Kenya’s mobile SIM subscriptions hit 88 million in Q4 FY 2025/2026

Kenya's mobile telecommunications sector reported 88.0 million active mobile subscriptions during the fourth quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya's (CA) statistics. This marked a 4.6 percent increase from the previous quarter and a notable 11.3 percentage point rise compared to the same period in 2025.

The mobile penetration rate reached 165 percent, surpassing the previous 146.3 percent, indicating that there are significantly more active SIM cards than Kenyans. Consequently, Kenya now has more SIM cards than people, reflecting the prevalence of multiple lines for personal, work, and mobile money use. Safaricom PLC led the market with 61.4 million subscriptions, predominantly prepaid, followed by Airtel Networks Kenya with 23.6 million and Telkom Kenya at 546,000.

The remaining market share was distributed among Equitel (Finserve) and Jamii Telecommunications (JTL). Prepaid-to-postpaid ratios were 97.1 to 2.9, indicating a predominantly pay-as-you-go market. Similarly, the device penetration rate reached 149.4 percent, with smartphones accounting for 52.3 million devices. The growth in subscriptions is attributed to customer win-back campaigns by mobile network operators, suggesting a competitive market environment.

Mobile data subscriptions grew 9.7 percent year-on-year, with mobile broadband accounting for 85.5 percent of all data subscriptions. Mobile money subscriptions also increased to 54.0 million, with 101.3 percent penetration, surpassing the population. Kenya's SIM subscription rate of 1.65 active lines per person places it among the more saturated mobile markets in Africa.