Nigerians Spend ₦2.6 Trillion In Data, Airtime Over The Span of Nine Months

Nigerians spent ₦2.6tn on data and airtime in the first nine months of 2023, marking a 32.57% increase from the ₦1.95tn recorded in the same period in 2022, as reported in the financial statements of MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa.

The surge in spending was driven by a rise in data subscriptions and the devaluation of the naira for Airtel. In the first nine months of 2022, Airtel generated $1.41bn from airtime and data, equivalent to ₦647.71bn at the exchange rate of ₦461/$. In 2023, the company’s income from these sources amounted to $1.29bn, converted to ₦1.003tn at the exchange rate of ₦777/$.

MTN experienced overall revenue growth, with a 36.4% increase in data revenue, outpacing the 10.64% growth in voice revenue. The company attributed the growth to increased data usage and conversion in new and existing user bases.

MTN reported a 29.1% growth in data usage on its network, reaching 8.6GB per user. Additionally, the number of smartphones on the network increased by 7.6%, resulting in a 46.3% growth in data traffic, with the 4G network accounting for 83.7% of the total traffic.

Airtel saw a rise in data usage per customer to 5.9GB per month, contributing to a 29.3% growth in data revenue. The company highlighted a 17.4% growth in its data customer base and a 12.3% growth in data Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).

Increased Internet usage, particularly for video streaming, led to a total spending on telecom services in 2022 amounting to ₦3.86tn, an 18.74% increase from the ₦3.25tn spent in 2021. Data consumption in the country surged by 46.77% to 518,381.78TB in 2022 from 353,118.89TB in 2021.

The trend of growing data usage aligns with the World Bank’s observation that increased consumption of data services is contributing to the growth of the ICT sector. Analysts predict that data revenues will surpass voice revenues in the coming years, and the Ericsson Mobility Report forecasts a 37% annual growth in total mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2022 and 2028.

The President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, noted that the surge in online activities in 2021, driven by factors like remote work and increased online transactions, propelled the growth in telecom infrastructure usage.