UK Ranks 22 out of 132 Countries for Broadband Affordability
Comparison site Broadband Genie has today published a new 2023 Global Broadband Affordability Index, which explores the affordability of “high-speed broadband across the globe“. Overall, the United Kingdom was found to rank 22nd out of a total database of 132 countries.
Naturally, there are a few caveats to consider with this study. Firstly, some countries were excluded due to having populations under 50,000 (hard luck Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Jersey etc.), or where the survey data on exchange rates or other data was deemed too inconsistent or unreliable. The research then compared the average reported monthly high-speed internet bill with the average wage for people from 132 countries.
The study also seems to define “high-speed broadband” as being a service that offers download speeds of “60Mb or more, unlimited data, cable/ADSL“, although we aren’t sure why only ADSL and Cable lines get a specific mention (ADSL2+ can’t even do 60Mbps+ speeds, it peaks at around 24Mbps). But we assume the basket of packages they were checking included a wider mix of technologies (e.g. FTTP, FTTC etc.).
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Overall, the UK ranked 22nd, which put us on a par with peers like Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Not to mention that we’re above the USA, which sits down in 32nd. But the UK lags behind other European leaders like Switzerland, France and Germany in the rankings, although there’s little between them in terms of the affordability rating.
| Country | Internet Cost | Average Salary | Internet as a % of salary |
| Hong Kong | £17.93 | £2,442.15 | 0.73% |
| Singapore | £28.52 | £3,698.04 | 0.77% |
| Denmark | £26.70 | £3,044.13 | 0.88% |
| Finland | £19.70 | £2,017.46 | 0.98% |
| Switzerland | £45.49 | £4,426.40 | 1.03% |
| Israel | £21.57 | £2,040.60 | 1.06% |
| Sweden | £23.42 | £2,183.72 | 1.07% |
| Lithuania | £9.71 | £816.90 | 1.19% |
| France | £23.77 | £1,966.81 | 1.21% |
| Fiji | £18.85 | £1,521.58 | 1.24% |
| Kuwait | £28.48 | £2,277.02 | 1.25% |
| Guadeloupe | £47.16 | £3,586.85 | 1.31% |
| Germany | £29.17 | £2,207.99 | 1.32% |
| Luxembourg | £40.38 | £3,058.41 | 1.32% |
| Poland | £9.79 | £728.94 | 1.34% |
| Romania | £6.72 | £491.66 | 1.37% |
| Russia | £6.78 | £494.26 | 1.37% |
| Netherlands | £35.86 | £2,573.78 | 1.39% |
| Bahrain | £44.32 | £3,175.28 | 1.40% |
| New Zealand | £43.25 | £3,058.18 | 1.41% |
| Qatar | £68.80 | £4,851.63 | 1.42% |
| United Kingdom | £30.84 | £2,166.06 | 1.42% |
| Japan | £27.65 | £1,927.92 | 1.43% |
| Australia | £42.75 | £2,989.35 | 1.43% |
| China | £10.08 | £679.30 | 1.48% |
| Andorra | £30.25 | £2,043.18 | 1.48% |
| Austria | £28.47 | £1,874.61 | 1.52% |
| Norway | £43.18 | £2,687.83 | 1.61% |
| Martinique | £31.61 | £1,888.09 | 1.67% |
| Bulgaria | £9.37 | £538.20 | 1.74% |
| Latvia | £13.23 | £757.17 | 1.75% |
| United States | £56.77 | £3,210.50 | 1.77% |
| Hungary | £11.05 | £625.60 | 1.77% |
| Ireland | £40.50 | £2,259.46 | 1.79% |
| Slovakia | £12.90 | £704.51 | 1.83% |
| Italy | £22.98 | £1,217.97 | 1.89% |
| Belgium | £38.97 | £2,035.36 | 1.91% |
| Estonia | £17.44 | £894.45 | 1.95% |
| India | £6.94 | £352.12 | 1.97% |
| Guam | £44.53 | £2,142.78 | 2.08% |
| Canada | £52.02 | £2,385.94 | 2.18% |
| Iceland | £53.12 | £2,341.29 | 2.27% |
| Spain | £32.60 | £1,383.55 | 2.36% |
| Turkey | £6.43 | £246.30 | 2.61% |
| Malta | £29.39 | £1,125.63 | 2.61% |
| Saudi Arabia | £56.30 | £2,084.18 | 2.70% |
| Croatia | £19.43 | £700.07 | 2.78% |
| Puerto Rico | £44.53 | £1,534.47 | 2.90% |
| Slovenia | £26.87 | £911.98 | 2.95% |
| Cyprus | £30.08 | £1,003.49 | 3.00% |
| Cayman Islands | £113.22 | £3,732.34 | 3.03% |
| Belarus | £10.00 | £322.69 | 3.10% |
| Portugal | £28.83 | £874.33 | 3.30% |
| Kazakhstan | £8.55 | £247.45 | 3.46% |
| Thailand | £14.19 | £410.36 | 3.46% |
| Saint Lucia | £33.85 | £927.97 | 3.65% |
| Georgia | £12.40 | £336.10 | 3.69% |
| Malaysia | £21.94 | £584.57 | 3.75% |
| French Guiana | £51.73 | £1,351.70 | 3.83% |
| Serbia | £15.33 | £397.19 | 3.86% |
| Lesotho | £36.35 | £937.99 | 3.88% |
