Countries Having the Fastest Internet

Covid has changed everything when it comes to where you live. If you’re looking at moving abroad or becoming a digital nomad down the line, you’re going to become very concerned about which countries have the fastest internet so you can get work done and do video calls. You may need to run an online business via Wi-Fi and do bandwidth-heavy activities like uploading videos. If you’re a digital nomad, you may base yourself in several countries over the course of a year and will need to have fast internet service in all of them.

The good news is, internet speeds worldwide are increasing rapidly each year. In 2017, the average global internet connectivity speed for downloads was 7.2 megabits per second (Mbps). Now in 2020 it’s up to 75 Mbps, a ten-fold increase. Mobile data speeds are up to 30, and with 5G rolling out we can see 10x on the next generation of mobile speeds.

If you’re in a well-wired hotel or home, you’re best off in expensive and densely populated city-states like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Andorra. That’s according to Ookla, the company that provides the Speedtest app you should have on your phone when shopping for an apartment or long-term hotel stay. A few countries to live in rate highly though, including the champ for many years running: Romania. That European bargain has climbed up to #3 in the world for fixed broadband at an average of 151 Mbps. Wow! They’re only #41 on the mobile speed list, but at an above-average 36 Mbps. You’ll be able to download and upload at will in Transylvania, no problem.

Next up is Thailand, winning the “most improved” category. It climbed five spots in one year and is now #4 in the world according to Ookla, with download speeds of 150. I’m guessing these results are influenced by who is using the app, so rural Thailand is probably nowhere near that number, but you’ll get it in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Ko Samui, and Hua Hin, which probably covers 95% of the expats living in Thailand.

Fastest Mobile Data

If you’re looking for the best mobile wireless, Ookla also publishes that, but you can drill down further on data that’s not app-dependent on OpenSignal.com. According to the latter, which was measuring during the virus pandemic’s higher demand, the best countries overall (45 Mbps or more) tend to be some of the richest and most developed: Japan, Korea, Singapore, Netherlands, and Canada.

The cheap countries with the highest mobile internet speeds, the ones scoring above 2o Mbps, were Bulgaria, Romania, Portugal, Mexico, and Vietnam. 

Airport with the Fastest Internet Speeds

Who has the fastest internet in airports? If you often need to do work from the airport on your way out, you might want to get to the airport early after your vacation in Hawaii. Or be based in Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix, or Nashville. Those are the U.S. airports to rank highly in this airport Wi-Fi study from 2019.