Countries with the Fastest Internet Speed – How Does NZ Compare?

Where in the world can you find the fastest internet speeds? According to a new report by Akamai, Asian and European countries have some of the fastest internet speeds in the world.

In this blog post, we examine each country and compare how New Zealand fibre broadband plans matchup. 

Top 10 countries with the highest average internet speed

1. South Korea (28.6 Mbps)
2. Norway (23.5 Mbps)
3. Sweden (22.5 Mbps)
4. Hong Kong (21.9 Mbps)
5. Switzerland (21.7 Mbps)
6. Finland (20.5 Mbps)
7. Singapore (20.3 Mbps)
9. Japan (20.2 Mbps)
9. Denmark (20.1 Mbps)
10. United States (18.7 Mbps)

South Korea dominates the world when it comes to average internet speeds, and they continue to push the limit. Earlier in 2018, one of their largest internet providers announced blazing internet speeds of 2.5 gigabits per second would be available for Korean consumers. To put into context just how fast that is, the company estimated three different users would be able to download a 90-minute HD movie within 3 minutes on the same network.

Norway has the fastest average internet speed in Europe, which is attributed to their strong investment toward fast broadband. Sweden led by example when it came to investing in fast broadband, and many other European countries have now followed suit. Other European countries that featured in the top 10 list include Switzerland, Finland, and Denmark. 

Highest average peak connection speed 

1. Singapore (184.5 Mbps)
2. Macao (132.0 Mbps)
3. Mongolia (131.1 Mbps)
4. Hong Kong (129.5 Mbps)
5. South Korea (121.0 Mbps)
6. Jersey (108.4 Mbps)
7. Qatar (107.9 Mbps)
8. Thailand (106.6 Mbps)
9. Israel (99.1 Mbps)
10. Sweden (95.3 Mbps)

Another interesting metric is the highest average peak connection speed. This figure is calculated by taking the highest recorded peak speeds and finding the average across a whole country. Singapore continues to top this category and remains clear ahead of any other countries when it comes to peak connection speeds.

Macao and Mongolia (who don’t feature at all across the average speed list) fill the other top 3 spots. This indicates that the internet service in Macao and Mongolia is not consistent across these countries.

How do New Zealand broadband speeds compare?

Where do you think New Zealand ranks when you look at the countries with the fastest internet speeds? On the global list, the average internet speed in New Zealand put us in 27th place. However, the average internet speed in NZ was 14.7 Mbps, still faster than the Australian average speed of 11.1 Mbps. Overall, New Zealand ranked 7th in the Asia Pacific Region - the highest peak average internet speed was 70.8 Mbps and placed New Zealand 35 overall. 

What types of internet speed are you getting in your area? Many New Zealand homes now have fibre broadband available in their area so be sure to use our fibre broadband checker if you want to see what is accessible in your region.