Worldwide Broadband Speed League 2020

Interactive map

Using the map

Countries are colour-coded by average broadband speed measured. As you can see, this paints an interesting picture, with the majority of faster countries clustered around Europe, and most of the slowest countries on the African continent.

Hovering over an individual country will bring up its associated speed data. This includes country name, its ranking out of the 221 countries measured, its mean average download speed, and how long it would take to download a 5GB HD movie using this average speed.

Why some countries are missing data

When it comes to internet provision, the situation varies both by country and region. Generally speaking though, you can apply the rule that the larger and less developed the nation is, the slower the internet access tends to be.

Liechtenstein (this year's fastest) for example, occupies a very small geographical area, and typically the smaller the country's landmass, the easier it becomes to upgrade the infrastructure. There is the economic necessity of Liechtenstein's vibrant digital economy, coupled with the relative ease of delivering high-speed connections across a smaller area.

Conversely, the economy of Western Sahara suffers from geographical remoteness, drought and political turmoil, with agriculture its chief industry. It is vast. There is therefore arguably no pressing economic necessity for high-speed internet, while the cost of delivery would almost certainly exceed Western Sahara's GDP.

Although Western Sahara is just one example, most of the countries not included in the study have issues preventing them from rolling out worthwhile digital infrastructure, and therefore failed to generate enough tests to provide a useful average. Countries excluded were: Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Central African Republic, Cook Islands, Western Sahara, Eritrea, Falkland Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, Kiribati, North Korea, Montserrat, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Saint Helena, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Tokelau, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna, and Samoa.

M-Lab's 2.0 platform upgrade

This is the fourth year running we have undertaken this research. The 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 results are included in the downloadable data set so that year-on-year change may be observed. However, it should be noted that M-Lab has updated its measurement platform this year, with the net effect that absolute speeds are higher than they otherwise would have been. As always, the relative positions in the global league table should be the focus, rather than the absolute numbers. You will find more details about the platform upgrade in the downloadable methodology document.

Our other projects

Cable.co.uk also undertakes annual tracking studies covering the cost of 1GB of mobile data in over 200 countries, and the cost of broadband packages in over 200 countries. In August of 2020, we also released an in-depth report on how COVID-19 lockdown periods have affected global network speeds.

Broadband comparison services

Cable.co.uk helps you quickly and easily compare broadband packages from the UK's leading broadband providers.

Highlights

Here is a quick look at the fastest countries or territories in the world according to the study

#1. Liechtenstein
98% of Liechtenstein's near-40,000 population are internet users (compared to 95% in the UK, or 6% in Chad). The population enjoys excellent connectivity with fast, reliable provision.
#2. Jersey
Jersey is the first jurisdiction in the world to make pure fibre (FTTP) available to every broadband user. Jersey's shift from third to second shows that uptake has been healthy.
#3. Andorra
92% of Andorrans are internet users, and the country enjoys excellent connectivity. With a population of just 77,000 and an area of just 468km squared, infrastructure is fast and modern.
#4. Gibraltar
Gibraltar covers a tiny area – the British Overseas Territory is just 6.7km squared. With a population of around 34,000, it shares low population and small landmass with the other top performers here.

Global average broadband speed continues to rise

Tracking broadband speed measurements in 221 countries and territories (207 last year) across multiple 12-month periods has allowed us to generate an overall average speed for the globe and to see how this number changes over time. The good news is that the global average speed is rising fast.

The average global broadband speed measured during the period from 11 May 2016 to 10 May 2017 was 7.40Mbps. The average global broadband speed measured during the period from 30 May 2017 to 29 May 2018 was 9.10Mbps – a rise of 23.35%. Last year, the average speed measured in the period from 9 May 2018 to 8 May 2019 was 11.03Mbps – a further rise of 20.65% over the previous year.

However, as previously noted, M-Lab's measurement platform upgrade has skewed year-on-year speed tracking on this occasion, with average global speeds for 2020 rising to 24.83Mbps – more than double the average of the previous year. It is fair to assume that another rise of around 20% globally has once again occurred in the background, with the remainder of the rise explicable by the platform upgrade.

