"A lot has inverse" nosotros wrote in our 2019 global roundup of internet speeds based on the Speedtest Global Index™. Little did we know how much was most to change. But two things remain the same: the cyberspace is getting faster and the Speedtest Global Index is withal a fantastic resource for tracking improvements on a global and country level (if we practice say so ourselves). Today we're taking a look back at how much cyberspace speeds have increased over the past four years and which countries have seen some of the largest gains.

Mobile download speed jumped 59.5% over the last year globally, fixed broadband upward 31.nine%

The global mean of download speeds improved over the terminal 12 months on both mobile and fixed broadband to 55.07 Mbps and 107.fifty Mbps, respectively, in July 2021. Mobile saw an increment of 59.5% when comparison July 2020 to July 2021 and fixed broadband saw an increase of 31.9%, according to the Speedtest Global Index.

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Looking further back, mean download speed over mobile was 98.nine% faster in July 2021 than in July 2019, 141.4% faster when comparing July 2021 to July 2018, and 194.0% faster when comparing July 2021 to June 2017, the calendar month we began tracking speeds on the Speedtest Global Alphabetize. Over the concluding two years there were only ii months when the global boilerplate for mobile download speed did not show an upward gradient: February and March 2020. Speeds began increasing once more in April 2020, but did not recover to pre-Feb levels until May 2020. This coincides with initial lockdowns due to COVID-19 in many countries.

On fixed broadband, mean download speed was 68.2% faster in July 2021 than in July 2019, 131.three% faster in July 2021 than in July 2018, and 196.ane% faster in July 2021 than in June 2017. There was a similar dip in download speed over fixed broadband in March of 2020 as nosotros saw on mobile. The speed increased again in Apr 2020 only did not recover to a pre-March level until Apr 2020.

Top 10 rankings are somewhat constant over three years, U.S. and Canada slip off in 2021

There has been surprising parity of which countries proceed to occupy the top x spots on the Speedtest Global Index in July of each twelvemonth. Still, the lists for mobile and fixed broadband are radically different, with only one country (Republic of korea) showing upwards on both lists in 2021.

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The United Arab Emirates and Southward Korea maintain their outset and second place rankings for mobile in both 2020 and 2021 and China and Qatar but flip-bomb for third and fourth place. It's interesting to see Australia and Canada decline in the rankings although their speeds have increased dramatically during the past 3 years. 5G is shifting mobile rankings where fifty-fifty countries with 5G (which few countries had in 2019) need a strong 5G focus to maintain their presence at the top of the list lest they be outpaced by other countries with larger investments in 5G.

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The fixed broadband rankings are more dynamic than those on mobile. Monaco traveled upward and downward the top 10 from sixth place in 2019 to 10th in 2020 to starting time place in 2021. Singapore ranked first or 2nd in all three years and Hong Kong (SAR) was in the top 4. Romania was solidly in 5th identify while South Korea dropped lower in the ranking every yr. Chile and Kingdom of denmark both debuted in the top ten in 2021 and the United States dropped off the list.

Most of the top x countries perform well for fixed and mobile

We were curious to encounter if countries that fabricated the top 10 in July 2021 for either mobile or stock-still broadband were besides performing well on the other medium, so we plotted the percentage departure from the global average for mobile download speed against download speed on fixed broadband. Notation that the global average increased between 2020 and 2021 and that Liechtenstein and Monaco are not included in this comparison as they did not have sufficient samples to be listed on both axes.

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About countries that made the top x in July 2021 for either mobile or fixed broadband were performing well over the global average for both at that point in fourth dimension. South korea and the U.A.E. stood out with hateful mobile download speeds that were more than than 240% faster than the global boilerplate and stock-still broadband downloads that were more than lxx% faster than the global average. China's mobile download speed was more than 180% faster than the global average and the land was more than lxx% faster than the global average for fixed broadband. Switzerland's mobile and stock-still broadband download speeds were close to 100% faster than the global average.

Chile and Thailand are in a quadrant that shows both had faster than average fixed broadband download speeds, but their mobile download speeds were slower than the global average in July 2021. Commonwealth of australia, Bulgaria, Republic of cyprus and Saudi Arabia were in the contrary quadrant with faster than average mobile speeds and below boilerplate fixed broadband speeds.

Comparison the chart for July 2021 to that of July 2020, we saw a wide variety of outcomes. Countries with increases compared to the global boilerplate on mobile and stock-still broadband included Australia, Republic of cyprus, Denmark, Hong Kong, Romania and the U.A.East. Chile and Norway showed dramatic increases compared to the global boilerplate on fixed broadband and declines on mobile. Bulgaria, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland increased on mobile only showed lilliputian change on stock-still. South Korea and Qatar increased on mobile compared to the global boilerplate and declined on stock-still. Singapore and Thailand declined on both mobile and fixed broadband compared to the global average.

We're interested to see how global speeds and rankings change over time equally individual countries and their providers cull to invest in different technologies. Rail your country's operation using monthly updates on the Speedtest Global Index. Check the Ookla 5G Map™ for up-to-appointment information on 5G deployments where you live, and if you desire more in-depth analyses, subscribe to Ookla Insights™.

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