To find the cheapest mobile data for a traveler, we took every fixed-data travel eSIM in our catalog, 884 plans covering 197 destinations, and divided each price by its gigabytes. The spread is wide. A 10 GB, 30-day plan costs $9.99 in seven places and $63.99 in Jamaica. Inside a single country, two plans with the same data and the same validity can differ by a factor of three.
These are travel eSIM prices, not the rates locals pay on a domestic SIM. That is the number that matters if you are landing somewhere and want data working before you leave the airport. Plan details change, so treat the live listing on each product page as the source of truth before you buy. You can browse every plan in the EasyTravelData catalog.
How We Measured Price per GB
Price per GB sounds simple: price divided by data. The catch is that the answer depends almost entirely on which plans you let into the calculation, so here is exactly what we counted.
We started from every published product on September 18, 2026 and removed three groups. Top-up add-ons (735 of them) were removed because they only work on an eSIM you already own. Unlimited plans (35) were removed because they have no fixed gigabyte figure to divide by. Service items such as eSIM replacements were also dropped. That left 884 plans with a fixed data amount: 590 sold for one country and 294 covering several.
For each destination we then asked two questions. First, what is the cheapest price per GB across all of its single-country plans, at any size? Second, and more useful for comparing places fairly, what does a 10 GB plan valid for 30 days cost? The second number holds size and validity constant, so the ranking reflects the destination rather than which country happens to have a jumbo plan listed.
One definition matters for the count. When a territory shares its parent country’s plans (Puerto Rico inside the USA listings, San Marino and Vatican City inside Italy), we count those plans as single-country, the same rule our price map uses.
Where Is Mobile Data Cheapest? The 10 GB Ranking
Fifty-nine destinations have their own 10 GB, 30-day plan. Seven of them tie at the bottom price of $9.99, or just under $1 per GB:
| Destination | Cheapest 10 GB / 30 days | Works out per GB at 10 GB |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand | $9.99 | $1.00 |
| Malaysia | $9.99 | $1.00 |
| Indonesia | $9.99 | $1.00 |
| Japan | $9.99 | $1.00 |
| Hong Kong | $9.99 | $1.00 |
| Macau | $9.99 | $1.00 |
| Australia | $9.99 | $1.00 |
| South Korea | $10.99 | $1.10 |
| China | $11.99 | $1.20 |
| Singapore | $11.99 | $1.20 |
| Turkey | $12.99 | $1.30 |
| United States | $12.99 | $1.30 |
| Philippines | $12.99 | $1.30 |
The pattern is regional. Of the ten cheapest destinations at this tier, nine are in East or Southeast Asia and the tenth is Australia. The median across all 59 destinations is $22.99, which means the typical country on the list charges more than double what Thailand or Japan does for the same data.
If you want a sense of how Asia compares as a whole, the median 10 GB price for the 27 Asian destinations with a plan at that tier is $17.99. Africa’s 10 destinations come in at $31.49, and both North and South America sit at $31.99. The Thailand eSIM plans are a good reference point for what the cheap end looks like.
Where Is Travel Data Most Expensive?
At the same 10 GB, 30-day tier, the top of the list looks like this:
| Destination | Cheapest 10 GB / 30 days | Times the $9.99 floor |
|---|---|---|
| Jamaica | $63.99 | 6.4x |
| Mexico | $46.99 | 4.7x |
| Madagascar | $43.99 | 4.4x |
| Rwanda | $42.99 | 4.3x |
| Kosovo | $41.99 | 4.2x |
| Brunei | $41.99 | 4.2x |
| Colombia | $40.99 | 4.1x |
| Cameroon | $37.99 | 3.8x |
Mexico is the one that surprises people. It is a mass-market destination, yet its cheapest single-country 10 GB plan costs almost five times Japan’s. Latin America as a block is expensive: Argentina ($33.99), Panama ($32.99), and Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua (all $31.99) cluster well above the global median.
Small plans tell a similar story at the far end. Fifty-six destinations sell a 1 GB single-country plan. The cheapest is $4.49 and the median is $5.49, but Benin’s only fixed-data plan is 1 GB for $15.99, and Togo’s is 1 GB for $12.99. In the Maldives, the best price per GB on any single-country plan is $10.33, from a 3 GB plan at $30.99.
