Laos had 4.97 million internet users in January 2025, equal to 63.6% of the population, while 2.85 million people remained offline. The latest figures show a country where mobile access is widespread, fixed connections are growing in speed, and social media reaches a large share of connected adults.
Contents
- Internet access and the digital divide
- Mobile and fixed network coverage
- Connection speeds and traffic
- Affordability and household access
- Social media and platform audiences
- Telecommunications infrastructure and 5G
- Digital government and policy
Internet access and the digital divide
DataReportal’s Digital 2025: Laos report recorded 4.97 million internet users in January 2025. Internet penetration stood at 63.6% at that time, leaving 36.4% of the population offline, or 2.85 million people. The same 36.4% offline share is also reported by the APNIC Foundation in EmpowerTech Laos 2025, which describes this as a persistent gap despite rapid expansion.
The user base increased by 66,000 people, or 1.4%, between January 2024 and January 2025. The year-earlier Digital 2024: Laos report recorded 5.08 million internet users and 66.2% penetration in January 2024. It counted 2.60 million people offline, representing 33.8% of the population. Its year-on-year comparison found that internet users had increased by 69,000, or 1.4%, between January 2023 and January 2024.
These report figures should be read as measurements for different reporting dates rather than as a single continuously revised series. The ITU Digital Development Dashboard for Lao P.D.R. notes that its Laos values were collected up to December 2023, so its indicators describe an earlier measurement window than the January 2025 DataReportal figures.
Several indicators illustrate the scale of the access challenge:
- Individuals using the internet reached 66% of the population in 2022, according to the ITU Digital Development Dashboard for Lao P.D.R.
- Households with internet access at home reached 72% in 2021, while households with a computer at home stood at 14% in 2017, according to the same ITU dashboard.
- Mobile-cellular subscriptions reached 65 per 100 inhabitants in 2021, compared with 18 fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
- Active mobile-broadband subscriptions reached 56 per 100 inhabitants in 2021.
- Fixed broadband subscriptions reached 2 per 100 inhabitants in 2021, with 150,755 fixed broadband subscriptions recorded in total.
The household and subscription measures capture different aspects of connectivity. A household can have internet access without owning a computer, and subscriptions per 100 inhabitants do not represent a count of unique people. For that reason, these indicators are best used together rather than treated as interchangeable measures of internet users.
Mobile and fixed network coverage
Mobile networks provide the broadest physical reach. The ITU Digital Development Dashboard reported that 95% of the population was covered by a mobile-cellular network in 2021. Coverage by at least a 3G mobile network was 85%, while coverage by at least a 4G mobile network was 52%.
The 2021 coverage figures show a clear difference between basic mobile availability and higher-generation network reach. Almost all of the population was within mobile-cellular coverage, but the share covered by at least 4G was substantially lower. By 2025, the KPL report Communications Minister Highlights Digital Transformation on 60th Anniversary of National Postal and Telecommunications Day stated that mobile phone coverage reached all provinces and districts.
The APNIC Foundation’s EmpowerTech Laos 2025 reported 78% 4G coverage by early 2025 supported by fibre-optic infrastructure. Because the ITU and APNIC figures come from different reporting periods and sources, they should not be treated as a like-for-like revision of the same series. They do, however, provide dated reference points for the expansion of higher-speed mobile coverage.
| Indicator | Measurement | Date or period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile-cellular population coverage | 95% | 2021 | ITU Digital Development Dashboard for Lao P.D.R. |
| At least 3G population coverage | 85% | 2021 | ITU Digital Development Dashboard for Lao P.D.R. |
| At least 4G population coverage | 52% | 2021 | ITU Digital Development Dashboard for Lao P.D.R. |
| 4G coverage supported by fibre | 78% | Early 2025 | APNIC Foundation, EmpowerTech Laos 2025 |
| Mobile phone coverage | All provinces and districts | 2025 | KPL, Communications Minister Highlights Digital Transformation on 60th Anniversary of National Postal and Telecommunications Day |
The KPL report also stated that the telecom sector had 7.3 million fixed and mobile phone subscribers by 2025. That total is a sector-wide subscriber measure and is not equivalent to the 4.97 million internet users reported by DataReportal for January 2025.
