5G to account for 15% of global mobile industry by 2025 – GSMA

The number of 5G connections will reach 1.4 billion by 2025, equivalent to around 15 percent of the worldwide total, according to the latest predictions from the GSMA at MWC 2019 in Barcelona. The industry body’s ‘Mobile Economy’ report forecasts that 5G will account for around 30 percent of connections in markets such as China and Europe, rising to around half of the total in the US. It also predicts that 4G will continue to see strong growth over this period, accounting for close to 60 percent of global connections by 2025, up from 43 percent last year.

The report reveals that a further 16 major markets worldwide will switch on commercial 5G networks this year, following on from the first 5G launches in South Korea and the US in 2018. The GSMA calculated that mobile operators worldwide are currently investing around USD 160 billion a year on expanding and upgrading their networks, despite regulatory and competitive pressures. The technology is set to contribute USD 2.2 trillion to the global economy over the next 15 years, with key sectors such as manufacturing, utilities, and professional and financial services benefitting the most.

Turning to the contribution of mobile technologies to the economy, the report said they generated 4.6 percent of GDP globally last year, equivalent to USD 3.9 trillion of economic value added. This contribution is forecast to grow to USD 4.8 trillion (4.8 percent of GDP) by 2023 as countries around the globe increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by increased take-up of mobile services.

Other key findings include the fact 1 billion new unique mobile subscribers have been added in the four years since 2013, bringing the total to 5.1 billion by the end of 2018, representing about two thirds of the global population. A further 700 million new subscribers are forecast to be added over the next 7 years, about a quarter of these coming from India alone.

The GSMA's report also predicts that the number of global IoT connections will triple to 25 billion by 2025, while global IoT revenue will quadruple to USD 1.1 trillion.