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Nigeria is 149 of the 195 countries surveyed with broadband internet cost at $39 for a broadband package compared to Ukraine at $2.16, and Sri Lanka at $3.19. The same package will be $23 at the UAE, $22 in United Kingdom and $20 in the United States.
Data from 3,303 fixed-line broadband deals in 195 countries were gathered and analysed by Cable.co.uk with the assistance of international consumer insight consultancy BVA BDRC between 15 August and 20 September 2018.
Ukraine offers the world’s cheapest broadband, with an average cost of USD 5.00 per month. The West African nation of Mauritania is the most expensive, with an average package price of USD 768.16.
Four of the top six cheapest countries in the world are found in the former USSR (Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS), including the Russian Federation itself with an average package cost of just USD 9.77 per month. Conversely, the United States has some of the most expensive broadband in the world, coming in 119th place with an average monthly package cost of USD 67.69.
Within Western Europe, Italy is the cheapest, with an average package price of USD 29.48 per month, followed by France (USD 31.14), Germany (USD 36.68) and Monaco (USD 37.00). The UK came in 5th cheapest out of 29 Western European nations (and 61st cheapest worldwide), with an average package price of USD 39.58 per month.
In the Near East region, war-ravaged Syria came in cheapest with an average monthly price of USD 13.00 per month (and ranked seventh overall), with Saudi Arabia (USD 95.72), Bahrain (USD 96.29), Qatar (USD 140.58), Oman (USD 150.63) and the United Arab Emirates (USD 157.10) providing the most expensive connectivity in the region.
Sri Lanka is the cheapest country in which to buy broadband in Asia (as well as second-cheapest globally) with an average package price of USD 5.65 per month, followed by Iran (USD 8.20) and Nepal (USD 16.47) – all three rank among the top 10% cheapest in the world. The Maldives (USD 81.55), Brunei Darussalam (USD 123.29) and Laos (UD 239.25) provide the most expensive package prices per month in the region.
Mexico is the cheapest country to buy a broadband deal in Central America, with an average broadband package cost per month of USD 33.32. Panama is the most expensive with an average package price of USD 108.38 per month.
In North America, Canada offers the cheapest broadband on average (USD 57.66), coming in 22 positions ahead of the United States globally (USD 67.69). Bermuda provides the most expensive packages in the region with an average price of USD 124.36 per month.
Saint-Martin (France) offers the cheapest broadband in the Caribbean, with an average package price of USD 23.78 per month, with the British Virgin Islands (USD 141.17), Cayman Islands (USD 158.69), Antigua and Barbuda (USD 177.15) and Haiti (207.39) at the most expensive end, both regionally and globally.
Sub-Saharan Africa fared worst overall with almost all of its countries in the most expensive half of the table. Réunion, off the east coast of Madagascar, was the cheapest in the region, coming in 48th overall with an average package price of USD 35.45. Mauritania, meanwhile, charges residential users an average of USD 768.16 per month and is the most expensive in the world. Mali (USD 160.53), Tanzania (USD 181.80), Burkina Faso (USD 201.94) and Namibia (USD 383.83) join Mauritania as the most expensive countries in the region, and sit among the ten most expensive countries in the world.
11 of the 12 countries studied in Oceania were found in the most expensive half of the global table (Australia being the only exception). Generally, larger landmasses such as Australia and New Zealand are cheaper than smaller islands states. Vanuatu (USD 138.54), Cook Islands (USD 171.34) and Papua New Guinea (USD 571.67) are the most expensive in the region, with Papua New Guinea coming in second-most expensive in the world.
Despite significant year-on-year ups and downs in broadband pricing in various countries around the world, the average price of a broadband deal globally remains constant, dropping just USD 0.12 overall, from USD 73.04 to USD 72.92, or around 1.64%, between the fourth quarter of 2017 and the fourth quarter of 2018.
In a previous report, Cable.co.uk analysed over 163 million broadband speed tests to rank 200 countries by the average internet speed they offer.
Commenting on the findings of the research internationally, Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at Cable.co.uk, said:
“Despite many countries providing faster access year-on-year, and the price of broadband fluctuating – sometimes wildly – from country to country, on average the price of broadband worldwide remains largely unchanged, falling just 1.64% since the fourth quarter of 2017.
“In our worldwide broadband speed comparison, released earlier this year, similar disparities were apparent to those seen here. The countries with slow, patchy broadband infrastructure that supplies only a fraction of the population tend to be the most expensive. Likewise, those with exceptional, often full-fibre (FTTH) infrastructure supplying the majority of the population tend to be the cheapest, if not in absolute terms, certainly on a cost-per-megabit basis.
“The United States is a point of particular interest in this data set. As arguably the world’s most technologically advanced Western nation, its broadband is shockingly expensive compared to much of the world. In fact, it costs seven times as much to get a broadband deal in the United States as it does to get one in Russia, and over 64% more than it does in China. America’s broadband duopoly simply cannot compete with healthier, multi-provider marketplaces.
“As for the UK, with a healthy, open marketplace offering relatively cheap broadband deals to everyone, and so-called ‘superfast’ speeds available to around 96% of homes, the UK is doing rather well, sitting in the top third of cheapest countries and coming in a respectable fifth cheapest of the 29 countries in Western Europe.”
- 3,303 fixed-line broadband deals in 195 countries were analysed by Cable.co.uk with the assistance of international consumer insight consultancy BVA BDRC between 15 August and 20 September 2018
- Ukraine offers the world’s cheapest broadband, with an average monthly cost of exactly USD 5.00 per month
- Mauritania is the world’s most expensive country to get a broadband deal, with an average package price of USD 768.16 per month
- The United States is one of the most expensive Western nations at 120th place overall, and an average package cost of USD 67.69
- Meanwhile, four of the top six cheapest countries were formerly a part of the USSR (now collectively known as the Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS), including the Russian Federation itself, which is the world’s fourth cheapest country, with an average package cost of just USD 9.77, or around one-seventh the cost of broadband in the USA
- Sub-Saharan Africa fared worst overall with all but four of the 31 countries in the region sitting in the most expensive half of the table, 17 in the most expensive quarter
- Cable’s worldwide broadband data have been featured in leading economic publications around the globe including the World Economic Forum, and were cited by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in UK Parliament during his reply to Philip Hammond’s budget speech earlier this week
- You can download the full data set, along with further insights, a detailed research methodology, and various graphics and interactive tools via this study’s landing page