Connection speeds and traffic
DataReportal measured a median mobile internet download speed of 34.62 Mbps at the start of 2025. Median fixed internet download speed was 40.09 Mbps. Over the twelve months to January 2025, the median mobile speed increased by 5.22 Mbps, or 17.8%, while the median fixed speed increased by 7.12 Mbps, or 21.6%.
The Digital 2024: Laos report recorded median mobile internet speed of 29.40 Mbps and median fixed internet speed of 32.97 Mbps at the start of 2024. Its annual comparison showed a mobile increase of 0.84 Mbps, or 2.9%, in the preceding twelve months and a fixed increase of 4.66 Mbps, or 16.5%.
| Median download speed | January 2024 | January 2025 | Reported change to January 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile internet | 29.40 Mbps | 34.62 Mbps | +5.22 Mbps, +17.8% |
| Fixed internet | 32.97 Mbps | 40.09 Mbps | +7.12 Mbps, +21.6% |
The ITU Digital Development Dashboard reported a different set of traffic indicators for 2021. Average monthly fixed broadband internet traffic per fixed broadband subscription was 44,385 MB. Average monthly mobile broadband internet traffic per mobile broadband subscription was 3,501 MB. International bandwidth per internet user was 26 kbit/s.
These are not speed tests. Median download speed describes the middle result in a set of measured connections, while monthly traffic describes data volume associated with subscriptions. The indicators therefore answer different questions about how Laos’s networks were used and performed.
Affordability and household access
The ITU Digital Development Dashboard measured several communications baskets as a share of gross national income per capita in 2022. The mobile data and voice basket for high consumption cost 8.2% of GNI per capita. The fixed broadband basket cost 7.2%, while the low-consumption mobile data and voice basket cost 4.0%.
Other 2022 basket measures were lower: the mobile cellular basket cost 3.0% of GNI per capita, and the mobile broadband basket cost 2.1%. These percentages describe the cost of defined usage baskets relative to GNI per capita; they are not quoted monthly prices in a local currency.
The contrast between the 2021 household indicators and the 2022 affordability indicators is useful for understanding access conditions. In 2021, 72% of households had internet access at home, but only 14% had a computer at home in the earlier 2017 measurement. Internet access in a household does not necessarily mean that every member has a personal computer or that the connection is fixed broadband.
Mobile access is reflected in the 2021 subscription figures: 65 mobile-cellular subscriptions and 56 active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Fixed broadband stood at 2 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. These measures point to a market where mobile connectivity has a much wider subscription footprint than fixed broadband, even though fixed connections recorded higher median download speed than mobile connections at the start of 2025.
Social media and platform audiences
DataReportal recorded 4.25 million active social media user identities in January 2025, equal to 54.3% of the total population. Social media users aged 18 and above also numbered 4.25 million, and social media reach among adults aged 18 and above was 84.3%. Overall, 85.4% of Laos’s total internet user base used at least one social media platform. The reported audience was 47.1% female and 52.9% male.
The January 2025 social media total was higher than the 3.75 million active social media user identities recorded in January 2024. The earlier figure represented 48.8% of the total population. DataReportal reported a rise of 550,000 users, or 17.2%, between early 2023 and the beginning of 2024. In January 2024, 73.8% of Laos’s internet user base used social media; the audience was 46.7% female and 53.3% male. Social media users aged 18 and above numbered 3.70 million, and adults represented 75.1% of the population aged 18 and above who used social media.
