Greeks are leading the world in the growth of mobile data consumption, with usage surging by 38% in 2024 compared with the previous year — the fastest rise among 40 countries surveyed. The finding comes from the annual report by telecom consultancy Tefficient, which tracks trends in mobile data usage worldwide.
Despite this surge, Greece’s mobile operators managed to increase their average revenue per user (ARPU) while cutting the cost of data. In 2024, ARPU reached about €14 per month, slightly below the global benchmark of €15, placing Greece in the mid-range of European markets. At the same time, the price per gigabyte fell by 26% — the sharpest drop anywhere in the world.
The report attributes this to a rapid rise in consumption, which pushed providers to offer larger data packages without proportionally raising prices. For consumers, that meant more gigabytes for less money; for telecom companies, it meant higher overall spending per customer. A hypothetical example in the report illustrates the shift: in 2023, a typical user consumed 10GB a month at a cost of €12, or €1.20 per gigabyte. In 2024, usage doubled to 20GB while the monthly bill rose only to €14, lowering the unit price to €0.70 but increasing total revenue per subscriber.
Data-only subscriptions — including fixed wireless access — played a significant role in this growth. Though they make up just 10% of Greece’s mobile customer base, they generate nearly three times more traffic than the average subscription, making them a major driver of total usage.
Elsewhere in the world, growth in mobile data use was far more modest. Belgium followed Greece with a 32% rise, while Portugal, Tunisia, and the Czech Republic all recorded increases of 28%. At the other end of the spectrum, Croatia’s usage grew by just 2%, and Germany, Qatar, Finland, and South Korea posted gains of between 4% and 5%.
Across most markets, the pace of growth has slowed, even when measured in absolute gigabytes per subscription, with demand for mobile data appearing weaker than in previous years.
