{"id":15943,"date":"2026-06-11T23:21:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T22:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/europe\/?post_type=gsma_theme_resources&p=15943"},"modified":"2026-06-12T07:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T06:39:10","slug":"the-mobile-economy-europe-2026","status":"publish","type":"gsma_theme_resources","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/europe\/gsma_resources\/the-mobile-economy-europe-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mobile Economy Europe 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Unlocking Europe\u2019s potential<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Europe is at a crucial moment. As the region looks to boost competitiveness and strengthen resilience in an uncertain global environment, the quality of its digital infrastructure will be a key determinant of success. While mobile networks already underpin much of Europe\u2019s economic and social activity, the region has yet to unlock mobile\u2019s full potential to spur innovation, economic growth and welfare. Doing so will ultimately depend on creating the right
conditions for sustained investment and faster innovation, ensuring Europe not only competes but prospers in the years ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operators in the European Union (EU) support nearly 600 million mobile connections, including 370 million unique mobile internet users \u2013 equivalent to more than 80% of the region\u2019s population. Users rely on mobile networks for a growing range of services, with operators spending almost \u20ac20 billion in mobile capex in 2025 alone to meet this demand. European operators also continue to invest significantly in decarbonising their networks, underpinning the region\u2019s global leadership in the GSMA Intelligence Green Network Index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The efforts of operators and their partners translate into a significant economic impact. In 2025, mobile technologies contributed \u20ac1.1 trillion of economic value in the EU. The greatest benefits came from the productivity effects of mobile (\u20ac820 billion), followed by the direct contribution of the mobile ecosystem (\u20ac200 billion). Mobile operators and the wider mobile ecosystem provided direct employment to 1.3 million people, and made a direct fiscal contribution of \u20ac110 billion through taxes.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Unless otherwise stated, figures for Europe in this report refer to EU27 countries only<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
The Mobile Economy Europe 2026<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
The Mobile Economy Ireland<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unlocking Europe\u2019s potential Europe is at a crucial moment. As the region looks to boost competitiveness and strengthen resilience in an uncertain global environment, the quality of its digital infrastructure will be a key determinant of success. While mobile networks already underpin much of Europe\u2019s economic and social activity, the region has yet to unlock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"image":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/europe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ME_Europe_2026_520x520.png","json":{"gsma_resources_type":"Document","gsma_resources_thumb":"[15946]","gsma_resources_file":"null","gsma_resources_multi":null,"gsma_resources_wgr":null,"gsma_resources_video":"","gsma_resources_image":"null","gsma_resources_url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/mobile-economy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/The-Mobile-Economy-Europe-2026.pdf","gsma_resources_date":"","gsma_resources_button":""}},"tags":[],"resource_categories":[],"algolia_discover_type":[],"class_list":["post-15943","gsma_theme_resources","type-gsma_theme_resources","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Mobile Economy Europe 2026 - GSMA Europe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/europe\/gsma_resources\/the-mobile-economy-europe-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Mobile Economy Europe 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unlocking Europe\u2019s potential Europe is at a crucial moment. As the region looks to boost competitiveness and strengthen resilience in an uncertain global environment, the quality of its digital infrastructure will be a key determinant of success. While mobile networks already underpin much of Europe\u2019s economic and social activity, the region has yet to unlock […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/europe\/gsma_resources\/the-mobile-economy-europe-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GSMA Europe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T06:39:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/europe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GSMA_logo_colour_web_small_200.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GSMA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Mobile Economy Europe 2026 - GSMA Europe","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/europe\/gsma_resources\/the-mobile-economy-europe-2026\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Mobile Economy Europe 2026","og_description":"Unlocking Europe\u2019s potential Europe is at a crucial moment. As the region looks to boost competitiveness and strengthen resilience in an uncertain global environment, the quality of its digital infrastructure will be a key determinant of success. 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