Internet speed in Europe is a topic that is highly variable because it varies depending on who measures it, when it is measured, and how it is measured. Between global indices, regional studies, and specific analyses, there are striking differences that are worth understanding before comparing countries. In this article, we compile and explain the key data to offer a comprehensive overview. panoramic vision, with the focus on Europe and Spain's position.
To make sure nothing is missed, we have integrated figures from several recognized sources in the sector: the Speedtest Global Index by Ookla, tools such as MoviSpeed ​​Test, aggregated tests from Cable.co.uk, analysis from the European Data Journalism Network, and mentions of Cloudflare measurements. The goal is to cross-reference these results and contextualize them, so you can see where each country stands and why there are discrepancies between rankings that, at first glance, seem to be talking about the same thing, but, in detail, they do not measure exactly the same.
What different sources measure and why they don't match
Ookla compiles its Speedtest Global Index monthly with data from people using its Speedtest meter around the world. Hundreds of millions of tests are performed each month, recording download and upload speeds and latency; Ookla then calculates average values ​​and ranks countries and cities. The sample size is very large, but it depends on who, where and with what connections run the test at all times.
Cable.co.uk, for its part, aggregates and refines results from multiple sources and periods, and publishes comparisons of price, speed and quality of service by country and region and the importance of the upload speed. In their 2024 speed index, they worked with over 1.5 billion global tests, which allows for another complementary picture. The European Data Journalism Network (EDJNet) has analyzed Speedtest data to measure evolution and gaps within Europe in recent years, which helps to identify trends and inequalities. And, as an interesting methodological note, Cloudflare offers network performance metrics from its own global network, which explains why, at times, holds different positions than Ookla.
Who rules Europe according to Cable.co.uk: the unique case of Jersey
A striking example of this is Jersey, across the English Channel. Although it's closer to France than to the United Kingdom, it's a British Crown dependency and pioneered the rollout of fiber optic broadband for all broadband users. With this infrastructure commitment, it ranked as the European territory with the highest average speed in 2023. 264,5 Mbps with peaks up to 944 Mbps, according to Cable.co.uk.
After Jersey, the study itself places Liechtenstein with 246,8 Mbps and Iceland with 229,4 Mbps as two other European leaders in network speed. At the opposite end of the map, Turkey appears with 24,8 Mbps, Albania with 24,4 Mbps, and Croatia with 25,7 Mbps as the only European countries below the 30 Mbps threshold in that comparison. In between, Spain appeared in eighth place in that cutoff with 133,7 Mbps, a figure that clearly reflects the positions vary depending on the source and the period analyzed.
Ookla's January 2025 photo: very well fixed for Spain, discreet mobile
Ookla's January 2025 Speedtest Global Index provides another useful benchmark. Worldwide, fixed broadband averages 97,61 Mbps download and 52,84 Mbps upload, with a latency of 9 ms. The global fixed broadband podium includes Singapore with 336,45 Mbps, the United Arab Emirates with 310,05 Mbps, and Hong Kong with 305,71 Mbps, confirming that In cutting-edge wired connections, Asia and the Middle East are pulling strong.
Spain holds its own in that picture and consolidates its position in the top 10 for fixed broadband, in ninth position, with an overall average of 245,58 Mbps, 190,14 Mbps download speed, and 11 ms latency. Furthermore, if we look at performance by city, Madrid was the best-positioned Spanish city, around 16th in the world in that measurement, a nod to the solidity of its fiber deployment. The reality changes if we look at mobile: Spain occupies a modest 51st place, with 77,60 Mbps download speed, 13,23 Mbps upload speed, and 11 ms latency. 32 ms latency, although it has climbed ten positions compared to a year earlier.
In mobile telephony, the contrast with several European countries is evident: above Spain appear Poland (42), Albania (44) and Italy (47). These types of divergences between fixed and mobile are common and, again, depend on factors such as spectrum, topography, population density and the investment strategy of each country. in addition to the 5G deployment schedule.
The most populated European countries and their cable speeds
A recent analysis focusing on the ten most populated countries in Europe provides another layer of context for fixed broadband. In that cable list, France scores 232,3 Mbps, Spain 211,56 Mbps, Romania 207,04 Mbps, and the Netherlands 190,13 Mbps. Following behind are Poland with 154,66 Mbps, the United Kingdom with 106,51 Mbps, Germany with 90,5 Mbps, Russia with 87,08 Mbps, Italy with 81,4 Mbps, and Ukraine with 80,20 Mbps. The quick reading is that several Western and Eastern European markets have accelerated, but notable differences persist between neighboring countries and, especially between economies of similar size.
