South Africa is ranked 97th in the world in average national broadband speed, according to the annual Worldwide Broadband Speed League report released by Cable.co.uk.
The report analysed more than 557 million broadband speed tests worldwide, revealing the ranking of 221 countries and territories when it comes to average national network speeds.
The data was gathered by M-Lab, an open-source project with contributors from civil society organisations, educational institutions, and private sector companies.
At the top of the global broadband speed rankings was Lichtenstein, which boasts a mean download speed of 229.98Mbps. A connection this fast means it would take you just under three minutes to download a 5GB movie.
“Last year, the five fastest countries had download speeds around 125-times faster than the five slowest. That gap is widening,” Cable.co.uk said.
“This year, the top five are 276-times faster than the five slowest.”
In last place is South Sudan, which has a mean download speed of just 0.58Mbps.
According to the report, the average national broadband speed in South Africa was 14.04Mbps – a speed at which it would take over 48 minutes to download a 5GB movie.
We compared the average broadband speeds in South Africa and the rest of the world.
South Africa vs Sub-Saharan Africa
South Africa has one of the fastest average broadband speeds in Sub-Saharan Africa, beaten only by Madagascar and Réunion.
Other countries in this region tend to have far lower broadband speeds, with fewer tests and unique IPs measured across the board.
The broadband speed rankings for Sub-Saharan Africa are shown below.
Rank | Country |
Mean Download Speed (Mbps)
|
---|---|---|
1 | Madagascar |
18.00
|
2 | Réunion |
16.35
|
3 | South Africa |
14.04
|
4 | Kenya |
8.20
|
5 | Lesotho |
7.43
|
6 | Mauritius |
7.28
|
7 | Zimbabwe |
6.92
|
8 | Liberia |
6.83
|
9 | Cape Verde |
6.64
|
0 | Senegal |
5.93
|
11 | Cote D’Ivoire |
5.55
|
12 | Ghana |
5.46
|
13 | Uganda |
5.16
|
14 | Comoros |
4.85
|
15 | United Republic of Tanzania |
4.54
|
16 | Eswatini |
4.51
|
17 | Gabon |
4.37
|
18 | Burkina Faso |
4.19
|
19 | Angola |
4.15
|
20 | Malawi |
4.07
|
21 | Burundi |
4.04
|
22 | Togo |
4.03
|
23 | Seychelles |
3.96
|
24 | Namibia |
3.91
|
25 | Sierra Leone |
3.86
|
26 | Zambia |
3.84
|
27 | Rwanda |
3.80
|
28 | Mayotte |
3.52
|
29 | Mozambique |
3.47
|
30 | Mali |
3.45
|
31 | Nigeria |
3.34
|
32 | Guinea |
3.04
|
33 | Botswana |
2.78
|
34 | Cameroon |
2.78
|
35 | Niger |
2.77
|
36 | Chad |
2.25
|
37 | DR Congo |
2.06
|
38 | Republic of the Congo |
2.00
|
39 | São Tomé and Príncipe |
1.99
|
40 | Benin |
1.67
|
41 | Guinea-Bissau |
1.61
|
42 | Gambia |
1.60
|
43 | Djibouti |
1.50
|
44 | Sudan |
1.35
|
45 | Somalia |
1.14
|
46 | Ethiopia |
1.12
|
47 | Equatorial Guinea |
0.75
|
48 | South Sudan |
0.58
|
South Africa vs The World
South Africa’s average broadband speeds fall significantly short of countries within Europe and America.
Cable.co.uk consumer telecoms analyst Dan Howdle said the global increase in broadband speeds can be attributed primarily to faster countries.
“While global broadband speeds continue to trend upward, the truth is faster countries are the ones lifting the average, pulling away at speed and leaving the slowest to stagnate,” Howdle said.
“The slowest countries are not slowing, they are simply not growing – while the fastest countries continue to accelerate year-on-year,” he said.
Below are the top 100 countries in the world ranked by mean broadband speed.
