Broadband speed

Data on median broadband speeds in UK regions between 2014 and 2019.

  1. Summary main findings
  2. By year
  3. By area
  4. About the data
  5. Download the data

Summary main findings

In 2019, the median broadband speed in the UK was 3 times as fast as in 2014.

By year

Visualisation for by year

Ratio (relative to 2014) of the median broadband speed (UK, 2014 to 2019)

Data for by year

Ratio (relative to 2014) of the median broadband speed (UK, 2014 to 2019)
Year Ratio (relative to 2014)
2019 2.99
2018 2.35
2017 2.16
2016 1.70
2015 1.18
2014 1.00

Download for by year

For the full download file, see Download the data.

By area

Visualisation for by area

Median broadband speed in megabits per second, by area over time (UK, 2014 to 2019)

41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest broadband speed. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions.

See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.

Use the radio buttons to choose a dataset to view

Q1 - Lowest 20%
Q5 - Highest 20%

Data for by area

Median broadband speed in megabits per second, by area over time (UK, 2014 to 2019)
Region 2019 (Mbps) 2018 (Mbps) 2017 (Mbps) 2016 (Mbps) 2015 (Mbps) 2014 (Mbps)
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 73.3 58.2 53.5 43.8 30.7 24.8
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 60.3 49.9 42.5 38.6 23.2 19.5
Cheshire 50.5 40.5 36.6 30.9 21.2 17.6
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 31.8 25.9 23.1 20.2 15.9 15.0
Cumbria 46.2 34.5 27.7 20.6 12.3 10.0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 61.9 49.3 45.8 37.3 26.2 21.0
Devon 51.2 39.5 35.2 28.6 18.0 14.7
Dorset and Somerset 46.6 36.5 32.7 26.5 17.4 14.8
East Anglia 51.2 39.8 35.7 29.3 19.3 15.6
East Wales 53.0 40.3 36.8 30.1 20.6 17.1
East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 83.7 58.0 44.9 32.8 20.2 16.5
Eastern Scotland 60.6 47.5 43.8 35.1 24.0 19.3
Essex 55.7 43.9 39.2 32.5 23.2 19.6
Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area 62.8 52.0 46.3 37.1 24.5 19.9
Greater Manchester 65.2 51.9 48.0 38.7 28.3 23.7
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 63.0 48.8 44.9 38.0 26.2 21.8
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 50.5 39.2 34.7 28.4 19.3 16.2
Highlands and Islands 33.5 27.1 21.9 16.5 10.7 8.8
Inner London - East 59.8 45.1 41.0 32.8 26.0 22.4
Inner London - West 60.2 45.1 38.1 29.2 21.4 18.0
Kent 55.9 43.0 38.8 33.2 21.9 18.3
Lancashire 58.5 46.9 42.1 36.9 22.2 18.0
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 65.5 52.5 48.4 41.0 26.5 21.0
Lincolnshire 48.9 39.1 34.8 28.8 18.4 14.9
Merseyside 68.1 54.3 50.8 41.1 30.4 23.5
North Eastern Scotland 35.1 27.3 23.5 19.1 13.3 10.9
North Yorkshire 48.2 37.5 44.0 28.3 17.1 14.5
Northern Ireland 51.3 39.6 35.5 29.9 21.5 19.8
Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear 56.9 46.1 42.6 34.2 23.8 19.2
Outer London - East and North East 71.0 55.8 51.7 41.7 32.4 26.7
Outer London - South 74.2 59.0 55.4 45.0 35.2 28.7
Outer London - West and North West 67.6 53.3 48.9 40.4 30.5 25.4
Shropshire and Staffordshire 54.8 42.7 39.0 31.4 21.1 17.1
South Western Scotland No data No data No data No data 24.7 19.4
South Yorkshire 51.6 40.7 36.7 29.0 21.9 18.6
Southern Scotland 50.2 38.4 33.4 26.2 No data No data
Surrey, East and West Sussex 57.5 45.3 41.5 35.2 25.1 21.0
Tees Valley and Durham 62.5 50.7 47.2 37.5 25.0 20.6
West Central Scotland 72.4 55.5 51.2 42.4 No data No data
West Midlands 71.2 56.2 52.5 42.8 32.0 25.6
West Wales and The Valleys 44.0 33.8 29.5 23.6 15.4 12.5
West Yorkshire 59.0 46.6 43.1 34.4 23.9 20.1

Download for by area

For the full download file, see Download the data.

About the data

Data source

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Nesta Research & Development spatial data tool, 2021.

Time period

2014 to 2019

Geographic area

UK

What the data measures

The data shows changes in median broadband speed in the UK between 2014 and 2019. It also shows the broadband speed for 41 regions of the UK.

Things you need to know

Nesta data includes regional scores but not a national average figure. To track changes over time, we use the broadband speed for the median UK area each year.

The median is the middle point of a range of numbers which are arranged in order. In this case, the median area is the area ranked 21st out of the 41 regions in the UK.

Type of data

Administrative data

Full report

Read more in State of the Nation 2023 on GOV.UK.

Download the data

Download full dataset (CSV, 31KB)

This file contains the following variables:

  • Indicator code
  • Indicator name
  • Area type
  • Area name
  • Time period
  • Value
  • Unit

This is a new website - your feedback will help us to improve it.