Average revenue per mobile user stood at $20 a month in Middle East last year

The Middle East region is one of the most dynamic mobile markets in the world with 23% increase in subscriber base and 12% uptake of revenues in 2009 according to Dataxis Intelligence latest market analysis. It also has one of the highest mobile revenue per user per month (Arpu) with an average of $20 during 2009 behind North America and Europe.

With a closer look at a country as highlighted by the figure below in the last quarter of 2009 for instance, one could easily notice that there are huge gaps between customers in Kuwait who spend up to $52 a month and their fellows in Yemen that allocate just $5 for mobile services usage.

Also interesting to emphasize on is the fact that more than half of the region’s 14 countries generated a higher Arpu than European average of $23 while only 3 countries – Iraq, Iran, Yemen- had an arpu below the worldwide average of $16 per month.