For more information on the M-Lab platform upgrade, please refer to the downloadable methodology document.

The gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen

Before you paint a picture that broadband provision is improving globally based on yearly increases in average global speed, consider that, on average, the top 100 countries in the table have gained 28.61Mbps while the bottom 100 in the table have gained by an average of only 1.54Mbps.

Of course, the top 100 have proportionately faster speeds to begin with, so we really need to look at the percentage increases to see what’s actually going on. Not including new entries, the top 100 countries have increased their average broadband speed by 142.98%. The bottom 100 countries have increased their average broadband speed by 62.54%.

The UK is tumbling down the table and is now among the slowest countries in Europe

The top of the table is dominated by Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Baltics, as is evident from even a quick glance at our interactive map. Of the top 50 countries, 32 of them are in Europe. Last year’s results placed the UK 34th in the world. This year the UK places 47th.

Last year, we predicted that with the UK only just beginning to roll out FTTP (fibre to the premises), and with a number of other European countries already a long way ahead of the UK in this regard, it would likely slip down the table when we took these measurements 12 months later, and that is exactly what has happened.

Our sample size is nearly 109% larger than last year

Thanks to the increased proliferation of the M-Lab speed test tools, this year we were able to build our report from over 577 million individual speed tests in 221 countries, compared to the 276 million tests in 207 countries which formed last year’s data set. This has allowed us to include a further 14 countries that we were not able to include previously, due to the sample sizes being too low to produce a useful number.

Previous years' results

This is the fourth year running we have undertaken this research. The previous years' results are included in the data set for easy tracking.

Regions

Here we take a closer look at how average broadband speeds by global region, along with the fastest and slowest in each.

Asia (excl. Near East)
27 countries were measured in the Asia (ex. Near East) region, which clocked in a regional average speed of 20.18Mbps. The fastest average speeds were measured in Hong Kong (105.32Mbps, 8th), Singapore (72.75Mbps, 18th), and Taiwan (54.77Mbps, 32nd) – all three of which have also performed well in previous years. China (2.09Mbps, 200th), Afghanistan (1.37Mbps, 211th), and Timor-Leste (0.89Mbps, 216th) were the slowest in the region, with Timor-Leste finding itself in the bottom ten countries in the world.
Baltics
The Baltics, comprising three qualifying countries, ranked entirely in the top 50, and have an overall regional average of 59.95Mbps. Estonia fared best in 21st place overall and with an average speed of 70.90Mbps. Lithuania (56.63Mbps, 29th), and Latvia (52.32Mbps, 35th) followed behind fairly closely.
Caribbean
Overall the Caribbean region fared well for what are essentially island nations, with seven of the 27 countries measured featuring in the top 50 fastest countries in the world. Overall, the region offers a respectable 20.77Mbps on average. At the faster end, Aruba (89.81Mbps, 12th), Cayman Islands (57.96Mbps, 27th), and Barbados (56.90Mbps, 28th) led the way, while Anguilla (5.38Mbps, 148th), Sint Maarten (4.69Mbps, 158th), and Cuba (3.16Mbps, 185th) were the slowest.

