11.6.12

SMS Update 2011

Text messaging--or as it is popularly known "SMS" (Short Messaging Service)--continues to play an important role in the mobile ecosystem. Some five trillion text messages were sent by mobile users around the world in 2011. Growth has slowed as alternative means of communications such as WhatsApp, Twitter, etc. emerge. Nevertheless good old text messaging remains popular since it is widely available on virtually any handset, does not require a data plan and can be linked to popular applications such as Facebook or Twitter. Three countries--the United States, China and the Philippines--accounted for half of all SMS sent in 2011.

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Available data on messaging revenue suggest that the average revenue per SMS is a little over one US cent. That suggests that worldwide text message revenue was worth around US$60 billion in 2011.

The volume of SMS translates into an average of 2.5 sent per day in 2011. The average disguises tremendous differences in text messaging across nations. The average Filipino subscriber sends over 15 messages per day whereas in Kenya the equivalent figure is less than one.

Top 10 countries by SMS/month 2011
1 Philippines         470 
2 United States      286 
3 Canada              259 
4 Venezuela          257 
5 Malaysia             223 
6 Korea (Rep.)       216 
7 Turkey               212 
8 France               196 
9 Ireland               191 
10 UK                    155 

The number of text messages sent reflects the intensity of use. Volumes vary depending on several factors including costs, preference for other applications, and the user's language and character set.  Therefore apart from the intensity of use, it is also useful to understand what proportion of mobile users send text messages. A 21 country survey carried out in 2011 found that Indonesia ranked top with 96% of mobile owners sending SMS.  The average (median) value was 75%.

Percentage of mobile users who send text messages, 2011
Indonesia 96
Kenya 89
Lebanon 87
Poland 85
Mexico 82
Japan   81
China      80
Britain 79
Lithuania 79
France 77
Russia 75
Israel   73
Ukraine 72
Egypt       72
Spain       70
U.S.        67
Turkey 64
Jordan 63
Germany 56
India        49
Pakistan 44
MEDIAN 75
Pew Research Center. 2011. Global Digital Communication: Texting, Social Networking Popular Worldwide.
http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/12/20/global-digital-communication-texting-social-networking-popular-worldwide/

The cost of terminating SMS across networks impacts the retail price and the ability to offer unrestricted flat rate messaging packages. The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) has published data on wholesale costs of delivering a text message to another network in Europe. Ranges from 1.2 to 8.6 US cents.

SMS Termination Rates in Europe (US cents), January 2011
Turkey 1.2 ¢
Lithuania 1.9 ¢
Malta 2.2 ¢
Cyprus 2.3 ¢
UK 2.3 ¢
Poland 2.7 ¢
France 2.7 ¢
Romania 3.0 ¢
Iceland 3.2 ¢
Denmark 3.6 ¢
Greece 4.0 ¢
Ireland 4.2 ¢
Macedonia 4.3 ¢
Italy 4.4 ¢
Portugal 4.6 ¢
Slovak Rep. 4.9 ¢
Latvia 5.6 ¢
Norway 5.8 ¢
Belgium 6.6 ¢
Hungary 6.7 ¢
Estonia 6.8 ¢
Finland 7.3 ¢
Spain 8.2 ¢
Switzerland 8.6 ¢
MEDIAN 4.2 ¢
Adapted from: BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications). SMS Benchmark snapshot (as of January 2011). BoR (11) 36

SMS/SUB/MONTH Latest (2009-2011)
Philippines 470
United States 286
Canada 259
Venezuela 257
Malaysia 220
Korea (Rep.) 216
Turkey 212
Pakistan 198
France 196
Ireland 191
United Kingdom 155
Cyprus 149
Denmark 143
Argentina 137
Portugal 135
Lithuania 134
Sweden 122
Belgium 120
Oman 110
Malta 107
Uruguay 102
Singapore 98
Norway 97
Indonesia 93
Poland 93
Mauritius 88
Montenegro 88
Brazil 81
Australia 81
St. Kitts & Nevis 80
Italy 80
China 79
Serbia 79
Mexico 75
Bosnia 55
Switzerland 54
Luxembourg 51
Croatia 49
Czech Republic 48
Netherlands 46
Greece 44
Hong Kong 44
Austria 44
Finland 41
Slovenia 40
Iceland 40
El Salvador 35
India 34
Moldova 32
Dominica 32
Germany 32
Romania 27
United Arab Emirates 25
Colombia 24
Slovak Republic 21
Taiwan 19
Macedonia 19
South Africa 17
Bangladesh 15
Hungary 15
Grenada 14
Macao 13
Estonia 13
Morocco 12
Spain 12
Peru 11
St. Vincent 11
Kenya 9
St. Lucia 9
Chile 9
Jamaica 9
Togo 8
Bulgaria 5
Mali 5
Cape Verde 3
Source: ICTData.org

Updated 21 Jan. 2013

4 comments:

Tim said...

In Top 10 countries by SMS/month 2011 -- #3 should be China not Canada. Right?

ictDATA.org said...

Canada is indeed ranked 3rd in the world for the number of SMS sent per subscriber per month. It originated 78 trillion SMS in 2011 for 25 million subscribers. Although China ranked second in the world for the number of SMS sent in 2011 (879 trillion), the average Chinese mobile subscriber sent 79 per month in 2011, ranking it 32nd in the world. This is down from a peak of 98 in 2008.

alistaij said...

Is it possible to see the full list of countries ranked on number of texts sent/sub/month?

ICTData said...

I've updated post to include all available data.