Which country has the fastest broadband?

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Which country has the fastest internet download speeds?

The data from M-Lab shows that the country with the highest average broadband download speed was Taiwan. Coming in at 85.02Mbps, that’s a whopping increase of 202.62% on last year.

However, survey data from Ookla published in June 2019 suggests that it’s actually Singapore that has the highest internet speeds, coming in at 153.85 Mbps. The language for this study is unclear, however, and it could be that this is the highest possible available speed, but not the average speed across the country.

How does this compare to the UK’s average broadband speeds?

The data suggests the UK has an average download speed of only 22.37Mbps, giving it a ranking of 34/207. While this represents an increase on last year (from 35th), it is still a way off the 54.2Mbps recorded by Ofcom and 61.75Mbps recorded by Ookla in the same year. This is because each of these research bodies use different methodologies.

The UK comes ranks behind two thirds of its EU neighbours, who, unlike the UK, are all way ahead in deploying full fibre connection to homes (FTTP) and “ultrafast broadband” coverage.

Why do some countries have much faster broadband than others?

As with anything, some countries have better access to the funding and infrastructure needed to ensure fast download speeds. Generally speaking though, the larger and less “developed” a nation is, the slower the internet access tends to be.

Taiwan, for example, has a thriving digital economy and relies heavily on the internet for its business. Coupled with being a relatively small country, this translates into very widespread access to good internet speeds.

This works both ways. For countries such as Chad, a very remote and very big country whose primary industry is agriculture, it is very difficult to build the necessary infrastructure.

What does that mean for broadband speeds in the UK?

Speeds vary within countries as well as between them, and your ability to get the fastest and best broadband deals in the UK is largely dependent on where you live. Present estimates state that fixed superfast broadband - fibre cables providing average download speeds of 24Mbps - is available to almost 96% of UK premises. The government hopes this rises to 98% by the end of the year. Around 55-60% can access ultrafast broadband, which brings in speeds of around 100+Mbps.

In reality, many people cannot afford to upgrade or are unaware that they can. Around 33% of UK households use copper ADSL lines, which are much slower than fibre.

The UK Government claim they want to achieve nationwide coverage of fibre broadband by 2033, but this is a very long time to wait.

If you are looking for a bit more information on how fast individual providers are in the UK, see our page on "Which provider has the fastest broadband?".