It has been predicted that mobile handsets are going to outnumber the amount of people in the world by next year.

In a report released by the International Telecoms Union, the agency has said that mobile subscriptions will pass the seven billion mark within the early part of 2014 to be on a par with the worlds 7.1 billion strong population.

Over half of current mobile subscriptions are in Asia but the Commonwealth of Independent States currently has the highest numbers of subscriptions per person at 1.7. Africa has the lowest amount of subscriptions with 63 per 100 people.

‘Every day we are moving closer to having almost as many mobile cellular subscriptions as people on earth,’ says Brahima Sanou, director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau.

‘The mobile revolution is ‘m-powering’ people in developing countries by delivering ICT applications in education, health, government, banking, environment and business.’

The report also revealed that over 40% of the world’s population is online, with Europe having the highest online penetration at 75% of its population having online capabilities.