The countries with the fastest mobile network speeds in Europe

A new study has ranked the countries of Europe by the average speed of their mobile networks.

A recent report from internet insights firm Opensignal analyzed mobile download speeds across the continent in 2023. The results showed substantial improvements across most markets, with analysis looking at 34 countries including Denmark, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Scandinavia leads the pack

Leading the way in Europe’s mobile speed race are the Scandinavian nations of Denmark, Finland, and Norway. These countries witnessed massive gains over 2022, with Denmark’s mobile speeds jumping by 25.5 megabytes-per-second (mbps) to reach 98.8mbps, Finland increasing by 17.7mbps to hit 71.6mbps, and Norway boosting speeds by 16.5mbps to achieve 102.3mbps. Their networks now deliver exceptionally fast mobile connectivity.

Behind the front-running Scandinavians, other central European countries like Switzerland, Austria and Germany registered strong mobile download speed increases between 7-12mbps. Southern countries including Spain and Italy lagged top performers, posting more modest 3-4Mbps annual download speed gains.

UK falling behind

The United Kingdom may have the sixth largest economy in the world, but it remains a European mobile laggard, with average download speeds standing at just 33mbps at end of 2023 – up only 3.2mbps from the prior year.

Compared to the major leaps achieved by Scandinavian and other central European countries, the UK’s networks are slowly improving.

According to the Opensignal analysis, gaps in European mobile speeds can be explained by factors like 5G rollout pacing and infrastructure investments. Leaders have prioritized advanced network deployments, while laggard countries have seen slower fiber and 5G builds.

The data reveals a continent of general mobile download speed improvements but also a growing digital divide. Forward-looking Scandinavian countries continue surging ahead with excellent speeds, while the UK risks falling further behind without accelerated network upgrades. For British mobile users weary of laggy connections, rapid relief remains unlikely.

The European countries with the fastest average download speed on mobile networks (2023)

Norway – 102.3mbps
Denmark – 98.9mbps
Netherlands – 81.7mbps
Finland – 71.6mbps
Bulgaria – 71.1mbps
Croatia – 66.2mbps
Sweden – 66.2mbps
Switzerland – 60.3bps
North Macedonia – 58.2mbps
France – 53.5mbps
Lithuania – 52.6mbps
Estonia – 52.2mbps
Germany – 51.1mbps
Austria – 49.9mbps
Portugal – 47.5mbps
Serbia – 45.5mbps
Slovakia – 45.2mbps
Slovenia – 45.1mbps
Latvia – 43.9mbps
Belgium – 43.8mbps
Albania – 41.8mbps
Greece – 41.3mbps
Montenegro – 40.3mbps
Czech Republic – 39.5mbps
Hungary – 35.7mbps
Spain – 34.8mbps
Ireland – 33.5mbps
Romania – 33.1mbps
UK – 33.0mbps
Poland – 32.8mbps
Italy – 32.4mbps
Moldova – 28.9mbps
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 22.0mbps
Kosovo – 18.6mbps

Featured image: Dall-E

Sam Shedden

Managing Editor

Sam Shedden is an experienced journalist and editor with over a decade of experience in online news.

A seasoned technology writer and content strategist, he has contributed to many UK regional and national publications including The Scotsman, inews.co.uk, nationalworld.com, Edinburgh Evening News, The Daily Record and more.

Sam has written and edited content for audiences whose interests include media, technology, AI, start-ups and innovation. He’s also produced and set-up email newsletters in numerous specialist topics in previous roles and his work on newsletters saw him nominated as Newsletter Hero Of The Year at the UK’s Publisher Newsletter Awards 2023.

He has worked in roles focused on growing reader revenue and loyalty at one of the UK’s leading news publishers, National World plc
growing quality, profitable news sites. He has given industry talks and presentations sharing his experience growing digital audiences to international audiences.

Now a Managing Editor at Readwrite.com, Sam is involved in all aspects of the site’s news operation including commissioning, fact-checking, editing and content planning.