At a glance
4G is no longer the growth engine of mobile access, but it is still the scale layer that keeps global connectivity broad, stable, and commercially important. The latest figures in this dataset show a market that is already mature in many regions, still massive worldwide, and now moving into a long decline in subscription counts even as coverage remains extensive.
Big number: global LTE subscriptions were 4.93 billion in 2024 and are forecast to fall to 2.46 billion by 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
That single trajectory explains most of the story behind 4G network statistics: huge installed base, broad coverage, deep regional differences, and a clear shift from expansion to replacement.
Table of contents
- 4G network statistics at a glance
- Global 4G network and LTE subscription trends
- Coverage and deployment data
- Regional LTE subscription comparison
- What the regional numbers suggest
- Why the 4G base still matters
Global 4G network and LTE subscription trends
The strongest signal in the data is not growth, but scale under pressure.
Global LTE subscriptions were 5.18 billion in 2023 and 4.93 billion in 2024, then are forecast to reach 2.46 billion by 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). The forecast implies a -11% CAGR from 2024 to 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025), which is a very different picture from the high-growth mobile years that originally defined 4G.
That decline does not mean 4G disappears quickly. It means the installed base is being gradually replaced by newer generations, while 4G continues to carry a large share of global mobile usage in the meantime. In other words, 4G is transitioning from expansion mode to managed decline.
Fast facts
- 5.18 billion global LTE subscriptions in 2023 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025)
- 4.93 billion global LTE subscriptions in 2024 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025)
- 2.46 billion global LTE subscriptions forecast for 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025)
- -11% CAGR forecast from 2024 to 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025)
- 835 4G networks deployed worldwide (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025)
- 346 4G networks upgraded to LTE-Advanced (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025)
- 160 4G networks are Gigabit enabled (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025)
Coverage and deployment data
The deployment side of the market looks more mature than the subscription side. The dataset shows 835 4G networks deployed worldwide (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025), which is a broad global footprint for a technology that is now well into its lifecycle.
Not every deployed network has the same level of capability. Of those 835 networks, 346 have been upgraded to LTE-Advanced and 160 are Gigabit enabled (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). That split matters because it shows how 4G can still evolve inside its own generation even while overall subscriptions move lower.
Deployment snapshot
| Metric | Value | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| 4G networks deployed worldwide | 835 | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| Networks upgraded to LTE-Advanced | 346 | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| Gigabit enabled networks | 160 | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
A useful way to read this table is to separate breadth from depth.
- Breadth: 835 networks show how widely 4G has been rolled out.
- Depth: 346 LTE-Advanced upgrades and 160 Gigabit-enabled networks show how much of that base has been enhanced.
The important takeaway is that 4G remains operationally relevant because it is still being improved. A mature network generation can still see capability upgrades even when the broad market is preparing for a later transition.
Why it matters
4G network statistics are often interpreted only through the lens of subscriber counts, but the deployment data adds another layer. A network can be widely deployed, technically upgraded, and still sit inside a shrinking subscription market. That combination usually signals an infrastructure transition phase rather than a collapse.
Regional LTE subscription comparison
The regional data shows that 4G is not fading evenly. Some regions are still very large in absolute terms, while others are shrinking much faster or holding steady for now.
Regional comparison table
| Region | 2023 LTE subscriptions | 2024 LTE subscriptions | 2030 forecast | CAGR 2024-2030 | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | 170 million | 130 million | 40 million | -16% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| Latin America | 530 million | 530 million | 230 million | -13% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| Western Europe | 380 million | 310 million | 40 million | -29% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| Central and Eastern Europe | 450 million | 480 million | 240 million | -11% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| North East Asia | 1.20 billion | 1.02 billion | 330 million | -17% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| China | 880 million | 720 million | 170 million | -22% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| South East Asia and Oceania | 910 million | 930 million | 570 million | -8% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| India, Nepal and Bhutan | 730 million | 620 million | 230 million | -15% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| Middle East and North Africa | 470 million | 500 million | 300 million | -8% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| GCC | 46 million | 39 million | 6 million | -26% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 335 million | 410 million | 470 million | 2% | Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025 |
This table shows a market with several distinct shapes at the same time:
- Large but declining: North East Asia, China, and India, Nepal and Bhutan all start from very high LTE subscription bases and then trend lower.
- Flat before decline: Latin America is unchanged at 530 million from 2023 to 2024 before the forecast drop (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- Still growing: Sub-Saharan Africa rises from 335 million in 2023 to 410 million in 2024 and is forecast to reach 470 million in 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- Fast decline from a high base: Western Europe’s -29% CAGR from 2024 to 2030 is the steepest forecast decline in the dataset (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
Regional concentration patterns
A few regions dominate the story simply because of scale.
- North East Asia had 1.02 billion LTE subscriptions in 2024 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025), making it one of the biggest current concentration points in the dataset.
