The Fastest Internet in the World – Country Index 2019

With internet usage increasing day by day re-assessment of countries with the fastest internet was required. Below are our insights and new country rankings based on average speed in the country.

207 countries, 267+ million tests and millions of ISPs were all that Cable.co.uk required to compare and re-assess the global internet index. This is the third year that they have conducted the assessment, in this over 12 months of data is collected.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 11.03Mbps is the average broadband speed in the world.
• Taiwan overtook Singapore and now has the fastest internet speed in the world. Average internet speed in Taiwan is 85.02Mbps.
• The lowest internet speed was found to be 0.38Mbps in Yemen, making it the slowest in the world.
• To download a 5GB movie in Yemen it took over 30 hours, while in Taiwan it was just 8 minutes.
• Top five countries are 125 times faster in terms of download speed when compared to the slowest five countries.
• European countries claimed 37 spots in the top 50 countries while Asia Pacific region claimed 10 spots along with North America claiming 2 spots and the remaining one was claimed by Madagascar becoming the only country from Africa.
• Ofcom a UK based telecom watchdog said a minimum of 10Mbps is required for small business or a family of 4. 141 countries were found to be falling below this required speed.

WHO IS GETTING FASTER?

Yes, the internet is getting faster day by day. The global average speed is increased by 20.65% from 9.1Mbps in 2017 to 11.03Mbps in 2018.

However, the thing to note here is which are the countries that are contributing to this speed. The developed nations who already have the infrastructure ready with them, and with the base ready they are able to upgrade the technology with ease getting them faster internet speed.

Comparatively, the development is very slow or negligible in the countries which are in the bottom half of the list. Rolling out the upgraded technology is difficult as the base is only not ready yet, so there is a very less increase in the speed.

Our study shows that the smaller countries have the fastest internet in the world as they are more developed and coverage is less. Larger and less developed nations will continue to have slower speed unless they invest heavily on infrastructure keeping user base in mind. Like India is doing currently, taking a jump of 14 places.

BY REGION

It is not surprising that Europe has 37 countries listed in the top 50 countries with the fastest internet speed. The territory of Jersey was found to be the fastest in Europe, 67.64Mbps being its fastest speed. With an average speed of 55.18Mbps Sweden became Europe’s fastest country. 

Denmark with an average speed of 43.99Mbps took the fifth spot and Luxembourg not far behind claiming the seventh spot with an average speed 40.12Mbps. The only countries from the European region which could not find a place in the top 100 were Turkey and Armenia which were ranked 102 and 110 respectively.

The United Kingdom jumped a position claiming the 34th spot. With an average speed of 22.37Mbps, it got faster by 3.8Mbps compared to 2017.

INTERNET MAP

Below is the color-coded world map with average internet speed. A cluster of countries with the fastest internet speed can be seen in the European region, while the slowest countries form a cluster over the African continent.

Map courtesy Cable.co.uk

A mixed speed is observed in the Asia Pacific region. With countries like Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, and Hong Kong have some of the fastest internet speed. On the other hand, there are countries like Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan which have the slowest internet speed.

32.89 Mbps is the average speed of the United States making it the country with the fastest internet speed in the American continents. The US is 15th on the list. With an average speed of 16.12Mbps, the Cayman Islands is the fastest in the Latin American region. And with an average speed of 1.37Mbps Venezuela claims the 183rd spot on the list making it the slowest in the American region.

12 Arab countries are present in the bottom half of the list, of which 9 are in the Asia-Pacific region and the remaining three are in the Latin American region. The only Arab countries which are present in the top half of the list are the United Arab Emirates at 67th position and Bahrain at 94th position.

25 out of 50 slowest countries are present in the African continent making it the worst-performing continent in terms of internet speed. The only country to make it in the top 50 in Madagascar. South Africa at 75 and Kenya at 84 positions are the only other two countries which make it into the top 100 list.

