The internet is vital to our modern world, enabling everything from endless animal videos and online shopping to deep academic research and remote work. The internet of today is faster than ever. Especially in developed nations, it enables us to watch TV shows and movies on our phones, download massive files in minutes, and collaborate with teammates in real-time via streaming video meetings. That said, some readers may be surprised to learn that other nations around the world have even faster speeds. Even if you’re paying a premium price for a top-tier service, some of the fastest internet speeds in the world may not even be available in your country.
Top 10 Countries with the Fastest Mobile Internet Speeds (Mbps) - 2021
- United Arab Emirates - 238.06
- South Korea - 202.61
- Norway - 177.72
- Qatar - 172.18
- China - 165.38
- Kuwait - 157.18
- Saudi Arabia - 155.97
- Cyprus - 144.64
- Bulgaria - 142.27
- Switzerland - 135.70
Top 10 Countries with the Fastest Broadband Internet Speeds (Mbps) - 2021
- Monaco - 261.82
- Singapore - 255.83
- Hong Kong (China) - 254.70
- Romania - 232.17
- Switzerland - 229.96
- Denmark - 227.91
- Thailand - 225.17
- Chile - 217.60
- France - 214.04
- South Korea - 212.57
According to internet speed specialists Ookla the global average download speed on fixed broadband as of September 2021 was 113.25 Mbps on fixed broadband and 63.15 Mbps on mobile. These are both notable improvements over the scores of 85.73 Mbps broadband and 35.96 Mbps mobile just one year earlier in September 2020. As technology becomes more advanced and networks are improved, these numbers are expected to continue to grow. For 2021, Monaco claimed the broadband speed title with download speeds of 226.60 Mbps, followed by last year's leader, Singapore, and Hong Kong. However, once the focus switches to mobile connectivity the list switches, with United Arab Emirates taking the top spot with 238.06 Mbps, followed by South Korea with 202.61 Mbps and Norway at 177.72 Mbps.
Smaller countries tend to have an advantage when increasing internet speed, as making the necessary infrastructure upgrades is a slower and more daunting task in larger countries (though China's mobile networks seem to be covering the country's massive area quite well). For example, the United States has only the 15th-fastest mobile speeds at 110.07 Mbps and the 13th fastest broadband speeds at 203.81 Mbps, though average internet download speeds vary substantially from state to state. For the complete speed listing for every country tested, see the table below.