Global context and city rankings
Looking at the global fixed broadband ranking, economies such as the United States appear very high with 244,68 Mbps, Iceland with 242,03 Mbps, France with 232,30 Mbps, Denmark with 224,82 Mbps and China with 223,57 Mbps. Among the small European leaders is Liechtenstein with 187,79 Mbps, while Spain moves in those cuts around 211,56 Mbps, a value consistent with the national classification in the Ookla comparison. This dispersion confirms that, beyond Europe, technological poles and intensive investment in the network open gap compared to global averages.
By city, cable data shows very competitive figures inside and outside Europe: Abu Dhabi 310,49 Mbps, ValparaÃso 306,03 Mbps, Lyon 282,25 Mbps, Shanghai 268,54 Mbps, Beijing 265,25 Mbps, New York 261,84 Mbps, Bucharest 251,09 Mbps, Bangkok 244,71 Mbps, Zurich 239,37 Mbps and Ar-Rayyan 238,80 Mbps. In Spain, Barcelona stands out with 222,29 Mbps and Madrid with 222,11 Mbps, which places them among the cities with the best fixed connection worldwide and supports the idea that the deployment of ultra-fast urban networks in our country is very advanced.
If we look at the urban mobile ranking, Qatar dominates with Ar-Rayyan at 419,35 Mbps and Doha at 354,54 Mbps, followed by Dubai and Abu Dhabi above 325 Mbps, and a relevant European presence with Copenhagen 255,90 Mbps, Oslo 240,70 Mbps, Porto 243,63 Mbps or Lisbon 217,96 Mbps. In this same cut, Madrid appears with 89,22 Mbps, behind several European capitals, which suggests that the improvement of mobile in Spain has room to go and that, in the short term, The room for progress depends on 5G and densification.
Europe accelerates, but internal gaps grow
Internet speeds in Europe have doubled in the last three years. This is no coincidence: the European Union has set aside up to 20 percent of its 2021-2027 budget for digital transformation, and the pandemic accelerated demand for teleworking, education, and online services. Even so, EDJNet notes that the gap between the fastest and slowest countries in the region grew from 78 Mbps in 2019 to 173 Mbps in 2022, shifting from a Norway-Albania differential to Iceland-North Macedonia. Within the EU itself, the gap between the leader and the bottom line went from 75 Mbps to 80 Mbps between different pairs, a symptom that not everyone is progressing at the same pace.
There is also an internal map of contrasts. In Italy, large urban areas such as Turin, Milan, and Genoa run significantly faster than many rural areas. In Germany, the territory of the former socialist republic maintains a pronounced gap with the rest of the country, and despite being the largest economy in the EU, Germany ranks around 16th in download speed. These imbalances are a reminder that, along with the rollout of fiber and 5G, work must be done on effective coverage and accessibility so as not to leave certain regions behind, a point that the EU is already addressing with your connectivity goals.
As a curiosity and physical context, some of these analyses include references to the map of submarine cables, the intercontinental backbone that determines routes, latencies and redundancies, and the emergence of solutions from space such as Starlink Direct to CellAlthough Europe is densely served, the geographical position of certain backbone networks explains why some international latencies and bandwidths favor some countries over others, beyond the last-mile infrastructure, key for the end user.
European targets for 2025 and 2030
The immediate EU objective is for all European households to have access to 100 Mbps download speeds by 2025, a threshold already exceeded by twenty capital cities. Furthermore, by that year, the European Commission wants schools, universities, major transport hubs, and socioeconomic actors to have connections of at least 1 Gbps and uninterrupted 5G coverage in urban areas and main land routes. Looking to 2030, the bar is being raised: providing all citizens with access to 1.000 Mbps download speeds and widespread 5G coverage, the ideal that Brussels summarizes as the gigabyte society.
Spain: lots of fiber, good position in fixed, margin in mobile
Spain is one of the European leaders in fiber-to-the-home deployment. Around 91,02 percent of households have access to FTTP, a very high figure in the European context. This infrastructure strength is reflected in its high positions in fixed broadband comparisons; for example, with Ookla, Spain has consolidated its position in the top 10, and with other aggregates, it appears with very competitive values. However, speed is not just about coverage: in average performance, there are countries that surpass us, and in mobile, Spain's position is modest but improving.
The Cable.co.uk 2024 index, built with more than 1.500 billion tests in 229 countries and more than 24 million tests in Spain, places our country in 17th place for average speed with 148,63 Mbps. Ahead are Iceland with 279,55 Mbps, Jersey with 273,51 Mbps, Macau with 234,74 Mbps, Liechtenstein with 222,98 Mbps, Denmark with 210,51 Mbps, Andorra with 199,89 Mbps, the Netherlands with 188,49 Mbps, Gibraltar with 180,91 Mbps, France with 176,97 Mbps, Monaco with 173,79 Mbps, South Korea with 172,53 Mbps, the United States with 161,97 Mbps, Switzerland with 161,88 Mbps, Uruguay with 156,99 Mbps, Sweden with 156,42 Mbps, Israel with 153,61 Mbps and Canada with 152,25 Mbps. This alignment makes it clear that the Western European bloc concentrates many of the fastest countries on the planet, something that also confirms the regional average.
