South Korea is the world leader in smartphone take-up – it is the only country where 100% of the adult population has a mobile phone.
In South Korea, 95% of adults own a smartphone, and 5% have a regular mobile phone. By contrast, 75% of adults in India don’t have a smartphone, although 40% do have a mobile phone.
It’s a similar picture to Korea in Israel, the Netherlands and Sweden, where more than 85% of adults have smartphones and just 2% have no mobile phone at all.
In Poland and Russia, where 30% and 34% of adults use regular mobile phones, the rate of smartphone ownership is significantly lower, at 63% and 59% respectively.
According to weforum.org, Canada, where one-quarter of the population has no mobile phone, is a notable exception among advanced countries. Here, high smartphone usage in built-up areas is matched with low, or no, connectivity in the remote wilderness.