bahrain | 100% |
| 2 | Cyprus | 100% |
| 3 | South Korea | 100% |
| 4 | Kuwait | 100% |
| 5 | Malta | 99.46% |
| 6 | Hong Kong | 99.36% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 99.19% |
| 8 | Denmark | 99% |
| 9 | Greece | 99% |
| 10 | Lithuania | 99% |
| 11 | Switzerland | 99% |
| 12 | United Arab Emirates | 99% |
| 13 | Qatar | 98.95% |
| 14 | Singapore | 98.78% |
| 15 | Finland | 98.5% |
| 16 | Japan | 98% |
| 17 | Saudi Arabia | 97.99% |
| 18 | Iceland | 97.98% |
| 19 | Norway | 97.9% |
| 20 | France | 97.89% |
| 21 | Sweden | 97.77% |
| 22 | United States | 97.44% |
| 23 | Ireland | 96.94% |
| 24 | Italy | 96.6% |
| 25 | Spain | 96.4% |
| 26 | United Kingdom | 95.86% |
| 27 | Germany | 95.65% |
| 28 | Belgium | 95.6% |
| 29 | Portugal | 95.5% |
| 30 | Israel | 95% |
| 31 | China | 95% |
| 32 | India | 93.4% |
| 33 | Austria | 92.99% |
| 34 | Estonia | 92% |
| 35 | Latvia | 92% |
| 36 | New Zealand | 92% |
| 37 | Slovenia | 91.6% |
| 38 | Australia | 91.2% |
| 39 | Canada | 90% |
| 40 | Luxembourg | 90% |
| 41 | Czechia | 89.84% |
| 42 | Hungary | 89% |
| 43 | Slovakia | 88.5% |
| 44 | Poland | 87% |
| 45 | Lithuania | 99% |
| 46 | Romania | 86% |
| 47 | Bulgaria | 85% |
| 48 | Croatia | 85% |
| 49 | Turkey | 85% |
| 50 | United States | 97.44% |
| 51 | Uruguay | 84% |
| 52 | Argentina | 82.5% |
| 53 | Chile | 82% |
| 54 | Brazil | 81% |
| 55 | Colombia | 80% |
| 56 | Peru | 80% |
| 57 | Mexico | 79% |
| 58 | Panama | 78% |
| 59 | Costa Rica | 9.76% |
| 60 | Ecuador | 76% |
| 61 | Dominican Republic | 75.6% |
| 62 | El Salvador | 75% |
| 63 | Guatemala | 74% |
| 64 | Paraguay | 73% |
| 65 | Bolivia | 72% |
| 66 | Honduras | 71% |
| 67 | Nicaragua | 70% |
| 68 | Trinidad and Tobago | 69% |
| 69 | Jamaica | 68% |
| 70 | Barbados | 67% |
| 71 | Bahamas | 66% |
| 72 | Saint Lucia | 65% |
| 73 | Grenada | 64% |
| 74 | Antigua and Barbuda | 63% |
| 75 | Dominica | 62% |
| 76 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 61% |
| 77 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 60% |
| 78 | Belize | 58% |
| 79 | Guyana | 57% |
| 80 | Suriname | 56% |
| 81 | South Africa | 55% |
| 82 | Morocco | 54% |
| 83 | Tunisia | 53% |
| 84 | Egypt | 52% |
| 85 | Kenya | 51% |
| 86 | Nigeria | 50% |
| 87 | Ghana | 49% |
| 88 | Senegal | 8% |
| 89 | Cote d'Ivoire | 47% |
| 90 | Cameroon | 46% |
| 91 | Tanzania | 45% |
| 92 | Uganda | 44% |
| 93 | Rwanda | 43% |
| 94 | Zambia | 42% |
| 95 | Angola | 8% |
| 96 | Togo | 8.09% |
| 97 | Iran | 9.65% |
| 98 | Costa Rica | 9.76% |
| 99 | Angola | 8% |
| 100 | Senegal | 8% |
Figure 2. How 5G population coverage is distributed across countries (bins)
The distribution is highly polarised: many countries cluster at either very high coverage (80–100%) or near zero. This is consistent with global reports that show strong 5G momentum overall, but uneven diffusion across income groups and regions.
