Mobile technologies and services contribute $5.2trn to global GDP in 2022
The GSMA’s Mobile Economy Report released in 2022 revealed that mobile technologies and services contributed $5.2 trillion of economic value added, which was equivalent to 5% of global GDP.
The report highlighted that productivity effects contributed the biggest ($3.5 trillion) followed by mobile operators that generated $650 billion. In addition, the mobile sector raised around $530 billion through taxes, with services VAT, sales taxes, and excise duties contributing $210 billion.
The report also revealed that the mobile ecosystem provided direct employment to around 16 million people globally, while generating 12 million jobs in other sectors, meaning that around 28 million jobs were directly or indirectly supported.
The report projected that mobile’s contribution would reach $5.6 trillion by 2025 and exceed $6 trillion by 2030, as countries around the world benefit from the increased take-up of mobile services.
In Nigeria, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the ICT sector contributed 16.22% to the country’s real GDP in Q4, 2022. The ICT sector’s real growth rate of 10.35% was boosted by the activities in the telecommunications sub-sector, which added 13.35% to the GDP in real terms.
According to the GSMA, the mobile industry increased its impact on all SDGs in 2021, with the average year-on-year increase accelerating compared to 2020. The average SDG impact score across the 17 SDGs reached 53, up from 49 in 2020 and 32 in 2015.
The mobile industry continues to achieve its highest impact on SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, driven by the reach of mobile networks and take-up of mobile Internet services.
The biggest improvements were recorded in the industry’s contribution to SDG 1: No Poverty; SDG 2: Zero Hunger; and SDG 4: Quality Education, due to the increasing proportion of people using mobile for accessing government services, applying and searching for jobs, and obtaining educational information.
The report also noted an improvement in the affordability of mobile data and devices, after affordability worsened in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
