The 10 countries with the fastest Internet speeds -- is yours on the list?

[steven36]

The 10 countries with the fastest Internet speeds -- is yours on the list?

The Internet has become such a necessity for hundreds of millions of people worldwide, it is hard to believe that billions still live each day without scrolling through a Facebook feed or watching a YouTube video.

That said, a lot of the people that have Internet connection do not enjoy the speed offered by Internet service providers, especially in parts of the world where oligopolies rule the web pipes.

This is seen most commonly in America, where despite having the most people online (151 million) it still lacks the average speed to make it into the top 10. Even the UK -- marveled by the US for its competitive Internet speeds -- has missed the top 10 spot.

Here are the countries that made it into the list:

10. Finland
Finland noticed a large growth in Internet speeds this year, with a 33 percent increase. It is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, with high quality of life and education, but lacks some of the peak speeds other countries in Europe and Asia reach.

9. Czech Republic
While some may still point to the Czech Republic as a ruin of a country, the truth is it is one of the fastest growing regions in Europe with high education and quality of life levels. The Internet isn’t bad either, with 12.3Mbps average speed.

8. Ireland
UK's neighboring region, Ireland has a growing technology sector and Internet speeds to match, with an average speed of 12.7Mbps. It has seen 24 percent growth in Internet speeds over the past year.

7. Latvia
Another region with a rather desolate past under the occupation of both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Latvia is starting to show a large amount of growth in all sectors. With an average Internet speed of 13Mbps, it takes the number one spot in East Europe.

6. Netherlands
Always one of the premier places for Internet dependency, The Netherlands has an average Internet speed of 14.2Mbps, a 15 percent increase on the previous year.

5. Switzerland
Another small European country with an impressive Internet speed, Switzerland managed to hit 14.5Mbps average, a 21 percent increase over the previous year.

4. Sweden
When it comes to Europe, Sweden has won the battle for average Internet speeds by a whisker, with 14.6Mbps average. Sweden has shown the most year-over-year growth with 34 percent improvement, 1 percent higher than neighboring country Finland.

3. Japan
Known for many decades as the digital capital with giants like Sony, Toshiba and Nintendo, Japan has fallen out of the limelight slightly with the growth of China. Even with the spotlight off the country, it still maintains strong Internet speeds with an average 15.2Mbps.

2. Hong Kong
The highest growing country for Internet speeds, Hong Kong hit an average of 16.8Mbps with 37 percent growth year-over-year.

1. South Korea
Still far and away the country with the fastest Internet speed, South Korea managed to hit 22.2Mbps, but that is only a 1.5 percent increase on last year’s numbers.

Source:: BetaNews

[OrbingStorm]

Well here apparently old copper wires are all we need according to those in charge.Yes Australia.

[The Owl]

trouble is the Big ones in the UK all run off the back of one BT and BT is not spreading the fibre optic out from the large towns to the smaller ones and villages and that is a lot of people so basically it is BT's fault specially when they get extra money from both UK and EU governments to do it

[dee.pee]

Not the France in this list ..... as usual :(

[shawn75]

I am in the list, netherlands

[jango]

i'm so sad for the Philippines :(

[pepperoni]

i'm so sad for the Philippines :(

Flying along @ 1.5 mbps on Mindanao

[gipsy]

fanny rating.in Ukraine usual internet speed is 100 Mbps (up/down),at least in a cities,optics cables of cource.price is a little bit more than for free so ...

[Enigmatism]

Here in formerly decent America, the Internet is ussually very VERY sucky, mostly because of parallel construction and the ability to stream a backdoor braodast on the existing Internet connection already available.

[Nastrahl]

Is this a list from the early 2000' ? It's so wrong!

[CODYQX4]

fanny rating.in Ukraine usual internet speed is 100 Mbps (up/down),at least in a cities,optics cables of cource.price is a little bit more than for free so ...

This list is either old or based on averages with a lot of people holding them down.

I've got 50Mbps, and I know full well USA internet infrastructure is from the dark ages. That thing kinda happens with monopolies and allowing AT&T to promise fiber and get DSL. I'd rather die then be stuck in one of those places that still measure in Kbps. The people who even thought it was OK to push that crap and call it high speed should be institutionalized.

[gipsy]

2 CODYQX4 that's why i do not believe any ratings endeed.

i knew internet's speed in US sucks (mostly) & it's at least strange for a country who was a pioneer in this branch.