This graph ranks 40 countries by their internet speed — and the UK is way down the list

Getting a decent internet connection is very important, a truism that will only become more pronounced as time passes.

Despite this, many economically advanced countries — including the UK — are doing a pretty terrible job at bringing fast download speeds to their people.

Figures from broadband advice site Cable.co.uk, compiled from open source data, show that the United Kingdom comes 31st in a global ranking of nations by internet download speed. Take a look at chart above.

Singapore is the top performer by a huge margin — probably made easier by the small size of the country.

After that, Scandinavia and northern Europe dominate, with strong figures from Hong Kong and Korea as well. Sweden, Norway, and to a lesser extent Canada, all show that having a low population density is no barrier to good connectivity.

A spokesman for Cable.co.uk said the easiest way for the UK to climb the rankings is to get broadband to rural households with very low speeds, and also roll out "fibre to the home" (FTTH) broadband networks.

For most homes with "fibre broadband," the fibre optic cables only reach the end of a street, and slower copper wires carry the day the rest of the way. FTTH means fibre goes right inside an individual house.

In the UK, 2% of homes have FTTH. In high-ranking countries like Sweden and Latvia, the figure is above 40%.

Here is the data for the top 40 in full:

(NB: Some entries, like Macau, Jersey, Hong Kong and Gibraltar, are semi-autonomous regions of larger states rather than nations in their own right.)

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