UK ranked 34th in world broadband-speed league table

The UK has moved to 34th place in an annual worldwide broadband-speed league table, having taken 35th place in 2018.

Taiwan took the top slot, followed by Singapore and Jersey. The rest of the top 30 was made up of predominantly European countries, plus Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and the US.

The analysis also found that the UK's average speed had risen from 18.57Mbps in 2018 to 22.37Mbps.

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UK broadband speeds compared with overseas

Of the 33 countries with faster average speeds than the UK, 24 are European, with 18 being members of the EU. The analysis found that Europe has the highest concentration of countries with fast or very fast broadband - 37 of the top 50 countries are in Europe.

While the UK held fairly steady in the rankings compared with last year, it was overtaken by the Republic of Ireland, which moved up seven places to 29th position.

Average broadband speeds in the EU

The top-ranked country, Taiwan, had an average speed of 85.02Mbps. This means that it would take just over eight minutes to download a 5GB HD film. In the UK, the same film would take 30 minutes and 31 seconds to download at the average speed.

The analysis found that the average global speed was 11.03Mbps - a 20% increase on last year's average. Unsurprisingly, the slowest speeds were found in less economically developed states - Yemen came in last place, with an average broadband speed of just 0.38Mbps.

The analysis was conducted by Cable.co.uk using speed-test data from 207 countries.

Use our free broadband speed checker to see how your speed compares, and if you're getting what you paid for.

Speed up and fix your broadband

When you sign up to a broadband deal, the provider should always give you a clear idea of what speed you could expect in your home.If you're experiencing slow broadband, use our tips on how to speed up slow broadband to ensure you're getting the fastest speed possible.

If you're having issues connecting, we can help with that as well. Our guides on how to fix your broadband and how to fix your router offer plenty of helpful tips and advice.

If you have standard (ADSL) broadband, it's worth considering upgrading your connection to fibre. We've found that customers who have fibre connections are significantly more satisfied with both the speed of their broadband and the reliability of their connection. Fibre deals can be competitively priced, too - some are the same price (or cheaper) than standard broadband.

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