GSMA: Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023

GSMA released the "Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023". By 2030, more than 800 million women will need to use mobile internet to close the digital gender gap in low- and middle-income countries.

New data shows that without greater efforts by a broad range of stakeholders, the gap between the number of men and women using the mobile internet will not be closed. Progress in closing the mobile internet gender gap remains stagnant, with women in low- and middle-income countries 19% less likely to use mobile internet than men, equivalent to approximately 310 million fewer female mobile internet users than men.

Other key findings from the report include:

While nearly 61% of women in low- and middle-income countries are now using mobile internet, penetration slowed for the second consecutive year, with only 60 million women using mobile internet in 2022, compared to 75 million in 2021.

There are still 900 million women in low- and middle-income countries without mobile broadband access, two-thirds of whom live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Once women have a smartphone, their knowledge and use of mobile internet are almost on par with men. Nevertheless, in low- and middle-income countries, women are 17% less likely to own a smartphone than men. That means there are about 250 million fewer female smartphone users than males.

There are still 440 million women in low- and middle-income countries who do not have access to a mobile phone.

For users who already understand mobile internet, the biggest barriers remain affordability (mainly mobile phones), literacy and digital skills, and security issues.

Most men and women who use mobile Internet believe that mobile Internet has a positive impact on their lives and use it every day, with little difference between women and men.

Mobile phone ownership and mobile internet use have brought enormous benefits to women, their families, economies and businesses.