There will be a billion new mobile subscribers by 2020, according to a new research report published on Monday.

The GSMA, an industry body representing the world’s mobile operators, said on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Spain that the number of individual mobile subscribers will increase from 3,6bn people at the end of 2014 to 4,6bn by 2020.

“A decade ago, just one in five of the global population was a mobile subscriber — we have now surpassed the 50% milestone and can look forward to connecting a billion new subscribers over the next five years,” said GSMA director-general Anne Bouverot.

The developing world is expected to drive this growth in new connections over the next five years. Mobile penetration in sub-Saharan Africa is currently standing at only 39%.

The number of global Sim connections, meanwhile, is expected to grow from 7,1bn in 2014 to 9bn by 2020, the GSMA said. Cellular machine-to-machine connections are forecast to reach 1bn by 2020, bringing the total number of mobile connections to 10bn.

The developing world will account for the largest part of smartphone growth, with 2,9 billion smartphones expected to be in use in emerging markets by 2020.

In 2014, the mobile industry contributed US$3 trillion to the world’s economy, equivalent to 3,8% of global GDP, according to GSMA data. By 2020, it is estimated that this will increase to US$3,9 trillion, or 4,2% of projected worldwide GDP.

The mobile industry directly employed 12,8m people in 2014 and indirectly supported a further 11,8m jobs, bringing the total to 24,6m. By 2020, this figure is forecast to reach 28,7 million, with 15,3m directly employed by the industry, the GSMA said. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media