From only 4.1% worldwide access to the internet in 2009 to more than 4.5 billion active internet users in 2019 – approximately 58.8% of the world’s population – we sure have come a long way.

However, when data costs and ease of accessing the internet are taken into consideration, it’s clear to see that there is still room for improvement.

Why is access to the internet so important? One of the many reasons is the United Nations issuing a resolution that access to the internet is one of the basic human rights.

Picodi.com recently released a report to address some of the most pressing questions pertaining to the internet, access thereto, and its affordability, such as:

How expensive is the internet?

Where is accessing the internet the cheapest?

Which countries have the fastest internet connection

Is internet access in South Africa really so expensive?

The report was compiled by looking into the pricing of more than 230 of the biggest fibre internet providers in 62 countries. The complete report can be viewed here.

Disclaimer: The report only includes unlimited residential internet plans, without television or phone bundles.

The cost of internet

According to the report, 10 Mbps (megabits per second) allows for smooth web browsing across several devices at the same time.

It’s sufficient for personal internet browsing, and is the speed most frequently offered in the majority of countries – 55 out of 62 countries to be exact.

In fact, some countries – Poland, Romania, France and Singapore – offer plans of 150 to 500 Mbs. At the other end of the spectrum, 100 Mbps is not available in countries like Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

Most expensive (and cheapest) internet in the world

It’s no surprise really that the heftiest prices for internet were recorded in South Africa. A 100 Mbps connection in SA costs approximately R1 250 per month.

Interestingly, people in living in Iceland and Norway, only pay around R990 per month for a 100 Mbps connection. And the cheapest monthly rates globally?

Residents in Eastern European countries such Moldova pay only R144 per month, whereas residents in Russia pay R150 per month and residents in the Ukraine pay R86.50 per month (at the time of publishing).

Internet for up to R300 a month

Out of the 62 countries mentioned in the report, only the residents in 25 countries pay more than R300 per month for unlimited fibre connection.

These include South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Chile, Italy, Portugal, and the USA.

“Such amount of money is enough to afford a super-fast internet plan in Russia (890 Mbps), China and Lithuania (600 Mbps in both).”

In addition, the highest internet speeds for R300 per month – approximately 1 Gbps (gigabits per second) were recorded in Romania, Moldova, India, Hungary, Latvia and the Ukraine.

In case you were wondering, 1 Gbps internet speed is fast enough to download a 1GB file in approximately 8 seconds.