Country wise Average internet speed

Rank	Country	Region	Avg Speed (Mbps)	5GB Download Time	Change
1	Taiwan	Asia & Pacific	85.02	00h 08m	13
2	Singapore	Asia & Pacific	70.86	00h 09m	-1
3	Jersey	Europe	67.46	00h 10m	7
4	Sweden	Europe	55.18	00h 12m	-2
5	Denmark	Europe	49.19	00h 13m	-2
6	Japan	Asia & Pacific	42.77	00h 15m	6
7	Luxembourg	Europe	41.69	00h 16m	1
8	Netherlands	Europe	40.21	00h 16m	-1
9	Switzerland	Europe	38.85	00h 17m	2
10	San Marino	Europe	38.73	00h 17m	N/A
11	Norway	Europe	38.46	00h 17m	-7
12	Andorra	Europe	38.31	00h 17m	6
13	Spain	Europe	36.06	00h 18m	3
14	Belgium	Europe	35.69	00h 19m	-8
15	United States	North America	32.89	00h 20m	5
16	Latvia	Europe	32.74	00h 20m	-3
17	New Zealand	Asia & Pacific	32.72	00h 20m	9
18	Estonia	Europe	31.55	00h 21m	-3
19	Hong Kong	Asia & Pacific	31.37	00h 21m	0
20	Hungary	Europe	31.1	00h 21m	-11
21	Lithuania	Europe	30.66	00h 22m	-4
22	France	Europe	30.44	00h 22m	1
23	Slovakia	Europe	29.45	00h 23m	-2
24	Finland	Europe	29.34	00h 23m	0
25	Canada	North America	28.76	00h 23m	8
26	Slovenia	Europe	27.83	00h 24m	2
27	Germany	Europe	24.64	00h 27m	-2
28	Poland	Europe	24.38	00h 28m	4
29	Ireland	Europe	23.87	00h 28m	7
30	Malaysia	Asia & Pacific	23.86	00h 28m	18
31	Czechia	Europe	23.27	00h 29m	-4
32	Portugal	Europe	22.75	00h 30m	-3
33	Madagascar	Africa	22.57	00h 30m	-11
34	United Kingdom	Europe	22.37	00h 30m	1
35	Iceland	Europe	22.13	00h 30m	-1
36	Liechtenstein	Europe	22.04	00h 30m	1
37	Romania	Europe	21.8	00h 31m	-32
38	Gibraltar	Europe	20.27	00h 33m	6
39	Monaco	Europe	20.2	00h 33m	21
40	Austria	Europe	19.33	00h 35m	-2
41	Macao	Asia & Pacific	19.19	00h 35m	0
42	Rep. of Korea	Asia & Pacific	19.18	00h 35m	-12
43	Serbia	Europe	19.17	00h 35m	7
44	Guernsey	Europe	18.26	00h 37m	10
45	Thailand	Asia & Pacific	18.21	00h 37m	-5
46	Malta	Europe	18.16	00h 37m	0
47	Italy	Europe	17.3	00h 39m	-4
48	Croatia	Europe	17.22	00h 39m	-6
49	Bulgaria	Europe	16.95	00h 40m	-18
50	Australia	Asia & Pacific	16.36	00h 41m	2
51	Cayman Islands	Latin America	16.12	00h 42m	4
52	Barbados	Latin America	16.03	00h 42m	-13
53	Aruba	Latin America	15.15	00h 45m	-4
54	Russia	Europe	14.89	00h 45m	-7
55	Bermuda	North America	13.55	00h 50m	12
56	Greece	Europe	13.41	00h 50m	1
57	Belarus	Europe	13.19	00h 51m	9
58	Trinidad & Tobago	Latin America	12.9	00h 52m	-2
59	Kosovo	Europe	12.07	00h 56m	-6
60	Rep. of Moldova	Europe	11.56	00h 59m	-15
61	U.S. Virgin Islands	Latin America	11.45	00h 59m	0
62	Bahamas	Latin America	11.13	01h 01m	3
63	Isle of Man	Europe	11.04	01h 01m	-1
64	Cyprus	Europe	11	01h 02m	-5
65	Faroe Islands	Europe	10.21	01h 06m	-2
66	Réunion	Asia & Pacific	10.02	01h 08m	76
67	UAE	Arab States	9.62	01h 10m	30
68	Dominica	Latin America	9.48	01h 12m	19
69	Uruguay	Latin America	9.16	01h 14m	9
70	Montenegro	Europe	9.1	01h 14m	4
71	Jamaica	Latin America	9.08	01h 15m	-2
