The number of broadband subscribers worldwide has risen to nearly 330 million, up by over 63 million from a year before. With an increase of just under 15 million in the last quarter, the rate of growth appears to be declining, according to the latest figures published by Point Topic.
Overall, broadband growth slowed to 4.72%, down from 5.16% the previous quarter. North America saw a small increase in growth at just over 3%, while the number of subscribers in Western Europe increased by just over 4%. In Eastern Europe broadband subscribers grew by 11.5%. The number in the Asia Pacific region grew just 2.4%, albeit from a higher base.
The worldwide broadband population penetration is now 5.7% at 328 million, up from 4.6% at 263 million a year ago, an increase of nearly 25%.
Western Europe has the largest share of the global broadband market, with 27% of subscribers, followed by North America with 22%, South and East Asia at 21% and Asia Pacific at 17%.
The United States still leads the top ten countries, with 65.5 million broadband subscribers, up 3.3% on the previous quarter. China ranks in second place, with 63 million subscribers, narrowing the gap with an increase of 5.9%. Japan comes next, with 27 million, followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, South Korea, Italy, Canada and Spain.
China is due to overtake the United States as the leading broadband country, but there is still room for further growth in Europe.
The figures are published in the latest World Broadband Statistics summary from Point Topic.