- China alone had 720 million LTE subscriptions in 2024 and is forecast to drop to 170 million by 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- South East Asia and Oceania stands out because it remains high at 930 million in 2024 and is still forecast at 570 million in 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
The broad lesson is that 4G remains structurally important in regions with large populations and deep installed bases, even when those regions are already on a replacement path.
What the regional numbers suggest
The region-by-region data is more useful when you compare the direction of travel instead of just the absolute numbers.
1. Some markets are already well into 4G replacement
North America goes from 170 million in 2023 to 130 million in 2024 and then to 40 million by 2030, with a -16% CAGR from 2024 to 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). Western Europe declines even more sharply, from 380 million in 2023 to 310 million in 2024 and then 40 million by 2030, with a -29% CAGR (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
That level of contraction suggests that 4G in these markets is becoming a legacy layer much faster than in many other parts of the world.
2. Some markets are large, but the slowdown is more measured
Central and Eastern Europe goes from 450 million in 2023 to 480 million in 2024 before easing to 240 million by 2030, with a -11% CAGR (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). South East Asia and Oceania moves from 910 million to 930 million and then to 570 million, with a -8% CAGR (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
These figures point to markets where 4G remains deeply embedded, but where the longer-term path is still downward.
3. Some markets still look resilient in absolute growth terms
Sub-Saharan Africa is the clearest outlier. It rises from 335 million in 2023 to 410 million in 2024 and is forecast to climb further to 470 million by 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). Its 2% CAGR from 2024 to 2030 is the only positive growth rate in the dataset (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
That makes Sub-Saharan Africa an important counterweight to the global decline. While the worldwide aggregate trends downward, this region still expands its 4G subscription base.
4. China drives a major share of the global decline
China falls from 880 million in 2023 to 720 million in 2024, then to 170 million by 2030, with a -22% CAGR (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). Because of the scale involved, China’s decline has a major influence on the global total.
This is a common pattern in mature technology cycles: the largest markets often drive the largest absolute changes when the transition begins.
Key regional takeaways
Here is the shortest practical reading of the regional data:
- North America and Western Europe are clearly deep into decline in LTE subscriptions (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- China remains huge in 2024 but is forecast to contract sharply by 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- South East Asia and Oceania and Middle East and North Africa both retain large LTE bases in 2024 and still show meaningful scale in 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the dataset with a positive forecast growth rate, making it the clearest expansion story (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
4G network statistics in context
The word “4G” can sound like a single, uniform network generation, but the statistics show a much more segmented reality.
Three layers of maturity
First, there is the deployed network layer: 835 networks worldwide (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). That tells you how deeply 4G is embedded.
Second, there is the upgrade layer: 346 LTE-Advanced networks and 160 Gigabit-enabled networks (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). That tells you how much performance improvement still exists inside the generation.
Third, there is the subscription layer: from 5.18 billion in 2023 to 2.46 billion by 2030 globally (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). That tells you how the market is moving away from 4G over time.
Taken together, those layers show why 4G network statistics remain relevant even in a newer-network era. The base is still enormous, the infrastructure is still being improved, and the transition away from 4G is uneven across regions.
What to watch in the numbers
If you are tracking the category over time, these are the key indicators already visible in the dataset:
- Global subscription scale is shrinking, but from a very high base (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- Coverage remains broad, with 90% global 4G population coverage outside mainland China at the end of 2024 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- Coverage is still projected to rise, passing 95% in 2030 outside mainland China (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- Capability upgrades continue, especially through LTE-Advanced and Gigabit-enabled networks (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
- Regional divergence is the rule, not the exception, with some markets falling quickly and others still growing (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025).
Coverage and subscriptions are telling different stories
The coverage data and the subscription data should not be read as the same metric.
On the coverage side, 4G population coverage outside mainland China reached 90% globally at the end of 2024 and is projected to exceed 95% in 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). That suggests 4G remains close to universal in the areas being measured.
On the subscription side, the world is moving lower from 4.93 billion in 2024 to 2.46 billion in 2030 (Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025). So the network remains widespread even while the active subscription base shifts.
That combination is the central theme of this dataset:
- Coverage stays high
- Subscriptions decline
- Upgraded networks remain significant
- Regional trajectories diverge
Reading the market from the data
The strongest interpretive point is that 4G is not being displaced evenly. The technology still has massive reach, but its role is changing.
In mature regions, 4G is increasingly a legacy or fallback layer. In large transition markets, it remains a major traffic and access platform. In a few regions, it is still expanding.
That mix makes 4G network statistics useful for more than one audience:
- Network planners can use the deployment and upgrade counts to understand how much infrastructure still sits inside the 4G layer.
- Market analysts can use the subscription trajectories to see where replacement cycles are most advanced.
- Regional researchers can compare how different geographies move through the same technology lifecycle at very different speeds.
The dataset is especially valuable because it combines scale, coverage, capability, and regional trend lines in one place. That makes it possible to see 4G not as a static legacy technology, but as a global system in transition.