Bulgaria leads the EU in broadband penetration growth with an annual growth rate of over 228%. The closest competitor, the Czech Republic is 40 percentage points behind at 181.8%. For overall uptake, Denmark and the Netherlands came in a virtual tie for the European broadband penetration crown at 37.1%. With its faster growth rate, the Netherlands is poised to pass Denmark to have the highest broadband penetration in Europe.
Bulgaria Leads Europe in Broadband Penetration Growth
Bulgaria leads all European countries surveyed in broadband penetration growth over the past year with a growth rate of 228.2%. The Czech Republic follows with a 181.8% yearly broadband growth rate. Romania came in third at 161.8%, followed by Cyprus at 58.2%, and Greece at 43.1% growth. Note that the fastest growing countries tended to have the lowest broadband penetration rankings. The Netherlands, however, tied for first with Denmark in overall broadband penetration at 37.1%, and had the 12th hightest growth rate of 14.6%, well above Denmark’s 2.0% annual growth rate. This indicates that the Netherlands will likely pass Denmark in broadband penetration by the end of 2009. Other than Germany (14.3%) and Estonia (16.8%), all of the other countries above the European average of 23.5% penetration, had broadband growth rates below the average of 14.1%.
Figure 1: European Broadband Penetration by Country April 2009
Source: ECTA
Denmark and the Netherlands Lead European Broadband Penetration
Denmark and the Netherlands virually tied for first place in European broadband penetration, at 37.1%. Sweden came in third at 33.5%, followed by Finland at 30.8%, and Germany at 29.6%. Note that Bulgaria came in second to last in overall broadband penetration at 11.1%, but topped all countries surveyed in broadband penetration growth.
Figure 2: European Broadband Penetration – April 2009
Source: ECTA
Further Reading
- European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA)
- Provided the European broadband penetration data for the Bandwidth Report.