AI access, cost and use · Southern Asia · Asia · data read 1 Oct 2026

Bhutan

In Bhutan, a $20-a-month AI plan costs 14% of the median living standard, 18 times the share it takes in the United States; for 75% of people it is over a tenth of what they live on. Claude, OpenAI's API and Gemini are all officially offered. 91% of people use the internet.

14%of the median living standard for a $20 planAsia median 13% · United States 0.79%

75%of people for whom the plan is over a tenth of their living standardabout 599k people

3of 3leading services officially offeredClaude · OpenAI · Gemini

91%of people use the internetworld 74% · 797k people

The figuresBhutan

People797k

Median living standard$1,728a year per person · consumption

A $20 plan takes14%of that · 18× the US share

For whom it is over a tenth75%of people

Survey2022revalued at 2025 prices

GNI per person$4,310plan is 5.6% of it

Claude use per personnot reported

Notable AI models built here0

Officially offered here3 of 3

Run it yourself →

Claude · claude.ai appYes

OpenAI · APIYes

Gemini · web appYes

From each lab's own published list: Anthropic's Claude.ai countries, OpenAI's API countries and Google's Gemini web app countries. Not listed means not officially served; open-weight models can be run anywhere.

Against Asia and the worldregional figures are medians or population-weighted

Measure	Bhutan	Asia	World
A $20 plan ÷ median living standard	14%	13%	9.9%
People for whom it is over a tenth	75%	72%	63%
Plan price ÷ GNI per person	5.6%	3.9%	2.9%
People using the internet	91%	76%	74%
Claude use per working-age person	not reported	0.43×	1.00×
Notable AI models built	0	283	1,256

NeighboursSouthern Asia · lightest burden first

Country	People	Online	$20 plan ÷ median living standard	Over a tenth	Claude use per person	Official lists
Maldives	530k	85%	5.9%	14%	not reported	3 of 3
Bhutan	797k	91%	14%	75%	not reported	3 of 3
Sri Lanka	22 m	55%	27%	92%	0.56×	3 of 3
Nepal	30 m	46%	27%	96%	0.41×	3 of 3
Bangladesh	176 m	53%	31%	97%	0.11×	3 of 3
India	1.46 bn	70%	41%	99%+	0.30×	3 of 3
Pakistan	255 m	57%	55%	99%	0.31×	3 of 3
Iran	92 m	85%	no estimate	–	not reported	0 of 3
Afghanistan	44 m	16%	no estimate	–	not reported	1 of 3

All countries →

The foundationsBhutan against the world

World Bank ↗

People using the internet

91%world 74%

People with electricity

100%world 92%

Mobile subscriptions per 100 people

100world 112

Fixed broadband lines per 100 people

2.9world 20.1

Enrolled in university-level education

13%world 44%

Research spending, share of GDP

0.1%world 2.6%

Researchers per million people

236world 1,652

Secure internet servers per million people

1,339world 16,381

The latest World Bank figure for each measure. The tick marks the world figure.

A $20-a-month plan ($240 a year, US list price) against the median household living standard per person in each country. The median is from the latest national household survey (World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform), revalued from 2021 purchasing-power dollars into US dollars at recent prices and official exchange rates, assuming real living standards have not changed since the survey. Some surveys measure income and others consumption, which includes food people grow and housing they own, so this is a living standard, not cash to spare. Countries with no survey since 2015 or no defensible exchange rate are left blank.

World Bank household surveys ↗Anthropic countries ↗OpenAI countries ↗Gemini countries ↗Anthropic Economic Index ↗Epoch AI notable models ↗