UK broadband speeds are terrible, and this leaderboard proves it

If you think your broadband speeds aren’t up to scratch – you’re definitely not alone.

The latest world internet speed league has just been revealed, and the UK is way down the list when comes to offering the fastest downloads. That’s according to a new annual study from the team at Cable.co.uk who say they have conducted around 1.3billion tests across the globe to discover which parts of the planet offer the finest broadband.

So who came out on top and how well does the UK perform in comparison?

The number 1 place if you want speedy downloads is Jersey with residents of this island, nestled off the north-west of France, seeing average speeds of around 264Mbps. That’s easily fast enough to download a full HD movie in around 2 minutes.

Next in the top five is Liechtenstein (246Mbps), followed by Macau (231Mbps), Iceland (229Mbps) and Gibraltar (206Mbps). Those averages are pretty impressive but the same can’t be said for the UK.

According to Cable.co.uk, Britain languishes all the way down in 34th place with a speed score of just 93Mbps – that’s almost three times slower than Jersey! Other countries that beat us include Romania (100Mbps), Spain (133Mbps), Andorra (190Mbps), Slovenia (97Mbps) and even Puerto Rico (96Mbps).

Luckily, there is some better news with the UK’s average speeds increasing slightly over last year which shows things are slowly improving. However, there’s still a long way to go before homes are experiencing the speeds they truly deserve.

If your downloads are driving you to distraction it’s worth checking if any Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) upgrades have been rolled out in your street as you might actually find quicker internet access is now available.

Another top tip is to shop around as some smaller providers – known as Alt Networks – continue to pop up all over the UK and often offer very fast speeds for a cheaper price. For example, London’s Community Fibre currently has its 1Gbps service for just £25 per month and Hyperoptic has 500Mbps free for the first three months.

Speaking about the latest stats, Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at Cable.co.uk, said: “The UK continues to keep apace with average speeds around the world, failing to gain ground on other countries in the global league table, while at the same time maintaining roughly the same position.

“Speeds have increased globally by 30.044% since the same period in 2021/2022, while UK speeds have increased by 29.933% across the same period. Meanwhile, Europe continues to dominate the global league table, extending its lead over much of the world as FTTP full fibre continues to make an increasingly large dent in consumer uptake.”