Broadband Prices in the EU Over Time

Key Takeaways

• Denmark recorded the steepest broadband price drop in the EU. Its price fell 57% between 2019 and 2024, from €25.49 to €11.07.
• The EU average broadband price for a standard 30-100 Mbps connection fell just 12% over the same period, from €21.75 to €19.17. That modest average hides much larger swings in individual countries.
• Estonia recorded the steepest broadband price increase in the EU. Its price rose 69%, from €12.80 to €21.63.
• Belgium is now the most expensive country in the EU for broadband, at €33.43 a month. It ranked 13th out of 27 EU countries in 2019.
• Germany’s broadband price rose 14%, from €14.97 to €17.07. Its price still sits below the EU average.
• Competition in Belgium’s broadband market has stayed concentrated among a small number of operators. Belgium remained one of the EU’s most expensive fixed broadband markets through 2025.

Broadband Price Changes Across EU Countries

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In 2019, broadband in Denmark cost more than double what it cost in Romania. By 2024, Denmark had one of the cheapest broadband connections in the EU. Romania remained cheap as well. Denmark’s broadband price did not just fall behind Romania’s. It fell past it.

Fixed broadband in the EU averaged €19.17 a month in 2024. That figure is adjusted for purchasing power parity. Purchasing power parity accounts for differences in the cost of living between countries. This makes prices directly comparable across the EU. The average dropped just 12% from 2019. That modest decline hides a much larger reshuffle underneath it. Some of the EU’s most expensive countries in 2019 became some of its cheapest by 2024. Some of its cheapest countries became far more expensive.

Five EU Countries Cut Broadband Prices by a Third or More

Five countries recorded broadband price drops of at least a third between 2019 and 2024:

• Denmark: €25.49 to €11.07 (-57%)
• Cyprus: €34.02 to €16.87 (-50%)
• Slovenia: €28.00 to €16.61 (-41%)
• Netherlands: €37.86 to €23.39 (-38%)
• Malta: €29.68 to €19.77 (-33%)

Each of these five countries ranked among the twelve most expensive in the EU in 2019. Only Denmark’s cut was large enough to reach cheap territory. Denmark became the second-cheapest country in the EU by 2024, trailing only Lithuania. The Netherlands cut its price by 38% and still ranks as the ninth most expensive country in the EU. Its 2019 price of €37.86 was the highest in the EU. One large cut was not enough to close that gap. Cyprus, Slovenia, and Malta each landed in the middle of the table by 2024. None of them remained among the priciest countries. None of them reached the cheapest tier either.

Austria, Greece, and Spain also cut prices by more than a quarter. Austria’s cut moved it into the cheaper half of the table. Greece and Spain still rank among the EU’s ten most expensive countries. Their cuts were not large enough to leave that group.

Estonia, France, and Belgium Recorded the Sharpest Broadband Price Increases

Three countries moved in the opposite direction, each with a broadband price increase above 35%:

• Estonia: €12.80 to €21.63 (+69%)
• France: €18.33 to €26.12 (+42%)
• Belgium: €24.06 to €33.43 (+39%)

Estonia’s increase was the largest of any EU country in either direction. Its broadband price rose by more than two-thirds in five years. That moved it from the fifth-cheapest country in the EU to a price above the EU average.

Belgium’s increase pushed it past every other EU country to become the most expensive broadband market in the EU in 2024. Competition in Belgium’s broadband market has stayed concentrated among a small number of operators, including Proximus and regional cable providers. Belgium remained one of the EU’s most expensive fixed broadband markets through 2025. Smaller, less dramatic increases also landed in Germany, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Lithuania. Each rose between 12% and 16%.

A country’s spot in the EU broadband price ranking now says less about any fixed national trait and more about five years of market-specific shifts. The EU average barely moved. The individual countries behind it did not stand still.