Rank | Country | Mean Download Speed (Mbps) |
---|---|---|
1 | Liechtenstein |
229.98
|
2 | Jersey |
218.37
|
3 | Andorra |
213.41
|
4 | Gibraltar |
183.09
|
5 | Luxembourg |
118.05
|
6 | Iceland |
116.88
|
7 | Switzerland |
110.45
|
8 | Hong Kong |
105.32
|
9 | Monaco |
104.98
|
10 | Hungary |
99.74
|
11 | Netherlands |
95.60
|
12 | Aruba |
89.81
|
13 | Malta |
87.36
|
14 | Denmark |
85.03
|
15 | Aland Islands |
81.31
|
16 | Sweden |
81.29
|
17 | Bermuda |
73.60
|
18 | Singapore |
72.75
|
19 | Slovak Republic |
72.26
|
20 | United States |
71.30
|
21 | Estonia |
70.90
|
22 | Norway |
67.31
|
23 | New Zealand |
66.66
|
24 | Belgium |
66.49
|
25 | Slovenia |
65.46
|
26 | Romania |
61.08
|
27 | Cayman Islands |
57.96
|
28 | Barbados |
56.90
|
29 | Republic of Lithuania |
56.63
|
30 | Spain |
55.84
|
31 | Poland |
55.40
|
32 | Taiwan |
54.77
|
33 | Japan |
54.62
|
34 | Canada |
52.60
|
35 | Latvia |
52.32
|
36 | France |
51.33
|
37 | Puerto Rico |
47.87
|
38 | Malaysia |
46.82
|
39 | Bulgaria |
46.22
|
40 | Isle of Man |
44.16
|
41 | Finland |
44.05
|
42 | Germany |
42.33
|
43 | Republic of Korea |
40.81
|
44 | Grenada |
38.64
|
45 | Bahamas |
38.14
|
46 | Portugal |
37.99
|
47 | United Kingdom |
37.82
|
48 | Guernsey |
36.83
|
49 | Panama |
36.55
|
50 | Turks and Caicos Islands |
36.29
|
51 | Ireland |
34.87
|
52 | Croatia |
33.82
|
53 | Thailand |
30.61
|
54 | Saint Pierre and Miquelon |
30.31
|
55 | Trinidad and Tobago |
29.70
|
56 | United Arab Emirates |
28.33
|
57 | Czechia |
28.12
|
58 | Austria |
27.74
|
59 | Republic of Moldova |
27.48
|
60 | Israel |
26.49
|
61 | Greece |
26.01
|
62 | Australia |
25.65
|
63 | Montenegro |
25.07
|
64 | Russian Federation |
24.98
|
65 | Serbia |
24.74
|
66 | San Marino |
24.26
|
67 | Qatar |
23.98
|
68 | Italy |
23.18
|
69 | Uruguay |
22.16
|
70 | Virgin Islands, U.S. |
21.39
|
71 | Curaçao |
20.87
|
72 | Sri Lanka |
20.73
|
73 | Kosovo |
20.30
|
74 | Jamaica |
20.01
|
75 | Vatican City |
19.12
|
76 | Greenland |
18.65
|
77 | Madagascar |
18.00
|
78 | Brazil |
17.89
|
79 | Belize |
16.57
|
80 | Paraguay |
16.50
|
81 | Costa Rica |
16.42
|
82 | Réunion |
16.35
|
83 | Saint Lucia |
16.35
|
84 | Mexico |
16.19
|
85 | Chile |
16.10
|
86 | Belarus |
16.08
|
87 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
15.69
|
88 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
15.66
|
89 | Cyprus |
15.62
|
90 | Faroe Islands |
15.47
|
91 | New Caledonia |
15.15
|
92 | Ukraine |
15.09
|
93 | Macau |
14.66
|
94 | Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan |
14.54
|
95 | Saint Martin |
14.49
|
96 | Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba |
14.28
|
97 | South Africa |
14.04
|
98 | Martinique |
14.02
|
99 | Virgin Islands, British |
13.63
|
100 | Georgia |
13.50
|
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