72	Israel	Europe	8.85	01h 17m	-2
73	Turks & Caicos Islands	Latin America	8.78	01h 17m	-22
74	India	Asia & Pacific	8.66	01h 18m	14
75	South Africa	Africa	8.4	01h 21m	1
76	Panama	Latin America	8.09	01h 24m	-4
77	Puerto Rico	Latin America	8	01h 25m	-4
78	North Macedonia	Europe	7.97	01h 25m	-10
79	Bonaire	Latin America	7.92	01h 26m	N/A
80	British Virgin Islands	Latin America	7.75	01h 28m	14
81	Ukraine	Europe	7.72	01h 28m	-23
82	Sri Lanka	Asia & Pacific	7.67	01h 28m	-1
83	Curaçao	Latin America	7.64	01h 29m	-3
84	Kenya	Africa	7.62	01h 29m	-20
85	Albania	Europe	7.61	01h 29m	1
86	Bosnia & Herz.	Europe	7.53	01h 30m	-15
87	Martinique	Latin America	7.23	01h 34m	-3
88	Georgia	Europe	7.14	01h 35m	-11
89	Vietnam	Asia & Pacific	7.02	01h 37m	-14
90	Belize	Latin America	6.8	01h 40m	18
91	Guadeloupe	Latin America	6.72	01h 41m	8
92	Indonesia	Asia & Pacific	6.65	01h 42m	-9
93	Greenland	North America	6.51	01h 44m	N/A
94	Bahrain	Arab States	6.24	01h 49m	-4
95	St Kitts & Nevis	Latin America	6.16	01h 50m	-16
96	Saint Lucia	Latin America	6.08	01h 52m	23
97	Philippines	Asia & Pacific	6.05	01h 52m	-8
98	Mexico	Latin America	6.02	01h 53m	-13
99	Antigua & Barbuda	Latin America	5.91	01h 55m	10
100	Morocco	Arab States	5.48	02h 04m	5
101	Qatar	Arab States	5.35	02h 07m	10
102	Turkey	Europe	5.27	02h 09m	-11
103	Saudi Arabia	Arab States	5.27	02h 09m	1
104	Jordan	Arab States	5.2	02h 11m	-2
105	Sint Maarten	Latin America	5.13	02h 13m	-12
106	Grenada	Latin America	5.07	02h 14m	31
107	Oman	Arab States	5.07	02h 14m	3
108	Mauritius	Africa	5.02	02h 16m	31
109	Myanmar	Asia & Pacific	4.87	02h 20m	-9
110	Armenia	Europe	4.85	02h 20m	-3
111	Brazil	Latin America	4.84	02h 21m	22
112	Brunei	Asia & Pacific	4.78	02h 22m	-11
113	Kazakhstan	Asia & Pacific	4.66	02h 26m	-18
114	Tunisia	Arab States	4.64	02h 27m	-2
115	Fiji	Asia & Pacific	4.62	02h 27m	12
116	Anguilla	Latin America	4.59	02h 28m	N/A
117	Costa Rica	Latin America	4.52	02h 31m	-11
118	Iran	Asia & Pacific	4.39	02h 35m	27
119	New Caledonia	Asia & Pacific	4.34	02h 37m	-2
120	Saint-Barthélemy	Latin America	4.12	02h 45m	N/A
121	Dominican Rep.	Latin America	4.09	02h 47m	-25
122	Cambodia	Asia & Pacific	4.03	02h 49m	-19
123	Saint Martin	Latin America	3.98	02h 51m	N/A
124	Chile	Latin America	3.89	02h 55m	-32
125	Kuwait	Arab States	3.88	02h 55m	0
126	St Vincent & the Gren.	Latin America	3.81	02h 59m	6
127	Guam	Asia & Pacific	3.73	03h 02m	-3
128	Nepal	Asia & Pacific	3.62	03h 08m	16
129	Paraguay	Latin America	3.55	03h 12m	26
130	Guyana	Latin America	3.49	03h 15m	-2
131	Colombia	Latin America	3.48	03h 16m	-17
132	Ecuador	Latin America	3.46	03h 17m	-6
133	Suriname	Latin America	3.4	03h 20m	3
134	Namibia	Africa	3.39	03h 21m	-3
135	Rwanda	Africa	3.34	03h 24m	-5
136	Cabo Verde	Africa	3.31	03h 26m	-21
137	Guatemala	Latin America	3.22	03h 32m	-19
138	Uganda	Africa	3.22	03h 32m	2
