Jersey tops broadband speed league 2023
August 1, 2023
The five countries or territories with the fastest internet in the world are the channel island of Jersey (264.52Mbps), Liechtenstein (246.76Mbps), Macau (231.40Mbps), Iceland (229.35Mbps) and Gibraltar (206.27Mbps), according to the Worldwide broadband speed league 2023 from Cable.co.uk.
Four of the five are within Western Europe, with Macau being the obvious exception. All are either small or island nations. It is much easier to roll out FTTP full fibre broadband and 5G mobile internet to a smaller population and/or across a smaller area.
The five countries or territories in the world with the slowest network speeds are Afghanistan (1.71Mbps), the Yemen (1.79Mbps), Syria (2.30Mbps), East Timor (2.50Mbps) and Equatorial Guinea (2.70Mbps).
Two of the bottom five are located in Asia, two in Near East, and one in Sub-Saharan Africa. All of these countries suffer from underdeveloped network infrastructure and low uptake of digital services among their populations.
Western Europe
All 28 countries measured in Western Europe were in the top half of leagye table, with eight of them in the top ten. The regional average speed of 118.69Mbps makes it the fastest of the 13 global regions overall. Impressive average speeds were measured for regional top-three Jersey (264.52Mbps, 1st), Liechtenstein (246.76Mbps, 2nd) and Iceland 229.35Mbps, 4th). The slowest places in the region were Faroe Islands (41.97Mbps, 92nd), Denmark (49.98Mbps, 71st), and Austria (55.82Mbps, 67th).
The UK ranked 17th in Western Europe with an average speed of 93.63Mbps, and 34th in the worldwide league.
North America
Five countries were measured in Northern America, all of which were in the top half of the table. The region as a whole has an average speed of 94.02Mbps. The United States (136.48Mbps, 12th) led the region with Canada (136.08Mbps, 13th) coming a close second, and Bermuda (95.58Mbps, 30th) in third place. Meanwhile, Greenland (41.19Mbps, 95th) was the slowest in the region, followed by Saint Pierre and Miquelon (60.77Mbps, 57th).
Baltics
The Baltics, comprising three qualifying countries, ranked entirely within the top 50, and have an overall regional average of 80.09Mbps. Lithuania fared best in 37th place overall and with an average speed of 87.09Mbps. Lithuania (86.36Mbps, 38st), and Latvia (66.79Mbps, 40th) followed behind.
Eastern Europe
There are 16 qualifying countries in the Eastern Europe region, all bar two of which are in the top half of the table, with six making it into the top 50. Overall the region averages 67.92Mbps. The fastest three were Slovakia (138.03Mbps, 11th), Romania (100.66Mbps, 25th) and North Macedonia (97.88Mbps, 26th). The slowest three were Albania (25.36Mbps, 125th), Croatia (25.72Mbps, 124th), and Bulgaria (40.43Mbps, 98th).
Asia (excl. Near East)
There were 27 countries were measured in the Asia (ex. Near East) region, which clocked in a regional average speed of 45.72Mbps. The fastest average speeds were measured in Macau (231.40Mbps, 3rd), Taiwan (153.51Mbps, 8th), and Japan (124.70Mbps, 18th). Afghanistan (1.71Mbps, 220th), East Timor (2.50Mbps, 217th), and Pakistan (5.32Mbps, 200th) were the slowest in the region, with East Timor and Afghanistan among the slowest ten countries in the world.
South America
The 13 countries measured in South America span from the middle to the lower end, with a regional average speed of 44.38Mbps. The fastest internet in South America can be found in Uruguay (111.46Mbps, 20th), Chile (85.49Mbps, 40th) and Brazil (72.70Mbps, 48th). Venezuela (10.92Mbps, 168th), Suriname (12.48Mbps, 159th), and Bolivia (16.00Mbps, 148th) were the slowest in the region.
Caribbean
Overall the Caribbean region fared well for what are essentially island nations, with five of its 27 countries featuring in the top 50 fastest countries in the world. Overall, the region offers a respectable 38.93Mbps on average. At the faster end, the Cayman Islands (125.08Mbps, 17th), Puerto Rico (96.65Mbps, 29th), and Barbados (93.50Mbps, 35th) led the way, while Cuba (4.14Mbps, 209th), Haiti (10.75Mbps, 170th), Sint Maarten (16.00Mbps, 147th), and Dominican Republic (19.48Mbps, 137th) 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 32.88Mbps. The fastest average speeds can be found in Panama (56.93Mbps, 65th), Costa Rica (42.51Mbps, 90th), and Belize (38.86Mbps, 100th). Meanwhile, Honduras (16.76Mbps, 143rd), Guatemala (23.26Mbps, 129th), and El Salvador (23.56Mbps, 128th) all performed relatively poorly.
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 download speed for the region is 30.41Mbps. The fastest countries were Israel (75.03Mbps, 46th), Qatar (50.68Mbps, 70th) and Bahrain (47.72Mbps, 75th). The slowest were Yemen (1.79Mbps, 219th), Syria (2.30Mbps, 218th) and Lebanon (6.55Mbps, 191st).
Oceania
Of the 14 qualifying countries in Oceania, most were in the bottom half of the speed table. The region has an overall average of 25.93Mbps. Leading the regional table here is New Zealand (97.09Mbps, 27th), followed by Australia (51.27Mbps, 69th) in second place, with the Marshall Islands (36.89Mbps, 103rd) in third place. The slowest in the region were Wallis and Futuna (2.72Mbps, 215th), the Federated States of Micronesia (4.25Mbps, 208th) and Vanuatu (6.57Mbps, 190th).
CIS
Of the 11 CIS nations in the table, most can be found from the middle of the table downwards. The region had an average speed of 22.92Mbps. The top three fastest nations in the region are Russia (57.95Mbps, 62nd), Ukraine (38.13Mbps, 101st, whose speed has slowed significantly this year for obvious reasons), and Belarus (34.10Mbps, 109th). The slowest countries in the region were Tajikistan (2.98Mbps, 214th), Turkmenistan (4.49Mbps, 206th) and Azerbaijan (10.20Mbps, 171st). Both Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were among the slowest 20 places in the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa
There were 47 countries measured in the second-slowest region Sub-Saharan Africa, which averaged a download speed of 12.11Mbps overall. All but four of the countries found themselves in the slowest half of the league table. Going against the trend somewhat were Réunion (45.51Mbps, 79th), Rwanda (39.89Mbps, 99th), South Africa (36.46Mbps, 104th), and Burkina Faso (35.64Mbps, 108th). Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea (2.70Mbps, 216th), Cameroon (3.16Mbps, 213th), Ethiopia (3.54Mbps, and 212th), Burundi (3.70Mbps, 211th) all fell among the slowest ten countries in the world for average network speed.
Northern Africa
Northern Africa recorded the slowest overall internet speeds as a collective region, with an average speed of just 9.81Mbps. Morocco (16.49Mbps, 144th), Egypta (9.75Mbps, 172nd), and Tunisia (9.60Mbps, 174th) offered the fastest speeds in the region. Libya (6.32Mbps) recorded the slowest speed in 195th place, followed by Algeria (7.73Mbps, 187th), and Mauritania (8.95Mbps, 182nd).