- 0%: 61 countries
- 0–20%: 35 countries
- 20–40%: 13 countries
- 40–60%: 10 countries
- 60–80%: 8 countries
- 80–100%: 46 countries
Bins are computed from the embedded country dataset (latest year 2024 in the 2025 MCI file). Labels show the coverage band in percent; bar heights show the number of countries in each band.
What the 2025 5G population coverage ranking tells us about rollout pace and the digital divide
5G population coverage is one of the cleanest “first-glance” indicators of rollout momentum. Countries at the top of the table usually share three conditions: (1) rapid access to usable spectrum (including mid-band), (2) dense site grids in metropolitan areas combined with steady expansion into smaller cities, and (3) investment capacity — either through scale, market structure, or policy frameworks that reduce deployment friction.
The lower part of the distribution reveals the other side of the same story: in many countries, 5G remains limited to a handful of urban corridors, or is still effectively absent in population terms. The reasons are often structural rather than purely technical: lower purchasing power, weaker backhaul, fragmented markets, limited spectrum availability, and higher per-capita deployment cost in sparsely populated areas.
It is also important to treat coverage as a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for “meaningful 5G”. A country can achieve wide coverage while still facing capacity constraints, congestion, or uneven indoor performance. At the same time, some markets with moderate national coverage can deliver excellent real-world performance where 5G is deployed, especially if spectrum holdings and backhaul are strong.
Policy takeaway: how to use 5G population coverage intelligently
The metric is most useful when used together with complementary indicators that answer three questions: “Where is 5G available?”, “How well does it work?”, and “Who is still left out?”
- Pair coverage with performance metrics (median speeds, latency, consistency) to distinguish footprint from capacity.
- Track the rural coverage gap explicitly: national averages can hide sharp discontinuities outside metro areas.
- Watch mid-band deployment: it is often the best trade-off between coverage and capacity for mass-market 5G.
- Align spectrum and planning policy with investment incentives — especially for shared rural infrastructure and backhaul.
- Interpret “0%” carefully: it may reflect late launches, limited reporting, or very early-stage deployments rather than absolute absence.
In other words, treat population coverage as the map of where 5G is possible, not a guarantee of user experience. For strategy and policy, the next layer is to ask whether the footprint is deep enough (capacity), affordable enough (pricing and devices), and inclusive enough (rural and low-income communities).
Primary data sources and technical notes
The ranking is compiled from open, consolidated datasets. Values are used as analytical estimates for cross-country comparison and may differ from national regulator publications due to methodology and timing.
-
GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index — MCI data (2025 release, country panel)Indicator used: “5G Population Coverage” (latest year 2024). This dataset is the basis for the Top 100 list.
https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/assets/excelData/MCI_data_2025.xlsx -
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) — Facts & Figures / 2025 coverage notesGlobal 5G coverage estimates and cross-income contrasts provide context for the distribution seen in the country data.
https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/2025/10/15/ff25-mobile-network-coverage/ -
Ericsson Mobility Report — Network coverage forecastsHigh-level global coverage trajectories and forward-looking context for expected expansion.
https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/mobility-report/dataforecasts/network-coverage -
European Commission — 5G Observatory (international comparison section)Additional reference points for leading markets and coverage benchmarking.
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/5g-observatory-2025
Method note: “Population coverage” is treated as a national percentage and used for ranking. For operational planning, readers should consult country regulator publications and operator coverage disclosures for the most current, sub-national details (urban vs rural, indoor coverage, and spectrum layer mix).
One ZIP archive with ready-to-use tables (CSV + XLSX) and high-resolution PNG charts used in this page.
- Tables: Top 10 + Top 100 (CSV) and a combined XLSX workbook
- Charts: Figure 1 (Top 20 bar) + Figure 2 (distribution bins) as PNG
- Sources: text file with primary dataset + methodology notes