Why Does Price per GB Fall So Fast With Plan Size?
Because most plans are priced as a base fee plus data, the per-gigabyte rate drops steeply as the plan gets bigger. Across the single-country plans valid for 30 days, the median price per GB at each common size is:
| Plan size (30 days) | Plans counted | Median price per GB |
|---|---|---|
| 3 GB | 68 | $3.66 |
| 5 GB | 87 | $3.00 |
| 10 GB | 97 | $2.50 |
| 20 GB | 75 | $1.60 |
| 30 GB | 19 | $0.93 |
| 50 GB | 23 | $0.80 |
Going from 3 GB to 50 GB cuts the median rate by roughly 78%. That is why a “cheapest per GB” ranking that ignores size is misleading. It mostly rewards whichever countries happen to have a big plan listed.
It also means the cheapest plan per GB is rarely the cheapest plan for you. A 50 GB plan at $0.80 per GB costs around $40 in total. If your trip needs 8 GB, a 10 GB plan at $9.99 is the better deal even though its rate per GB looks worse. Our data calculator is the quickest way to size a trip before you compare rates.
The Outliers: 500 GB and 1 TB Plans
If you sort every destination by its single lowest price per GB, the top three are not countries anyone would guess:
- United Kingdom: 999 GB for 30 days at $31.99, about 3.2 cents per GB
- Montenegro: 1 TB for 30 days at $35.99, about 3.6 cents per GB
- Serbia: 500 GB with calls for 30 days at $35.99, about 7.2 cents per GB
These are effectively unlimited plans written as a very large number. Nobody on a two-week trip uses 500 GB, so the rate is technically true and practically irrelevant. For the UK, the same catalog’s cheapest 10 GB plan costs $16.99, which is the number most visitors should care about.
Below those, the lowest rate among plans of 100 GB or less belongs to Thailand: a 50 GB plan valid for 10 days at $12.99, or 26 cents per GB. Bulgaria (100 GB for 180 days at $37.99, 38 cents) and Malaysia (50 GB for 30 days at $22.99, 46 cents) follow. Watch the validity on the Thai plan, though. Ten days is fine for a short trip and useless for a month.
Overall, 25 of the 82 destinations with their own plans have at least one option at $1.00 per GB or less.
Same Country, Same Size, Up to 3x the Price
The widest price gaps are not between countries. They are inside them. We grouped single-country plans by destination, data amount and validity, and found 93 groups with two or more plans on sale. In 86 of those, the plans were not all the same price.
| Destination and tier | Cheapest | Most expensive | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA, 5 GB / 30 days | $7.99 | $23.99 (includes 50 call minutes) | 3.0x |
| USA, 10 GB / 30 days | $12.99 | $35.99 (includes 100 call minutes) | 2.8x |
| Morocco, 10 GB / 30 days | $18.99 | $48.99 (“Premium” plan) | 2.6x |
| China, 20 GB / 30 days | $17.99 | $37.99 | 2.1x |
| Japan, 10 GB / 30 days | $9.99 | $17.99 | 1.8x |
| Australia, 10 GB / 30 days | $9.99 | $16.99 | 1.7x |
Some of the gap buys something: bundled call minutes in the US examples, or a different network setup behind a “Premium” label. Some of it does not show up in the headline at all. Before paying the higher price, open both product pages and compare the network, the hotspot setting and whether the plan can be topped up. If none of those matter to your trip, the cheaper plan does the same job.
When Is a Multi-Country Plan Cheaper Than the Country’s Own?
You might assume a plan built for one country always beats a regional pack at the same size. At the 10 GB, 30-day tier, 11 of the 59 destinations with their own plan have a cheaper multi-country option covering them:
| Destination | Own 10 GB plan | Cheaper multi-country 10 GB plan |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | $16.99 | $13.99 (Europe, 34 countries) |
| Iceland | $16.99 | $13.99 (Europe, 34 countries) |
| Taiwan | $20.99 | $14.99 (Asia, 14 countries) |
| India | $18.99 | $14.99 (Asia, 14 countries) |
| Bangladesh | $15.99 | $14.99 (Asia, 14 countries) |
| Mexico | $46.99 | $33.99 (North America, 3 countries) |
| Jamaica | $63.99 | $49.99 (Best World, 173 countries) |
| Colombia | $40.99 | $35.99 (Latin America, 10 countries) |
| Qatar | $29.99 | $26.99 (Middle East and North Africa, 13 countries) |
| Ghana | $30.99 | $26.99 (Nigeria and Ghana) |
| Rwanda | $42.99 | $40.99 (Africa, 5 countries) |
The Jamaica row is the strangest one: a plan that works in 173 countries costs $14 less than Jamaica’s own. For Mexico, a plan that also covers the US and Canada saves $13. For the other 48 destinations the country’s own plan is the same price or cheaper at this tier. The practical rule is to check the regional plan for your destination before you assume the country plan wins.
The 115 Destinations With No Single-Country Plan
Here is the finding that changes how you should read any “cheapest country” list: 115 of the 197 destinations we cover have no single-country plan at all. You reach them only through a multi-country plan.
That includes most of Western Europe. France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland have no plan of their own in the catalog. France and Italy share two-country plans, as do Germany and Austria, and Spain and Portugal. Their cheapest 10 GB, 30-day option is the 34-country Europe plan at $13.99, which undercuts most single-country prices elsewhere in the world. So Europe is not expensive for travel data. It is just sold as a region. Our Europe eSIM guide and the Europe category page list those plans side by side.
The rest of the 115 break down like this: 41 in Europe, 28 in North America (mostly Caribbean islands and parts of Central America), 25 in Africa, 9 in Oceania, and 6 each in Asia and South America. For 42 of them, the best rate per GB comes from a global plan (25 GB for 90 days at $86.99, about $3.48 per GB). The Caribbean is the clearest example. Barbados, the Bahamas, Saint Lucia and the Cayman Islands have no island-specific plan, so travelers there pay global-plan rates.
At the far end, 10 destinations have no 10 GB, 30-day option of any kind: Timor-Leste, the Maldives, Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Niger, Zambia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and the Northern Mariana Islands. For those, plan around smaller data amounts or shorter validity.
FAQ
Which country has the cheapest mobile data for travelers?
At a like-for-like 10 GB, 30-day plan, seven destinations tie at $9.99: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau and Australia. If you allow any plan size, the lowest rate among plans of 100 GB or less is Thailand’s 50 GB, 10-day plan at about 26 cents per GB.
Where is travel data the most expensive?
Jamaica is the most expensive at the 10 GB, 30-day tier, at $63.99, followed by Mexico at $46.99 and Madagascar at $43.99. For the smallest plans, Benin’s only fixed-data plan is 1 GB for $15.99.
Is a bigger plan always better value per GB?
Per gigabyte, yes: the median rate falls from $3.66 at 3 GB to $0.80 at 50 GB for 30-day plans. In total cost, no. If you only need 8 GB, a $9.99 10 GB plan beats a $40 50 GB plan even though its rate per GB is higher.
Why is there no France or Germany eSIM in the ranking?
Our catalog sells Western Europe as regional plans rather than single-country ones. France, Germany, Spain and several neighbors are reached through two-country or Europe-wide plans, and the cheapest 10 GB, 30-day option for them is the 34-country Europe plan at $13.99.
Why do two plans for the same country and data amount cost different prices?
They come from different network providers and sometimes include extras such as call minutes. Of 93 groups of same-country, same-size, same-validity plans, 86 had a price difference, up to 3x for a US 5 GB plan. Compare the network, hotspot and top-up details on both product pages before paying more.
Conclusion: Compare the Tier, Not the Headline Rate
The cheapest mobile data for travelers is in East and Southeast Asia and Australia, where 10 GB for 30 days costs $9.99. Latin America, parts of Africa and Jamaica sit at three to six times that. But the most useful findings are the traps between those two ends. Jumbo plans make some countries look absurdly cheap per GB. Plans for the same country and size can differ threefold. In 11 destinations a regional plan undercuts the country’s own. And for 115 destinations, including most of Western Europe, there is no single-country plan to compare in the first place.
Before you buy, confirm
- You compared plans at the data amount you will actually use, not the lowest price per GB on the page.
- The validity covers your whole trip; some of the cheapest per-GB plans last only 10 days.
- You checked whether a regional plan covering your destination is cheaper than the country’s own plan.
- If two plans for the same country differ in price, you know what the extra money buys (calls, network, hotspot, top-up).
- Your destination has its own plan, or you know which regional plan covers it.