Central America
Most Central American countries found themselves toward the middle of the league table. The region as a whole has an average speed of 14.01Mbps, but there are winners and losers in the region. The fastest average speeds can be found in Panama (36.55Mbps, 49th), Belize (16.57Mbps, 79th), and Costa Rica (16.42Mbps, 81st). Meanwhile, Nicaragua (6.65Mbps, 132nd), El Salvador (6.13Mbps, 137th), and Honduras (5.93Mbps, 139th) all performed comparatively poorly.
CIS (former USSR)
Of the 11 CIS (former USSR) nations in the table, most can be found from the middle of the table downwards. The region had an average speed of 9.16Mbps. The top-three fastest nations in the region were Russia (24.98Mbps, 64th), Belarus (16.08Mbps, 86th), and Ukraine 15.09Mbps, 92nd). The slowest countries in the region were Uzbekistan (2.10Mbps, 199th), Tajikistan (1.01Mbps, 215th) and Turkmenistan (0.74Mbps, 219th). Both Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were among the slowest ten places in the world.
Eastern Europe
There are 16 qualifying countries in the Eastern Europe region, all of which are in the top half of the table, with one (Hungary) making it into the top ten, and five others in the top 50. Overall the region averages 39.08Mbps. The fastest three were Hungary (99.74Mbps, 10th), Slovakia (72.26Mbps, 19th) and Slovenia (65.46Mbps, 25th). The slowest three were Bosnia and Herzegovina (15.66Mbps, 88th), Albania (12.36Mbps, 104th), and North Macedonia (11.48Mbps, 109th).

Near East
The 15 countries in the Near East measured for this year's speed league table span the middle to the bottom of the table. The average for speed for the region is 11.68Mbps. The fastest countries were United Arab Emirates (28.33Mbps, 56th), Israel (26.49Mbps, 60th) and Qatar (23.98Mbps, 67th). The slowest were Lebanon (2.34Mbps, 195th), Syrian Arab Republic (0.76Mbps, 217th) and Yemen (0.65Mbps, 220th). And while Yemen did not come dead last for the first time since the study began, it did come second-last, and was joined by Syria in the bottom ten.
Northern Africa
Northern Africa recorded the lowest overall internet speeds as a collective region, with all six qualifying countries in the bottom half of the table. Mauritania (1.47Mbps) recorded the slowest speed in 210th place, followed by Algeria (1.83Mbps, 204th), and Libya (2.60Mbps, 194th). Moroccos (6.55Mbps, 134th), Tunisia (5.66Mbps, 144th), and Egypt (4.71Mbps, 157th) offered the fastest speed in the region.
Northern America
Five countries were measured in Northern America, all of which were in the top half of the table. The region as a while has an average speed of 49.29Mbps. Bermuda (73.60Mbps, 17th) and the United States (71.30Mbps, 20th) led the region with impressive averages. Meanwhile, Canada (52.60Mbps, 34th), Saint Pierre and Miquelon (30.31Mbps, 54th), and Greenland (18.65Mbps, 76th) were the slowest in the region.

Oceania
Of the 13 qualifying countries in Oceania, most were in the bottom half of the speed table. The region has an overall average of 12.59Mbps. Leading the regional table here is New Zealand (66.66Mbps, 23rd), which trounces second-place (in the region) Australia (25.65Mbps, 62nd), and New Caledonia (15.15Mbps, 91st). The slowest in the region were Marshall Islands (2.75Mbps, 191st), Papua New Guinea (2.67Mbps, 193rd) and Vanuatu (2.22Mbps, 197th).
South America
The 13 countries measured in South America span the upper-middle to very bottom of the table, with a regional average speed of 9.65Mbps. The fastest internet in South America can be found in Uruguay (22.16Mbps, 69th), Brazil (17.89Mbps, 78th), Paraguay (16.50Mbps, 80th), and Chile (16.10Mbps, 85th), all of which deliver respectable averages above the 10Mbps comfort zone. Guyana (4.43Mbps, 165th), Suriname (4.42Mbps, 166th), and Venezuela (1.61Mbps, 207th) were the slowest in the region.
Sub-Saharan Africa
48 countries were measured in second-slowest region Sub-Saharan Africa, 45 of which found themselves in the lowest 50% of countries in the table. Going against the trend somewhat were Madagascar (18.00, 77th), Réunion (16.35Mbps, 82nd), and South Africa (14.04Mbps, 97th). Meanwhile, last-place South Sudan (0.58Mbps, 221st), Equatorial Guinea (0.75Mbps, 218Mbps), Ethiopia (1.12Mbps, 214th), Somalia (1.14Mbps, 213th), and Sudan (1.35Mbps, 212th) all fell within the bottom ten countries in the world for network speed.