Facebook had 4.25 million users in Laos at the start of 2025. Its advertising reach equaled 54.3% of the total population, 73.4% of the eligible audience aged 13 and above, 84.3% of adults aged 18 and above, and 85.4% of the local internet user base. Facebook’s reported audience was 47.1% female and 52.9% male. Its audience increased by 500,000, or 13.3%, between January 2024 and January 2025, and by 300,000, or 7.6%, between October 2024 and January 2025.
Messenger’s advertising reach was 2.80 million users in January 2025. That equaled 35.8% of the total population, 48.4% of the eligible audience aged 13 and above, 55.5% of adults aged 18 and above, and 56.3% of the local internet user base. The Messenger audience was 49.1% female and 50.9% male, and increased by 100,000, or 3.7%, between January 2024 and January 2025.
X had 282,000 users in Laos in early 2025. Its advertising reach represented 3.6% of the total population, 4.9% of the eligible audience aged 13 and above, 5.3% of adults aged 18 and above, and 5.7% of the local internet user base. X’s adult advertising audience was 39.0% female and 61.0% male. Its potential reach increased by 25,700, or 10.0%, between the beginning of 2024 and early 2025, and its advertising audience increased by 8,465, or 3.1%, between October 2024 and January 2025.
Instagram’s potential advertising reach decreased by 46,800, or 8.1%, between January 2024 and January 2025, but its advertising audience increased by 1,800, or 0.3%, between October 2024 and January 2025. In the year-earlier report, Instagram’s potential advertising reach had increased by 86,000, or 17.6%, between January 2023 and January 2024, while its advertising audience decreased by 53,000, or 8.4%, between October 2023 and January 2024.
The 2024 report also recorded changes for other platforms: Facebook Messenger’s advertising reach increased by 400,000, or 17.4%, between January 2023 and January 2024, while its advertising audience decreased by 350,000, or 11.5%, between October 2023 and January 2024. LinkedIn’s potential advertising reach increased by 20,000, or 14.3%, between the start of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, and its advertising audience increased by 10,000, or 6.7%, between October 2023 and January 2024.
Advertising reach and active user identities are platform reporting measures. They should not be interpreted as a census of unique residents or as proof that every reached account was active during the same period.
Telecommunications infrastructure and 5G
The APNIC Foundation’s EmpowerTech Laos 2025 reported 97,153 kilometres of fibre-optic cable laid by early 2025. It also associated fibre-optic infrastructure with 78% 4G coverage and reported that 5G networks had been introduced in Vientiane Capital and four provinces by early 2025.
KPL’s Lao Telecom launches 5G network reported that the initial 5G launch covered Sihom, Anouvong night market, Saylom, and the National University of Laos campus in Vientiane. Lao Telecom first trialed 5G in October 2019 before launching service in August 2020. During the trial phase, Lao Telecom said its 5G system was 20 times faster than 4G.
The 5G launch locations describe an initial service footprint, while the APNIC Foundation figure describes introduction in Vientiane Capital and four provinces by early 2025. Neither statement gives a nationwide 5G coverage percentage. The 20-times-faster claim is attributed to Lao Telecom and refers to the trial phase; it is not a general measured speed for every 5G connection in Laos.
Digital government and policy
KPL reported that the government had developed 37 government systems by 2025. The G-Net network linked 18 ministries and 17 provinces. KPL also reported 67 legislative measures supporting digital transformation and cybersecurity by 2025.
The Ministry of Technology and Communications’ Unofficial Translation identifies the 2021–2040 digital economy vision and the 2021–2030 strategy as the government’s long-term digital policy framework. These dates define the stated policy horizons, not a forecast of internet-user growth or network coverage.
The same KPL reporting counted 63 postal service companies by 2025: 52 provincial providers, 4 international providers, and 7 mixed-service firms. Together with the 7.3 million fixed and mobile phone subscribers reported for the telecom sector, these figures place internet development within a broader communications system that includes mobile networks, fixed services, postal operators, government systems and cybersecurity measures.