Smartphone users in Nigeria 2014-2025

The number of smartphone users in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, is forecast to grow to more than 140 million by 2025. Currently, estimates from different sources put the number of smartphone users in Nigeria at roughly 25 and 40 million. The exact number of users is hard to pin down - however, the data found shows a strong growth outlook for the Nigerian smartphone market with user numbers to at least triple within the next five to six years.

Strong population and GDP growth forecast

The population and gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria are both forecast to grow steadily at an annual rate of two to three percent until 2022. Nigeria’s population is very young (average age of 18) and expected to grow to more than 200 million people by 2020. Concurrently, the GDP is set to reach more than 500 billion U.S. dollars by that time. The country’s telecoms industry also stands to profit from Nigeria’s overall growth due to its contribution to the country’s GDP being steady as of 2012 (7.5 to 10 percent of annual GDP).

Smartphone penetration set to rise

The dynamic growth of Nigeria’s economy and population is set to impact the development of the country’s mobile market as well. There are around 170 million mobile subscriptions in Nigeria. But currently, only around 10 to 20 percent of the population is using a smartphone. The majority of mobile users are still using feature phones which offer basic phone functions like voice calling and text messaging. Smartphone penetration is set to grow though to around 60 percent by 2025, presenting strong growth opportunities for feature phone and smartphone manufacturers alike. At present, Samsung is the leading smartphone vendor in Nigeria. Although, Chinese manufacturers like Tecno, Itel (Hong Kong), and Infinix (Hong Kong) are also holding strong positions in the market.