Global Download Study

Note: KBps indicated in chart is actually kbps which is kilobits per second (kbps), not KiloBytes per second (KBps). 1 Byte = 8 bits.

Content delivery service provider Pando Networks sampled over 35 petabytes of data from 27 million downloads in 224 countries to bring us this interesting information.

And it looks like when it comes to download speeds, not much has changed. South Korea still boasts the fastest download speeds in the world with an average of a whopping 17.62Mbps. That’s average ok. Some will get faster and while some surfers will get slower download speeds in Korea but the average gives a good indication that overall, the country enjoys enviously speedy internet connectivity fixed or mobile.

Other notable Asian countries on the list are Japan at number six with an average download speed of close to 11Mbps and Hong Kong at the tail end of the global top ten with an average download speed of close to 8Mbps.

Eastern European countries are well represented as well with Romania in second place with an average download speed of 15.27Mbps. In fact Eastern European countries take up four out of the top five countries with Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia all enjoying immensely fast downloads.

The The United States takes up 26th place in the study with an average speed of just under 5Mbps while China, home to the world’s largest Internet population, manages a rather unimpressive (relative to the other developed countries) 1.96Mbps.

The slowest Internet download, according to the study, is in the Congo, with an average of just 13 Kbps which is even slower than dial-up. Most of the world’s slowest countries on Pando’s list are located in Africa, where broadband access is sparse and mobile is often the most prevalent point of access for users.

Closer to home, Malaysia musters a not bad 1.4MBps download average on the list which is faster than Indonesia at 1Mbps download average but embarrassingly slower than Vietnam (close to 3Mbps), Thailand (2.1Mbps) and the Philippines (1.7Mbps).

Check out all of Pando’s study data presented in an interactive map right after the jump.

via chartsbin.com

[via]