Western European countries top global broadband speed rankings

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Western Europe dominates the global internet speed charts, with eight of the top 10 countries with the fastest broadband speeds in the world. Cable.co.uk's analysis of billions of speed tests shows that if you want to experience the true world's fastest internet, you need to move to Jersey, which tops the list with an average speed of 274.27Mbps.

Only two countries and regions outside Western Europe made it into the top ten, namely Macau, China (128.56Mbps) and Hungary in Central Europe (104.07Mbps). The average speed of the United Kingdom is 51.48Mbps, ranking 20th in Europe and 43rd in the world. The United States ranks 14th in the world with an average speed of 92.42Mbps.

The worst average speed is in North Africa, where the average speed is the lowest in the world (5.68Mbps). The worst single country is former Soviet republic Turkmenistan, with a speed of only 0.50Mbps.

Things are improving, though. Last year, the five fastest countries had download speeds about 276 times faster than the five slowest. That gap narrowed for the first time since the study began in 2017. This year, the top five are just 202 times faster than the slowest five.

Meanwhile, while countries lower down the ranking still suffer from abysmal internet speeds, the 2021 figures do suggest that the situation is improving globally.

Europe once again dominates the rankings, largely due to excellent infrastructure. In all cases, the countries that ranked highest were those that had a strong focus on pure fiber (FTTP) networks, while those that dawdled on FTTC and ADSL solutions slipped further year-on-year.

You can explore these results on an interactive map on the Cable.co.uk website:

​​https://www.cable.co.uk/broadband/speed/worldwide-speed-league/​​