Whether you are moving abroad to set up your tech startup, begin your freelance career, or enjoy the freedom of the nomadic lifestyle, the internet speeds in your host country will profoundly affect your professional performance. That being said, even if your work isn’t immediately dependant on the internet, you would still want to have a fast and stable connection to uninterruptibly complete your everyday online tasks. See below the top five countries with the highest average broadband speeds to know where you aren’t at risk of sluggish internet connection.
Singapore
Thanks to its growing digital economy and small size, Singapore's infrastructural development is fast and incorporates the latest technology available. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Singapore has the fastest internet in the world with an average speed of 60.39Mbps. Singapore's economy is heavily dependent on digital infrastructure, and at the same time, it is relatively easy to make FTTP (pure fibre) widely available across such a small area. However, not all Asia-Pacific nations enjoy lightning fast internet services; Vanuatu, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and East Timor have some of the lowest internet speeds in the world.
Sweden
Most countries with fast broadband are in Europe, meaning that almost the entire continent benefits from reliable internet speeds. Indeed, 36 out of the top 50 countries with the fastest internet speeds in the world are in Europe. Sweden is the world's second and Europe's fastest country with an average speed of 46.00Mbps. Currently, Sweden is investing in pure fibre, which is the fastest, most stable, and modern type of internet, free from the use of copper wire. Thanks to Sweden's focus on FTTP, 60% of Swedish homes and businesses enjoy speeds of up to 1,000Mbps — to put things into perspective, Armenia, which has the slowest internet in Europe, has an average speed of 3,94Mbps.
Denmark
Up one place from 2017's ranking, Denmark takes the third place this year with an average internet speed of 43.99Mbps. In practice, this means that you can download a 5GB movie in less than 16 minutes. Pure fibre is available to more than half of Danish homes and businesses, securing upgradable and competitive internet services. However, it is not just the quality of internet that will impress you in Denmark, but also the free internet availability — the Danish government has authorised municipalities to provide free internet in city centres, and free of charge internet is also available in the public transport.
Norway
The average global broadband speed has risen 23% since 2017, with the top 25 countries accounting for 45.30% of the total growth. Norway is at the fourth place of this year's ranking, three places up from last year. FTTP is now available to about 40% of Norway's population, crushing the internet speeds of many other countries with an average internet speed of 40.12Mbps.
Romania
The small Eastern European country of Romania has some of the fastest internet speeds in the world. One of the main reasons for Romania's average 38.6Mbps speeds is the low connectivity rate — only 50% of the Romanian population is connected to the internet, whereas in the US the number is more than 80%. Also, Romania's small landmass and relatively small population (about 20 million), make it easier to deliver high speeds. Even though one may think that Romania's good internet is due to the country benefiting from the latest technologies available, as it is a late country to go online, it is more thanks to the country's certified IT specialists — Romania is sixth in the world in terms of the most certified IT specialists.
