Every person living and working as a digital nomad has different priorities when it comes to their dream destination. However, what they can pretty much all agree on, is that reliable and preferably fast internet is non-negotiable and an essential box which must be ticked before heading to a new place. Below we’re going to look at European internet speeds and compare countries around the continent.
The data comes via speedtest.net, one of the best sites out there for measuring internet speeds. It was compiled on 10th February 2022 using median speeds according to their tests in Mbps. Their figures are updated monthly, so head over there to check out more recent rankings and to compare European countries with others around the globe.
Read on to find out which European countries have the fastest and slowest internet speeds, both in terms of broadband and mobile. In this article, we have included the internet speeds for both EU and non-EU countries where available.
European Internet Speeds by Country 2022 – Fixed Broadband
| Country | Internet Speed (Mbps) |
| Monaco | 165.47 |
| Denmark | 156.04 |
| Spain | 130.86 |
| Romania | 118.51 |
| Liechtenstein | 113.30 |
| Switzerland | 109.72 |
| Norway | 104.02 |
| Sweden | 101.27 |
| Netherlands | 100.38 |
| Portugal | 97.37 |
| Hungary | 95.11 |
| France | 92.59 |
| Moldova | 92.21 |
| Luxembourg | 91.74 |
| Malta | 90.66 |
| Andorra | 90.65 |
| Finland | 86.74 |
| Poland | 83.74 |
| Belgium | 79.00 |
| Lithuania | 76.90 |
| Germany | 66.42 |
| Ireland | 64.23 |
| Russia | 63.13 |
| San Marino | 62.69 |
| Slovenia | 60.71 |
| Latvia | 60.50 |
| United Kingdom | 58.89 |
| Bulgaria | 53.05 |
| Ukraine | 52.37 |
| Montenegro | 51.03 |
| Austria | 49.83 |
| Italy | 49.47 |
| Estonia | 49.23 |
| Serbia | 49.21 |
| Slovakia | 46.89 |
| Czechia | 46.10 |
| Belarus | 44.10 |
| Kosovo | 43.98 |
| Croatia | 38.49 |
| Greece | 33.03 |
| Albania | 31.60 |
| Armenia | 31.21 |
| Cyprus | 30.21 |
| North Macedonia | 26.96 |
| Turkey | 26.87 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 22.79 |
| Georgia | 19.97 |
| Azerbaijan | 17.24 |
As you can see, there’s a pretty wide range here. Monaco tops this rundown of the fastest internet in Europe by country, but the extremely expensive micro-state isn’t exactly a practical destination for digital nomads or remote workers.
There are though several more affordable countries which can take pride in their internet speeds. Romania really stands out with an impressive median speed of over 118 Mbps and it is considerably faster than the internet in a host of wealthier countries in Western and Central Europe such as the UK, Austria and Germany.
Denmark and Spain also rank very well with some of the best internet speeds in Europe when it comes to broadband connections. However you’re unlikely to run into serious trouble in countries midway down the rankings with speeds of 50 Mbps or more, still more than quick enough for most online needs.
At the bottom end, one or two countries in the Balkans and particularly the South Caucasus states of Georgia and Azerbaijan offer some of the slowest internet speeds in Europe.
European Internet Speeds by Country 2022 – Mobile
| Country | Internet Speed (Mbps) |
| Norway | 119.12 |
| Netherlands | 97.67 |
| Bulgaria | 87.63 |
| Denmark | 85.39 |
| Cyprus | 83.33 |
| Croatia | 78.20 |
| Luxembourg | 77.59 |
| Switzerland | 74.41 |
| Portugal | 68.24 |
| Finland | 63.65 |
| Sweden | 62.46 |
| France | 54.80 |
| Estonia | 54.17 |
| North Macedonia | 53.70 |
| Austria | 53.36 |
| Germany | 52.66 |
| Belgium | 52.06 |
| Greece | 51.42 |
| Slovenia | 50.73 |
| Malta | 49.07 |
| United Kingdom | 48.48 |
| Lithuania | 47.16 |
| Czechia | 42.21 |
| Albania | 41.74 |
| Serbia | 41.24 |
| Poland | 39.12 |
| Hungary | 36.82 |
| Italy | 35.61 |
| Latvia | 35.15 |
| Romania | 33.93 |
| Spain | 32.99 |
| Montenegro | 32.80 |
| Moldova | 31.69 |
| Turkey | 31.43 |
| Slovakia | 30.57 |
| Georgia | 30.27 |
| Azerbaijan | 29.06 |
| Ukraine | 28.42 |
| Armenia | 25.80 |
| Ireland | 25.32 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 25.30 |
| Kosovo | 20.33 |
| Russia | 19.06 |
| Belarus | 10.74 |
A look at the fastest internet speeds in Europe takes on a slightly different picture when we look at mobile data. Spain and Romania, which ranked in the top five for broadband connections, sink towards the bottom of the chart with considerably slower mobile networks.
Denmark posts impressive figures again but it is Norway that has comfortably the fastest mobile internet speeds in Europe according to this data (which doesn’t feature every single European country). Netherlands and Bulgaria rank 2nd and 3rd with the latter another strong option for remote workers given the low cost of living.
By contrast, Belarus ranks by far the slowest in terms of mobile internet speeds, with Russia and Kosovo not doing much better. However it is worth pointing out that many countries towards the bottom of the above table, would still rank comfortably above halfway in the global rankings and Europe on the whole does boast some of the fastest internet speeds in the world, both in terms of broadband and mobile.
Other factors to consider when looking for the best internet in Europe
The above tables provide a pretty good picture of the average speeds across a country as a whole, as of February 2022. However things can change quite quickly with networks in many countries improved and enhanced on a regular basis.
There is significant regional variation in many countries though. For example, some nations have very fast internet in their capital cities and main economic centres, but speeds and coverage can reduce dramatically as you head out into the provincial towns and villages. Therefore the median speeds outlined above may not always be the best indicator of the actual internet speed in the town or city you are heading to.
Even within a particular city, much will depend on the kind of internet package and connection you will be using in your accommodation or place of work. If you will be working a lot from home (in an Airbnb for example), it’s worth double checking this in advance and not just assuming you will have fast internet because the country ranks well when it comes to internet speed tests. There’s info here on how Airbnb hosts calculate their internet speeds.
Also, as the above tables demonstrate, fast broadband speeds do not necessarily equate to fast mobile internet speeds. Consider which one will be more important to you. In some cases, mobile speed and coverage is actually a more important barometer, particularly if you’re somebody who likes to work on the move and you use your mobile as a hotspot.