On the slower side of the global ranking are territories such as the British Indian Ocean Territory with 2,38 Mbps, Turkmenistan with 2,72 Mbps, Syria with 2,80 Mbps, Yemen with 2,99 Mbps and Tajikistan with 3,10 Mbps. Although these figures have improved compared to years in which they did not even reach 1 Mbps, they show that the global gap is still considerable and requires qualification of any comparison with Europe, where the averages they are much higher.
By region, the same study highlights Western Europe as the fastest area in the world with an average of 138,47 Mbps, followed by the Baltic countries with 106,45 Mbps, North America with 104,18 Mbps, Eastern Europe with 76,58 Mbps and Asia with 57,24 Mbps. Between the first and fifth regions there is a difference of over 80 Mbps, a jump that helps explain why so many European countries appear at the top of the rankings. international rankings.
OECD statistics on broadband also place Spain very well in fiber adoption: around 81,2 percent of Spanish households are connected via fiber optics across all member countries, placing us in the top 3 worldwide behind Korea and Japan in this comparison. This capillarity, combined with very active operators in deployment, is the basis for the good fixed data and the potential for continued growth in mobile as 5G advances.
And what about mobile? Recent developments and differences between sources
In mobile, the global leaders in the country ranking are concentrated in the Middle East and Asia: Qatar with 334,63 Mbps, the United Arab Emirates with 323,61 Mbps, and Kuwait with 226,56 Mbps. In Europe, Norway with 145,19 Mbps, Denmark with 144,93 Mbps, the Netherlands with 120,96 Mbps, France with 103,40 Mbps, and Finland with 103,23 Mbps weigh heavily. Spain appears further behind; in 2024 cuts it appears around 50,69 Mbps, and in the January 2025 snapshot it rises to 77,60 Mbps. The reading is twofold: there is room for improvement compared to several European partners, but the trend is positive in a year in which a dozen positions were climbed.
How to make the most of your home connection: coverage, Wi-Fi, and equipment
Even if your contracted speed is high, it doesn't always reach your devices at full speed due to walls, ceilings, interference, or old routers. If you notice that Internet is slow, it is advisable to optimize the home network: properly position the router, use Ethernet cables in fixed positions, update the firmware, and, if the home is large or has several floors, rely on mesh or PLC systems. Among the solutions on the market, some specialized manufacturers offer PLC adapters over the electrical network with Wi-Fi 6 access points and mesh repeaters, capable of extending the signal to remote rooms without any construction work. These types of easy-to-install kits help ensure a fiber optic connection truly perform throughout the home.
As an example of an end-user-oriented approach, recent press releases recommend combinations of next-generation Powerline adapters and Wi-Fi 6 repeaters for large homes, and Wi-Fi 6 repeaters with Mesh functionality for small and medium-sized apartments. In addition to describing these products, these releases include corporate and press contact information with addresses in Madrid and Aachen, as well as phone and email numbers. Beyond the commercial aspect, the key message is clear: if you optimize your internal network, the perceived performance of your connection improves. even if the line is already fast at the origin.
Source notes, references and curiosities
Some of the texts consulted included editorial and author references, such as Vitalii Shynakov's August 2024 byline when compiling global rankings of countries and cities for cable and mobile connections, and cover stories with photo credits from Unsplash. Related content in specialized media was also cited, with tips for improving home Wi-Fi or comparisons of fiber optics in terms of quality and price. These elements do not affect the data, but they help to understand the context in which they were published. metrics are published and disseminated.
Finally, it is worth remembering the coexistence of results from Ookla and Cloudflare: while the former places Spain in ninth position in fixed in January 2025, there are analyses by Cloudflare that, in certain periods, placed Spain as the country with the fastest Internet, a contrast that underlines what was said at the beginning: the methodology, the moment and the measurement base matter as much as the final figure.
Europe is racing faster than ever in fixed and mobile connectivity, with powerhouses like Jersey, Iceland, and France standing out for their speed, and Spain holding a strong position in fiber, although with some way to go in mobile. The rankings by Cable.co.uk, Ookla, and EDJNet paint a picture of a continent that is accelerating unevenly, with ambitious targets of 100 Mbps for all homes by 2025 and widespread gigabit by 2030. With extensive fiber coverage, well-located cities like Madrid and Barcelona, ​​and sustained investment momentum, Spain is well positioned to continue climbing the ladder if mobile infrastructure is aligned. home optimization and 5G deployments.