Western Europe
All 29 countries measured in Western Europe were in the top half of the table, countries in the region taking eight of the top ten spots in the world for internet speed. The regional average speed of 81.19Mbps makes it the fastest of the 13 global regions overall. Impressive average speeds were measured for regional top-three Liechtenstein (29.98Mbps, 1st in the world), Jersey (218.37Mbps, 2nd) and Andorra (213.41Mbps, 3rd). The slowest places in the region were Italy (23.18Mbps, 68th), Vatican City (19.12Mbps, 75th), and Faroe Islands (15.47Mbps, 90th).

Our comments

While global broadband speeds continue to trend upward, the truth is faster countries are the ones lifting the average, pulling away at speed and leaving the slowest to stagnate. Last year, we measured the slowest five countries at 125 times slower than the five fastest. This year they are 276 times slower. The slowest countries are not slowing, they are simply not growing. While the fastest countries continue to accelerate year-on-year.
Europe absolutely dominates the leaderboard once again thanks to largely excellent infrastructure. In all cases, those countries ranking highest are those with a strong focus on pure fibre (FTTP) networks, with those countries dawdling too much on FTTC and ADSL solutions slipping further down year-on-year.

Countries and territories with a heavier reliance on or ongoing investment in pure fibre (FTTP) networks, or are upgrading to fibre or LTE from even more aged technologies, continue to see their averages rise. Those that are somewhat late to that particular party, however, the UK being a case in point when it comes to pure fibre networks, have slipped back as others have risen faster.
While around 60% of the UK has access to the Virgin Media network and can get speeds of up to 516Mbps, and there is limited availability of smaller networks such as Hyperoptic offering gigabit speeds, the Openreach network remains the anchor that keeps average speeds in the UK comparatively low. Entry-level fibre packages and 'fast' fibre packages on Openreach have been set at around 30-35Mbps and 60-70Mbps respectively for more than five years now with no significant changes beyond how those speeds are advertised.
As shown by the domination of smaller countries and regions at the top of the table – Liechtenstein, Jersey, Andorra, Gibraltar – it is obviously far easier to upgrade a country or territory to full fibre the smaller it happens to be. However, the UK still finds itself a long way behind many nations of equal or greater size. Ultimately, the UK, specifically Openreach, is comparatively late in its rollout of pure fibre networks, which is causing the UK to stagnate, while other nations gain ground.

Cable.co.uk's annual internet speed ranking using M-Lab data is a great example of open data being used to encourage public understanding of broadband speeds people receive around the world. Average speed rankings by country are a great starting point for deeper research and statistical analysis of the state of broadband using M-Lab's global broadband measurement datasets.

Resources

Downloadable versions of the data set (.xls), the original press release and the research methodology (.pdf)

League table
The full league table can be downloaded here and includes a comparison to previous years' results.
DOWNLOAD
Press release
If you wish to see the original press release for this research, you can download both the UK and international variants here as a PDF.
DOWNLOAD
Methodology
Our research methodology and notes on how to interpret speed data can be downloaded here as a PDF.
DOWNLOAD

Contact us

Dan Howdle
Consumer telecoms analyst
Email: dan@cable.co.uk
Mark Ashton
Head of Research and Development
Email: mark@cable.co.uk

Interactive map

Using the map

Why some countries are missing data

M-Lab's 2.0 platform upgrade

Our other projects

Broadband comparison services

Highlights

#1. Liechtenstein

#2. Jersey

#3. Andorra

#4. Gibraltar

Global average broadband speed continues to rise

The gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen

The UK is tumbling down the table and is now among the slowest countries in Europe

Our sample size is nearly 109% larger than last year

Previous years' results

Regions

Asia (excl. Near East)

Baltics

Caribbean

Central America

CIS (former USSR)

Eastern Europe

Near East

Northern Africa

Northern America

Oceania

South America

Sub-Saharan Africa

Western Europe

Our comments

Resources

League table

Press release

Methodology

Contact us

Dan Howdle

Mark Ashton

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