Broadband speed
Published:
12 September 2023
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Data on median broadband speeds in UK regions between 2014 and 2019.
Summary main findings
In 2019, the median broadband speed in the UK was 3 times as fast as in 2014.
By year
Visualisation
Ratio (relative to 2014) of the median broadband speed (UK, 2014 to 2019)
Data
| 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 the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
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.
Data
| 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 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, 30KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area name
- Time period
- Value
- Unit
Page history
Publication release date:
12 September 2023