Travel eSIM Statistics 2026: Prices, Adoption and Market Size

The travel eSIM figures that matter in 2026, in one place: prices from eSIMCompare's own catalogue of 18,332 plans, and adoption and market figures from GSMA Intelligence, Juniper Research, Kaleido Intelligence, Counterpoint and the providers themselves.

Every statistic below says where it comes from and when. Price figures are eSIMCompare's own, read from each provider's feed, API or website and dated October 26, 2026; each one links to the plan or page that proves it, and the full analysis is in our October 2026 travel eSIM price report. Industry figures name their publisher and date, because forecasts in this market are revised often. You are welcome to quote any of them with a link to this page or to the original source.

The ten numbers to know

1. A week of mobile data abroad (at least 5 GB, valid 7 days or more) costs a median of $12.19 across 193 countries (eSIMCompare, Oct 2026).
2. The same week costs $4.29 in Turkey, the cheapest country, and $183.49 in Iran, the dearest: a 43-fold spread (eSIMCompare, Oct 2026).
3. 12% of travellers used a travel eSIM in 2025, and that share is expected to reach 31% by 2030 (Kaleido Intelligence).
4. Travel eSIM revenue reached an estimated $1.8 billion in 2025, up 85% from $989 million in 2024 (Juniper Research, Oct 2025).
5. Travel eSIM users are forecast to grow from 40 million in 2024 to over 215 million by 2028 (Juniper Research, Apr 2024).
6. 51% of eSIM users in 11 major countries have used their eSIM while travelling abroad (GSMA Intelligence via TelecomLead, Aug 2025).
7. eSIM smartphone connections are forecast to reach 4.9 billion by 2030, 55% of all smartphone connections (GSMA Intelligence, same source).
8. In 156 of 185 countries, the cheapest week of data does not come from one of the seven best-known travel eSIM brands, which charge a median 30% more for the same basket (eSIMCompare, Oct 2026).
9. In a typical country, the cheapest qualifying plan is 64% cheaper than the median plan for the same week of data (eSIMCompare, Oct 2026).
10. A week of a US carrier's roaming day pass costs $84 (Verizon TravelPass or AT&T International Day Pass at $12 a day), about seven times the median week of travel eSIM data (eSIMCompare, Oct 2026).

Contents

1. Prices: what travel eSIM data costs
2. Prices by region
3. eSIM versus roaming
4. Adoption: how many people use eSIMs
5. Market size and growth
6. The providers
7. How these figures were compiled

Prices: what travel eSIM data costs

All figures in this section come from eSIMCompare's catalogue on October 26, 2026: 18,332 plans from 15 providers in 202 destinations. The "week of data" basket is the cheapest plan with at least 5 GB valid for at least 7 days in each country; the price index shows every country's figure and the plan behind it.

• Median week of data, 193 countries: $12.19 (the middle country is Oman).
• Countries where a week costs less than $5: 48. Countries where it costs $50 or more: 7.
• Cheapest countries: Turkey $4.29, then Hong Kong, South Korea and Macau at $4.49.
• Dearest countries: Iran $183.49, Burundi $167.67, Namibia $131.79.
• The most visited destinations are cheap: a week costs $5.09 in Japan, $5.97 in the United States, $4.99 in Thailand and $4.76 in the United Kingdom.
• The cheapest week is usually a 30-day plan: in most countries the plan that wins the basket is a 5 GB plan valid for 30 days.
• Longer validity costs little: where a provider sells the same data for 7 and for 30 days, the 30-day plan costs a median of 14% more (270 pairs; method).
• Unlimited costs about double: the cheapest unlimited week costs a median 2.1 times the cheapest 5 GB week, across 186 countries (method). In much of Europe the gap almost disappears: an unlimited week from $6.49 against $4.76 for 5 GB.
• Competition sets the price: countries where 13 to 15 of the providers sell a plan have a median week of $4.99; countries served by six or fewer have a median of $66.00 (method).

