Internet Speeds v Prices
21 February 2019Ever looked at your broadband bill and thought — ruddy heck, that’s a bit steep given it takes me 10 minutes to load the next Love Is Blind episode. Well, us too. So we decided to see where in the world gives you the most bang for your buck web-wise.
Whether you're working from home or, ahem, 'working from home', you might feel as if your not getting the most bang for your buck, web-wise. Well take a look at the graph below to see where your country comes!
Internet Speeds v Prices — The Data
Our plan was simple. We used the user-submitted broadband speed averages from each country from speedtest.net and globally gathered broadband price averages from cable.co.uk. Dividing one value by another got us to the magic figure of average £ per Mbps — showing where gets you the most internet for the least moneys.
You can probably take a guess as to where might have cheap internet and where might have a fast connection. But that magical combination of speed and price? That's something that caught us by surprise...
Internet Speeds v Prices — The Results
Eastern Europe has absolutely knocked it out of the park here. Romania takes 1st ($0.05 / Mbps) with Lithuania in 2nd ($0.11 / Mbps) and Russia in 3rd ($0.12 / Mbps). In fact, 7 of the top 10 best value countries were either part of the Soviet Union or occupied by it for a time. Madness.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Thailand bursts in at 8 at $0.18 / Mbps, showing its muscle as a thriving Newly Industrialised economy (and one where you can download Stranger Things easily). France rounds out the top 10 with a magnifique $0.20 / Mbps.
There were some surprises in the top 20, too. Sure, South Korea (11), Singapore (14) and Hong Kong (20) made appearances but so did some less likely lads. Moldova, for instance, continues the theme of eastern european economies with badass net connections. Kazakhstan (18) and Vietnam (19) were also big hitters.
Where's the UK, you ask? Down in 53rd. Ouch.
We've also colour-coded our graph so you can see where the internet is super speedy but a little more expensive and where it's cheap but slower - and we've got that info below too...
Fastest Countries
If speed is your thing, these are the countries to aim for. Singapore is number 1, at 202.21 Mbps, 30 Mbps clear of anyone else. Wealth havens Hong Kong, Monaco and Switzerland are in 2, 3 and 5, whilst Romania outperforms all expectations in 4th place.
Elsewhere, the USA's 8th place (134.77 Mbps) is pretty impressive given just how much land there is to cover — it certainly puts the UK's 46th place (65.82 Mbps) to shame. To put that into context, average internet speeds in Kuwait, Malta and Jordan are faster than ours.
So if you ever thought your internet could be a little quicker, you'd be right — your friend in Singapore could download 3 episodes of Love Is Blind in the time it takes for you to download 1.
Interesting tidbit: the global average is 56.18 Mbps, so although the UK is ahead of most of the world, we're not that ?far ahead.
| Rank | Country | Average Broadband Speed. |
| 1 | Singapore | 202.21 Mbps |
| 2 | Hong Kong | 169.78 Mbps |
| 3 | Monaco | 162.65 Mbps |
| 4 | Romania | 148.98 Mbps |
| 5 | Switzerland | 146.81 Mbps |
| 6 | France | 139.65 Mbps |
| 7 | Sweden | 134.83 Mbps |
| 8 | United States | 134.77 Mbps |
| 9 | Thailand | 130.41 Mbps |
| 10 | Denmark | 130.28 Mbps |
| 11 | Liechtenstein | 129.74 Mbps |
| 12 | Hungary | 128.32 Mbps |
| 13 | Spain | 125.18 Mbps |
| 14 | Macau | 125.14 Mbps |
| 15 | Canada | 124.58 Mbps |
| 16 | South Korea | 124.39 Mbps |
| 17 | Norway | 119.47 Mbps |
| 18 | Taiwan | 119.44 Mbps |
| 19 | Luxembourg | 118.79 Mbps |
| 20 | Netherlands | 109.10 Mbps |
| 21 | New Zealand | 108.89 Mbps |
| 22 | Portugal | 105.78 Mbps |
| 23 | Andorra | 102.66 Mbps |
| 24 | Lithuania | 101.87 Mbps |
| 25 | Latvia | 100.70 Mbps |
Cheapest Countries
Things get seriously interesting in the pricing section. Alongside the now usual suspects from Eastern Europe (Ukraine wins with an average of just $6.64 per month in broadband bills), Russia isn't far behind in 2nd ($7.35 per month) with Romania 3rd with $8.15.
Asia makes a good showing here too, with South Asian countries doing well (Iran at 6 and Vietnam at 9), whilst Central Asia's Kazakhstan (7) and Uzbekistan (10) make the top 10 too!
Keep scrolling to find the UK, we're way down in 67th with an average cost of $35.71 — though if it's any consolation, at least we're better off than our American cousins in 107 - with an average cost of $50 per month, you could get 8 months of internet for that price in the Ukraine.
| Rank | Country | Average Monthly Broadband Price |
| 1 | Ukraine | $6.64 |
| 2 | Russia | $7.35 |
| 3 | Romania | $8.15 |
| 4 | Belarus | $9.87 |
| 5 | Bhutan | $10.42 |
| 6 | Iran | $10.50 |
| 7 | Kazakhstan | $11.10 |
| 8 | Lithuania | $11.14 |
| 9 | Vietnam | $11.23 |
| 10 | Uzbekistan | $11.44 |
| 11 | Moldova | $11.57 |
| 12 | Nepal | $12.05 |
| 13 | Mongolia | $12.59 |
| 14 | India | $12.90 |
| 15 | Turkey | $13.61 |
| 16 | Argentina | $13.69 |
| 17 | Egypt | $13.82 |
| 18 | Georgia | $13.86 |
| 19 | Tunisia | $14.28 |
| 20 | Armenia | $14.60 |
| 21 | Poland | $15.78 |
| 22 | Bulgaria | $15.93 |
| 23 | Latvia | $16.55 |
| 24 | Azerbaijan | $16.76 |
| 25 | Hungary | $16.91 |
The full data
So what does this mean?
In short, if you want top speed — head to East Asia or Western Europe. If you're after the cheapest possible price, Eastern Europe, South and Central Asia are your best bets. And for a delicious combination of the two, to get the most Mbps for the fewest £s, start from Romania and head East. You won't go far wrong.
Wondering about internet on home soil? The UK isn't really up to speed right now — we've covered the variation across regions in our UK broadband vs prices guide.
Comment
Geoff Parkhurst, Chief Technology Officer for vouchercloud, said:
"As we become ever more connected, it’s clear that the internet is a utility - not a luxury. Our research suggests that, on a global level, the quality of internet varies hugely. Whilst Eastern Europe and East Asia provide their citizens with fast internet at inexpensive prices, plenty of other countries are failing to do so. Western economies — take note!"
Methodology
- Average broadband speeds collated from Speedtest.com's rankings - correct as of January 2020.
- Average broadband prices from cable.co.uk's price index.
- Currency conversions done Tuesday 17th March 2020.
- https://www.speedtest.net/global-index
- https://www.cable.co.uk/broadband/pricing/worldwide-comparison/
Internet deals
If your internet could use an upgrade, do yourself a favour and head to our broadband and internet vouchers page for some ingenious ways to save on your browsing. Alternatively, try the BT, Plusnet or TalkTalk pages!
