Latvia and Lithuania ranked ahead of Finland in mobile data consumption per subscription

Latvia and Lithuania ranked ahead of Finland in mobile data consumption per subscription in 2025, taking the top two positions in the OECD. Latvia averaged 66 GB per mobile broadband subscription per month, Lithuania 54 GB and Finland 49 GB. Estonia ranked fourth at 41 GB, placing all three Baltic countries among the OECD’s four largest mobile data consumers. The organisation’s average was just 17 GB.

The figures were published in the OECD’s broadband statistics on 13 October and highlighted in connection with the Techritory 2026 forum in Riga on 21 October, where OECD Deputy Secretary-General Yasushi Masaki addressed the role of digital infrastructure in economic development.

Baltic Focus examined the OECD figures alongside European and national telecommunications data to compare the three Baltic markets.

Mobile data consumption across the OECD has more than doubled in five years, rising from 7.4 GB per subscription per month in 2020 to 17 GB in 2025, an increase of 130%.

The Baltic countries are far ahead of this average. Latvia recorded 66.31 GB per subscription per month in 2025, Lithuania 53.97 GB and Estonia 41.31 GB. Finland, traditionally one of Europe’s heaviest mobile data users, ranked between Lithuania and Estonia.

The ranking measures monthly data traffic per subscription rather than per inhabitant. Its results are influenced by the composition of mobile subscriptions, particularly connections used for household broadband.

In Latvia, data-only subscriptions play an important role. According to Tefficient’s 2026 industry analysis, an average Latvian data-only subscription carried 236 GB per month in 2025, the highest figure among the markets examined.

Such subscriptions are commonly used in routers and other devices that provide internet access without conventional mobile voice services. Their data consumption can be substantially higher than that of a typical smartphone subscription.

Finland also has a strong tradition of mobile broadband use at home. According to Finnish regulator Traficom, just under half of Finnish households rely exclusively on mobile network connections.

The differences in subscription structure help explain why the OECD ranking should not be confused with total traffic per inhabitant. Finland remains a particularly intensive mobile data market on that measure, even though Latvia and Lithuania lead in average consumption per subscription.

The Baltic countries also feature prominently in the OECD’s fixed broadband statistics.

In 2025, fibre accounted for 85% of fixed broadband subscriptions in Finland, 82% in Lithuania and 80% in Latvia. All three were among the eight OECD countries where fibre’s share reached approximately 80% or more, compared with the organisation-wide average of 51%.

The highest shares were recorded in Iceland at 96%, South Korea at 92% and Spain at 91%.

Across the OECD, fibre’s share increased from 31% in 2020 to 51% in 2025, reflecting the continuing replacement of older fixed broadband technologies.

Yet the Baltic countries show substantial differences in the availability of fibre infrastructure.

According to the European Commission’s Digital Decade 2026 assessment, fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks covered 81.1% of premises in Estonia, 79% in Lithuania and 62.1% in Latvia in 2025.

Latvia’s national regulator, SPRK, independently reported fibre availability at approximately 62% of households in its November 2025 assessment.

The figures reveal an important characteristic of Latvia’s broadband market: fibre dominates existing fixed broadband subscriptions, yet its geographical availability remains behind Lithuania and Estonia.

Estonia, by contrast, has the widest FTTP coverage among the three Baltic countries. The figures suggest different priorities for further network investment, particularly where modern connections remain unavailable.

Estonia’s mobile market presents another contrast between network availability and adoption.

By 2025, basic 5G coverage had reached approximately 100% of the population in Estonia, 99.7% in Lithuania and 98.2% in Latvia, according to the European Commission.

However, fewer than 25% of mobile broadband subscriptions in Estonia used 5G in 2025, compared with the OECD average of 46%.

Across the organisation, the proportion of 5G subscriptions increased from 19% in 2022 to 46% in 2025.

The OECD identifies the timing of spectrum auctions as a possible explanation for Estonia’s comparatively low 5G subscription share.

Estonia therefore has nearly universal basic 5G coverage, but a smaller proportion of subscriptions using the technology than in many other OECD countries.

Lithuania stands out in another segment of the telecommunications market: machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity.

M2M connections support automatic data exchange between devices and equipment, including smart meters, logistics systems, vehicle tracking and industrial monitoring.

Between 2020 and 2025, the number of M2M subscriptions across OECD countries increased by 98%. Lithuania recorded the highest average annual growth rate, at 42%, ahead of Spain at 40% and Portugal at 36%.

Lithuania’s telecommunications regulator, RRT, reported 2.17 million M2M SIM cards at the end of 2025, an increase of 20% from a year earlier.

The development coincided with a major programme to introduce smart electricity meters. Lithuania’s electricity distribution operator ESO had installed approximately 1.3 million smart meters by the end of 2025, completing the first phase of its nationwide rollout.

The figures illustrate the scale of Lithuania’s investment in connected infrastructure. They also show why the exceptionally high average growth rate over 2020–2025 should be viewed in the context of major deployment programmes rather than projected unchanged into future years.

The 2025 OECD figures place all three Baltic countries among the world’s most intensive mobile data markets. Latvia and Lithuania rank ahead of Finland in consumption per subscription, while Estonia occupies fourth place.

Beyond mobile traffic, their telecommunications markets show distinct characteristics.

Latvia combines the OECD’s highest mobile data consumption with a high proportion of fibre subscriptions. Its more limited FTTP coverage remains a significant difference from the other Baltic countries.

Lithuania has an exceptionally high fibre subscription share and has recorded the OECD’s fastest growth in M2M connections over the past five years, supported by large-scale connected infrastructure deployment.

Estonia has the widest fibre coverage among the Baltic countries and nearly universal basic 5G availability, while the share of subscriptions using 5G remains comparatively low.

Taken together, the statistics show three neighbouring markets with similarly intensive demand for mobile data but different patterns of infrastructure deployment, customer adoption and connected-device growth.