| Bosnia And Herzegovina | £18.56 | £472.00 | 3.93% |
| Chile | £22.30 | £539.00 | 4.14% |
| Greece | £27.56 | £664.79 | 4.15% |
| Montenegro | £20.63 | £492.10 | 4.19% |
| Armenia | £13.41 | £319.02 | 4.20% |
| South Africa | £41.80 | £990.54 | 4.22% |
| Barbados | £43.07 | £1,009.16 | 4.27% |
| North Macedonia | £13.12 | £303.00 | 4.33% |
| Mexico | £21.66 | £485.95 | 4.46% |
| Albania | £12.41 | £273.74 | 4.53% |
| Bhutan | £16.02 | £351.36 | 4.56% |
| Uruguay | £30.12 | £644.85 | 4.67% |
| Oman | £59.74 | £1,255.28 | 4.76% |
| Mongolia | £9.72 | £198.70 | 4.89% |
| Sri Lanka | £5.22 | £105.00 | 4.97% |
| Brazil | £14.71 | £293.95 | 5.00% |
| Saint Vincent And The Grenadines | £38.81 | £761.28 | 5.10% |
| Mauritius | £21.62 | £415.31 | 5.21% |
| Kyrgyzstan | £10.59 | £202.11 | 5.24% |
| Jordan | £25.93 | £481.48 | 5.39% |
| Greenland | £136.11 | £2,459.68 | 5.53% |
| Azerbaijan | £14.40 | £256.30 | 5.62% |
| Panama | £31.46 | £515.11 | 6.11% |
| Paraguay | £14.98 | £243.25 | 6.16% |
| Antigua And Barbuda | £46.77 | £746.36 | 6.27% |
| Trinidad And Tobago | £40.47 | £629.25 | 6.43% |
| Costa Rica | £41.40 | £630.04 | 6.57% |
| Tunisia | £15.49 | £231.80 | 6.68% |
| Botswana | £47.81 | £696.23 | 6.87% |
| Peru | £22.42 | £314.54 | 7.13% |
| Djibouti | £30.08 | £420.06 | 7.16% |
| Nepal | £10.73 | £149.17 | 7.19% |
| Burundi | £17.99 | £249.67 | 7.21% |
| Colombia | £17.14 | £228.23 | 7.51% |
| Ecuador | £31.89 | £414.43 | 7.69% |
| Egypt | £9.82 | £121.09 | 8.11% |
| Jamaica | £36.92 | £449.55 | 8.21% |
| Burkina Faso | £29.18 | £347.27 | 8.40% |
| Maldives | £58.26 | £652.84 | 8.92% |
| Grenada | £69.81 | £748.26 | 9.33% |
| Morocco | £26.60 | £284.21 | 9.36% |
| French Polynesia | £78.63 | £819.11 | 9.60% |
| Kenya | £27.11 | £270.24 | 10.03% |
| Libya | £25.00 | £248.85 | 10.05% |
| Gabon | £43.61 | £414.33 | 10.53% |
| Guatemala | £46.33 | £430.05 | 10.77% |
| Togo | £48.32 | £436.13 | 11.08% |
| El Salvador | £31.57 | £283.28 | 11.14% |
| Indonesia | £25.45 | £219.10 | 11.62% |
| Senegal | £42.28 | £359.81 | 11.75% |
| Bangladesh | £20.55 | £171.21 | 12.00% |
| Guyana | £34.93 | £280.57 | 12.45% |
| Pakistan | £17.23 | £122.83 | 14.03% |
| Algeria | £29.88 | £210.01 | 14.23% |
| Dominica | £52.25 | £346.01 | 15.10% |
| Bolivia | £48.78 | £314.91 | 15.49% |
| Rwanda | £43.77 | £278.60 | 15.71% |
| Cameroon | £35.13 | £185.72 | 18.92% |
| Yemen | £63.54 | £329.58 | 19.28% |
| Benin | £35.98 | £184.81 | 19.47% |
| Haiti | £131.57 | £646.31 | 20.36% |
| Ghana | £29.36 | £138.22 | 21.24% |
| Vanuatu | £113.84 | £532.41 | 21.38% |
| Nigeria | £29.89 | £110.32 | 27.09% |
| Mozambique | £99.73 | £269.32 | 37.03% |
| Madagascar | £47.70 | £122.60 | 38.91% |
| Uganda | £53.34 | £129.23 | 41.28% |
| Malawi | £140.17 | £333.27 | 42.06% |
| Papua New Guinea | £183.01 | £222.09 | 82.40% |
| Equatorial Guinea | £228.97 | £261.68 | 87.50% |
| Turkmenistan | £287.53 | £308.31 | 93.26% |
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
The data in that table is a load of rubbish – as an example the average monthly salary in Poland in 2022 is around 64% higher.
The salary is pretty meaningless, especially when the table does not account for taxes. Someone earning the same in Singapore will actually keep more of it than in the UK. At the very least it would need to be average earning AFTER TAX, because that’s what people actually have
The correct and meaningful metric would be to take into account average cost of rolling out, which in the US it is much much more expensive than in Singapore due to the simple distance between rural homes. (Singapore is just blocks of flats that are very easy to connect to)
These comparisons are rarely reliable. In terms of salaries, average gross salaries in the UK were £3,333 per month in 2022. In the same year average gross salaries in Singapore were S$5783, which equates to £3,451 per month. So average gross salaries are little different but of course the cost of living and tax and other deductions do differ. The problem is that the authors don’t quote their sources and how the values have been calculated which then casts doubt on their reliability. Shame really.