< Previous Map

Radios In Use

Map No. 340

Open PDF poster

Next Map >

Radios were first used by the general public in the 1920s. Now there are 2.6 billion radios in use worldwide. In 13 territories there are more radios in use than people living there. 55 more territories averaged more than one radio for every two people. Altogether 126 territories had one or more radios for every four people (the world average household size is 4).

The most radios per person are in Norway - at more than 3 per person. Radios might be found in the kitchen, the car, and even the shower. By contrast there is only 1 radio in use for every 50 people in Haiti. Radios are an excellent means of communication: many people find reading difficult, a much smaller number cannot hear.

"Only when local voices are heard on local radio will people get a sense of ownership of radio ..." Paul Kavuma Nkwanga, 2004

Territory size shows the proportion of all radios in use that are found there.

• Open PDF poster, designed for printing. You need Acrobat Reader.
• View labelled territory map or population map for comparison
• Data files: Excel (large with map), Excel (small no map), Opendoc format (see notes)
• Technical notes for this data.
• High Resolution image (see copyright conditions)
• All of the data we use is estimated; see data page