139	Ghana	Africa	3.2	03h 33m	-19
140	Zambia	Africa	3.13	03h 37m	6
141	Azerbaijan	Asia & Pacific	3.1	03h 39m	-6
142	Burundi	Africa	3.03	03h 45m	-8
143	Haiti	Latin America	2.94	03h 51m	-5
144	El Salvador	Latin America	2.93	03h 52m	-21
145	Seychelles	Africa	2.93	03h 53m	11
146	Laos	Asia & Pacific	2.92	03h 53m	-48
147	Peru	Latin America	2.86	03h 58m	-34
148	Honduras	Latin America	2.84	04h 00m	-26
149	Argentina	Latin America	2.83	04h 01m	-33
150	Zimbabwe	Africa	2.73	04h 09m	-29
151	Bangladesh	Asia & Pacific	2.72	04h 11m	-3
152	China	Asia & Pacific	2.69	04h 13m	-11
153	Comoros	Africa	2.54	04h 28m	N/A
154	Nicaragua	Latin America	2.54	04h 28m	-25
155	Kyrgyzstan	Asia & Pacific	2.5	04h 33m	8
156	Papua New Guinea	Asia & Pacific	2.47	04h 36m	-6
157	Tanzania	Africa	2.34	04h 51m	-8
158	French Guiana	Latin America	2.26	05h 01m	-15
159	Senegal	Africa	2.25	05h 03m	10
160	Mozambique	Africa	2.16	05h 16m	-7
161	Liberia	Africa	2.11	05h 23m	-3
162	Mongolia	Asia & Pacific	2.1	05h 24m	-1
163	Togo	Africa	1.96	05h 48m	10
164	Sudan	Arab States	1.93	05h 53m	-2
165	Botswana	Africa	1.92	05h 56m	-1
166	Libya	Arab States	1.88	06h 03m	1
167	Lebanon	Arab States	1.84	06h 11m	-7
168	Ivory Coast	Africa	1.83	06h 12m	-11
169	Palestine	Arab States	1.83	06h 13m	-15
170	Maldives	Asia & Pacific	1.81	06h 16m	-23
171	Bolivia	Latin America	1.73	06h 33m	-20
172	Cuba	Latin America	1.66	06h 51m	-90
173	Egypt	Arab States	1.62	07h 01m	-3
174	Malawi	Africa	1.59	07h 10m	5
175	Mali	Africa	1.56	07h 17m	12
176	Nigeria	Africa	1.56	07h 18m	-24
177	French Polynesia	Asia & Pacific	1.51	07h 31m	-9
178	eSwatini ( Swaziland)	Africa	1.45	07h 51m	-4
179	Pakistan	Asia & Pacific	1.44	07h 55m	-8
180	Iraq	Arab States	1.39	08h 11m	-2
181	Uzbekistan	Asia & Pacific	1.37	08h 17m	3
182	Algeria	Arab States	1.37	08h 19m	-7
183	Venezuela	Latin America	1.37	08h 20m	-7
184	Afghanistan	Asia & Pacific	1.26	08h 59m	-4
185	Gabon	Africa	1.26	09h 03m	-4
186	Guinea	Africa	1.25	09h 05m	10
187	Angola	Africa	1.21	09h 22m	-22
188	Gambia	Africa	1.21	09h 25m	-22
189	Sierra Leone	Africa	1.2	09h 29m	-30
190	DR Congo	Africa	1.1	10h 21m	0
191	Mayotte	Africa	1.09	10h 24m	-6
192	Tajikistan	Asia & Pacific	1.05	10h 50m	-4
193	Cameroon	Africa	1.03	11h 04m	-21
194	Burkina Faso	Africa	1.02	11h 09m	-2
195	Syria	Arab States	0.95	12h 02m	-1
196	Benin	Africa	0.94	12h 02m	-19
197	Rep. of Congo	Africa	0.93	12h 14m	-6
198	Djibouti	Arab States	0.88	12h 54m	-9
199	São Tomé & Príncipe	Africa	0.87	13h 08m	-17
200	Somalia	Arab States	0.86	13h 17m	-3
201	Ethiopia	Africa	0.8	14h 10m	-18
202	Niger	Africa	0.71	16h 05m	-9
203	Turkmenistan	Asia & Pacific	0.7	16h 10m	-5
204	Mauritania	Arab States	0.59	19h 22m	-9
205	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	0.51	22h 22m	N/A
206	Timor-Leste	Asia & Pacific	0.45	25h 24m	-7
207	Yemen	Arab States	0.38	30h 01m	-7