 countries in internet speed, with a median download rate of 30.2 Mbps, the Ekonomim news website reported.){kind=link}
Turkey ranks last among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in internet speed, with a median download rate of 30.2 Mbps, the Ekonomim news website reported.
Northern European countries such as Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark top the list, offering speeds six times faster than Turkey.
According to the report, Turkey has consistently ranked at the bottom in internet speed among the 37 OECD countries for the past two years. In 2023 Sweden led with a median download speed of 186.40 Mbps, followed closely by Switzerland and Denmark with similar speeds. In contrast, Greece, which ranks just above Turkey, reported a speed of 40.1 Mbps.
One of the main reasons for Turkey’s slow internet is the underdeveloped fiber infrastructure. Although Turkey’s fiber length increased by 8 percent in the first quarter of 2024, reaching 568,000 kilometers, industry experts believe this growth is insufficient.
While Turkey ranks 13th in the OECD for the growth rate of fiber internet subscriptions, with an 18.4 percent increase in 2024, the overall penetration remains low. Fiber connections account for 35 percent of fixed internet subscriptions in Turkey, compared to the OECD average of 42 percent.
For Turkey to match the fiber infrastructure of leading countries like South Korea, which has a four-times longer fiber network, it would need to expand its fiber network to 1.9 million kilometers, increasing by 17 percent annually. Despite recent improvements, Turkey still lags significantly behind its OECD peers in internet connectivity and speed.