Shocking-but-True✓✓ 2 independent sources
More mobile subscriptions exist than living humans - yet 3.5 billion lack safe sanitation
111.5 mobile subs per 100 people vs 3.5B without safe sanitation
World Bank data shows mobile cellular subscriptions reached 111.5 per 100 people globally in 2025 - connectivity has literally leapfrogged plumbing. The UN's 2024 SDG report counts 3.5 billion people still without safely managed sanitation, including 419 million practicing open defecation. Billions who never had a reliable toilet now carry a smartphone.
There are 111.5 mobile subscriptions for every 100 people on Earth - more subscriptions than humans - while 3.5 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation.