LONDON, 9 August 2026. Travellers buying mobile data in the Caribbean pay 11.6 times more per gigabyte than travellers in Europe, according to the first eSIM Price Index published today by MegaEsim. The index is built from 2,776 live retail prices covering 189 countries, taken from the company's own checkout on 9 August 2026.

Across 22 Caribbean countries the median cheapest price is $6.64 per gigabyte. Across 43 European countries the same figure is $0.57. The gap is widest at the top of the Caribbean table: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at $9.32 per gigabyte, Haiti at $8.60 and the Bahamas at $7.88. A week of data costs a median of $7.71 in the Caribbean and $1.29 in Europe, so a two week trip to the islands starts at roughly six times the European price for the same amount of connectivity.

The index also shows how wide the global spread has become. Thailand is the cheapest country in the world to get online at $0.22 per gigabyte, on a 50 GB plan priced at $11.19. Monaco is the most expensive at $18.08 per gigabyte. That is a spread of 81 times between the cheapest and the most expensive country on earth, while the median country sits at $1.68 per gigabyte. Africa is the second most expensive region at a median of $4.48 per gigabyte across 33 countries. At the other end, 74 of the 189 countries measured sit exactly on the $1.29 floor, the lowest price MegaEsim will sell at, which means price competition in those markets has already hit its limit.

"The number that surprised us was not Monaco, it was the Caribbean," said Enola Soha of MegaEsim. "Island wholesale rates have not moved the way European rates have, and the traveller pays the difference. Somebody flying to Saint Vincent is buying the same gigabyte as somebody flying to Lisbon, and paying sixteen times more for it. We publish our own prices because we are the ones charging them, and anybody can check the number at checkout."

The index will be refreshed on the same schedule as the underlying price catalogue, with month over month movers published from the next update.

Methodology: Prices are the live retail prices in MegaEsim's own catalogue, read directly from the product database on 9 August 2026, after the last full catalogue sync on 7 August 2026. Price per gigabyte is the lowest price divided by data allowance across all metered plans for a country. Unlimited plans are excluded because they have no gigabyte denominator. The cheapest week figure is the lowest price among plans valid for 7 days or more. All figures are in US dollars as charged. Regional figures are medians, not averages, so one outlier country cannot move a region.

About MegaEsim: MegaEsim sells travel eSIM data plans in more than 184 countries, with live pricing and instant delivery, at https://megaesim.com. Every country has its own page showing the plans and prices available there. Plans start at $1.29.

Media contact: Enola Soha, [email protected], +44 7766 550740. MegaEsim, Meydan Grandstand, 6th Floor, Al Meydan Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.