* The UK comes in at 59thin the world, with 1GB of mobile data costing an average of USD 1.39

* India is the cheapest country in which to buy mobile data, with the average cost of 1GB at USD 0.09

* The United States is one of the most expensive developed nations for purchasing mobile data, coming in 188th in the world, and with an average 1GB cost of USD 8.00 - well above the global average of USD 5.09

* Saint Helena is the most expensive place in which to buy mobile data. The average cost of 1GB there is USD 52.50 - 583 times the average cost in India

* Seven of the top 20 cheapest countries are in Asia, with Sri Lanka and Vietnam joining India in the top ten. The third, fifth, sixth and ninth cheapest countries are all (CIS) former USSR nations, with Kyrgyzstan in third place overall, followed by Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia respectively

* Five of the ten most expensive countries to buy mobile data are in sub-Saharan Africa. Island nations in Oceania and the Caribbean also tend to be among the most expensive in the world

* You can download the full data set [1], plus further insights, a detailed research methodology description, interactive tools and an interactive map via this study's landing page [2] - please link either to this or to our homepage [3] if you intend to use our data. Please see the editor's notes for more information concerning this request

Data from 5,554 mobile data plans in 228 countries were gathered and analysed by Cable.co.uk between 3 February and 25 February 2020.

India is home to the cheapest mobile data plans in the world, with one gigabyte (1GB) of data costing an average of just USD 0.09. The most expensive place in the world to buy mobile data is the island of Saint Helena, where the average cost of 1GB is USD 52.50 - 583 times as much as in India. Israel is a close second to India with 1GB costing USD 0.11 on average. It's followed by Kyrgyzstan (USD 0.21) in third place.

The cheapest mobile data in Western Europe is in Italy in fourth place overall, where the average price of 1GB is just USD 0.43. Denmark (USD 0.80) is the second cheapest in Western Europe followed by France (USD 0.81) and Monaco (USD 0.98). The UK (USD 1.39) is the 9th cheapest in Western Europe and 59th cheapest in the world.

Within Eastern Europe, Poland (USD 0.70) is the cheapest followed by Romania (USD 1.03), Moldova (USD 1.12) and Slovenia (USD 1.48). Greece is the most expensive in the region, with 1GB of data costing USD 12.06 on average. Of the Baltic nations, Estonia is the cheapest at USD 1.27.

Israel is the cheapest country in the Near East region and second cheapest in the world, with 1GB costing an average of USD 0.11. Turkey (USD 0.72) is second-cheapest, closely followed by Kuwait (USD 0.77) and Jordan (1.03). The most expensive mobile data deals in the region can be found in Yemen, where the average price of 1GB is USD 15.98.

Asian nations make up a third of the top 20 cheapest countries for mobile data, with India top and Sri Lanka (USD 0.51) and Vietnam (USD 0.57) also in the top ten. Only three Asian countries are more expensive than the global average of USD 5.09 - Taiwan (USD 5.91), British Indian Ocean Territory (USD 7.50) and South Korea, the most expensive in the region at USD 10.94.

All but two of the seven North African countries are in the cheapest half of the table. Algeria is the cheapest in North Africa at USD 0.65 and even the most expensive in the region, Libya (USD 4.73), is cheaper than the global average of USD 5.09. Northern Africa does well generally.

Sub-Saharan Africa on the other hand has just one country among the top ten cheapest in the world - Somalia, at seventh place overall at USD 0.50. The region also has five out of the ten most expensive countries, with Saint Helena the most expensive in the world (USD 52.50), joined by São Tomé and Príncipe (USD 28.26), Malawi (USD 27.41), Benin (USD 27.22) and Chad (USD 23.33).

The average price of 1GB of mobile data in both Canada (USD 12.55) and the United States (USD 8.00) is well in excess of the global average of USD 5.09. But the most expensive country in North America is Bermuda with an average of USD 28.75.

The cheapest mobile data plans in Central America can be found in El Salvador, where 1GB of data costs USD 1.45 on average. Prices are only marginally higher in Nicaragua (USD 1.71) and Guatemala (2.17). The most expensive country in Central America is Panama, where an average 1GB costs USD 6.69.

Most Caribbean nations are in the more expensive half of the list. The Cayman Islands are the most expensive in the Caribbean with an average of USD 23.05, while an average 1GB in the Dominican Republic is 31 times cheaper at USD 0.74.

Chile, with an average of USD 0.71, and Brazil (USD 1.01) are the only South American countries to make it into the top 50 cheapest in the world. Argentina (USD 1.45) is the next cheapest in South America followed by Uruguay (USD 1.58). The most expensive in the region is the Falkland Islands at USD 40.41 - also the second most expensive in the world.

The average 1GB of data costs USD 0.68 in Australia, making it the second-cheapest country in Oceania, just behind Fiji (USD 0.59). The region's island nations are mostly in the more expensive half of the table, with Nauru the most expensive at USD 30.47.

In previous reports, in the middle of 2019 Cable.co.uk analysed more than a quarter of a billion broadband speed tests to rank 207 countries by average internet speed [4], and at the start of 2020 compared 3,095 broadband deals globally to reveal the cost of getting online in 206 countries [5].

COMMENTING ON THE UK SPECIFICALLY, DAN HOWDLE, CONSUMER TELECOMS ANALYST AT CABLE.CO.UK, SAID:

"The UK has come on leaps and bounds over the last 12 months when it comes to average data pricing, with the cost of 1GB dropping to less than a quarter of what it was. This has less to do with customers paying less for packages, however, and everything to do with the fact that most providers have introduced unlimited data packages during this period, which has in turn pushed down the price of packages with large data limits and increased the data limits on basic/budget offerings.

"During the global coronavirus crisis the UK should consider itself privileged that data pricing is now so affordable - many countries around the world are not so lucky. Ironically, with most of us stuck indoors with full access to home wifi, our need for mobile data is lessened considerably. However, this is a far better position to be in than, for example, many countries in sub-saharan Africa, where data remains expensive and home broadband is all but non-existent."

COMMENTING ON THE WORLDWIDE RANKINGS, DAN HOWDLE, CONSUMER TELECOMS ANALYST AT CABLE.CO.UK, SAID:

"Many of the cheapest countries in which to buy mobile data fall roughly into one of two categories. Some have excellent mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure and so providers are able to offer large amounts of data, which brings down the price per gigabyte. Others with less advanced broadband networks are heavily reliant on mobile data and the economy dictates that prices must be low, as that's what people can afford.

"At the more expensive end of the list, we have countries where often the infrastructure isn't great but also where consumption is very small. People are often buying data packages of just a tens of megabytes at a time, making a gigabyte a relatively large and therefore expensive amount of data to buy. Many countries in the middle of the list have good infrastructure and competitive mobile markets, and while their prices aren't among the cheapest in the world they wouldn't necessarily be considered expensive by its consumers."