Price per gigabyte falls steeply with plan size. The median price per GB of every metered plan valid for at least a week, by plan size (method):

Prices by region

The median week of data in each travel region, with its cheapest and dearest country (eSIMCompare, Oct 26, 2026):

Europe is cheapest because competition is densest there: 36 of the 49 European countries have 12 or more of the 15 providers we track selling a plan, and 13 have all 15. Africa has the most countries in the index and the highest median, set by small markets with few providers.

eSIM versus roaming

• US carrier day passes: Verizon TravelPass and AT&T's International Day Pass cost $12 per day in most countries, $84 for a week (Verizon charges $6 a day in Canada and Mexico; AT&T caps the charge at 10 days per line per bill).
• The same week on a travel eSIM: a median of $12.19 across 193 countries, and $4.76 in most of Europe (eSIMCompare, Oct 2026).
• Per gigabyte: travel eSIM users paid an average of $5.50 per GB in 2024 against $8.57 per GB when roaming (Juniper Research, Apr 2024). Our catalogue's cheapest plans go far lower: the median 50 GB plan costs $0.90 per GB.
• EU residents roaming within the EU pay home prices under the EU's roam-like-at-home rules, subject to fair use, so the comparison applies to them only outside the EU.

Adoption: how many people use eSIMs

• Travellers: 12% of travellers used a travel eSIM in 2025; Kaleido Intelligence expects 31% by 2030 (Kaleido Intelligence).
• Travel eSIM users: 40 million in 2024, forecast to pass 215 million by 2028, a 440% increase (Juniper Research, Apr 2024).
• Travel is the main use: 51% of eSIM users across 11 major countries have used it while travelling abroad for leisure or personal reasons (GSMA Intelligence via TelecomLead, Aug 2025).
• Share of travel connectivity: Airalo's chief executive estimated that "roughly 15% of travel connectivity" now runs on eSIMs (TechCrunch, Dec 2025).
• Smartphone connections: eSIM accounted for only 3% of global smartphone connections in 2024, nearly half of them in the US (GSMA Intelligence via TelecomLead, Aug 2025).
• 2030 forecast: 4.9 billion eSIM smartphone connections, 55% of the total; North America is expected to pass 50% adoption by 2027 and Europe by 2029 (GSMA Intelligence, same source).
• Devices: 23% of smartphones had eSIM in 2024 according to Counterpoint, and 41% of devices launched in the US that year were eSIM-capable (TechCrunch, Dec 2025).
• Activation: about 30% of eSIM-capable devices had an eSIM activated in 2024, and Kaleido Intelligence expects 75% by 2030 (same source).

Market size and growth

• Travel eSIM revenue: $989 million in 2024, an estimated $1.8 billion in 2025, up 85% (Juniper Research, Oct 2025).
• Roaming as a whole: wholesale and retail roaming revenues from consumer, travel eSIM and IoT connections are forecast to exceed $70 billion in 2030 (Kaleido Intelligence).

The providers

• Airalo: more than 30 million customers, up from 20 million in just over a year, in more than 200 destinations (Airalo, June 2026); it raised $220 million in July 2025 at a valuation above $1 billion (Airalo).
• Holafly: more than 15 million eSIMs sold since 2018 and $200 million in revenue in 2024 (TechCrunch, Dec 2025); more than $500 million in cumulative revenue since the pandemic (Holafly, Sept 2025).
• Catalogue sizes in eSIMCompare's comparison (Oct 26, 2026): MeSIM sells the most plans (2,395), eSIM For U 2,075 and ESIM0 2,069; Rewild reaches the most destinations (187), Nomad eSIM 185.
• Who is cheapest: Rovero sells the cheapest week of data in 56 countries, eSIM For U in 38, Ezigo and Seyyah Mobile in 24 each; no provider is cheapest in more than a third of countries (a tie counts for each provider; method).
• Unlimited specialists: 99% of Holafly's plans in our catalogue are unlimited, against 0% of Rewild's and 6% of MeSIM's.

How these figures were compiled

eSIMCompare's figures come from its own catalogue on October 26, 2026: 18,332 travel eSIM plans from 15 providers, each read from the provider's own feed, API or website in US dollars (never converted from another currency) and dated. Twelve providers were re-read automatically that day or in the days before; Airalo, Holafly and Saily had last been checked by hand on August 24, 2026. The full method, its limits and every intermediate number are in the October 2026 price report and on our methodology page; the plan-level data is in our open dataset.

Industry figures are quoted as their publishers stated them, with the date of publication. Forecasts from different firms measure different things (users, connections, devices, revenue) and are revised as the market moves, so compare like with like and check the source before relying on a forecast. This page is updated with each monthly price report.