Published on 22 July 2025

Penetration rate

Broadband penetration in OECD countries (per 100 inhabitants, mid-2024)

This histogram shows the distribution of broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants in OECD countries, by technology (DSL, CATV cable, fibre optics, others) in mid-2024. Some countries have a proportion of fibre optic subscribers above 30%, such as South Korea (42.6%), Iceland (35%), Norway (34.2%), Sweden (33.7%), France (33.6%) and Spain (33.6%). With a rate of 15.5%, Switzerland is in line with the OECD average (15.7%).

Switzerland has a very high-performance broadband infrastructure. The economy and the population benefit from competition between different infrastructure providers and services thanks to a wide range of products.

Switzerland has a high number of broadband contracts for connections over the fixed network. In mid-2024, 46.75% of the Swiss population had a broadband internet connection, thereby consolidating its position in the top three OECD countries, behind only France (47.5%) and South Korea (47.3%). It ranks ahead of Norway (46.4%), Germany (45.5%), Portugal (44%) and the Netherlands (43.7%). During the same period, the average across OECD countries was 36.3%.

Evolution of broadband connections in OECD countries. Top 7 leading countries, 2009-2024 (per 100 inhabitants)

This line graph shows the evolution of the number of fixed broadband connections per 100 inhabitants between 2009 and 2024 in the seven OECD countries with the highest penetration rates in mid-2024. The countries represented are: France, South Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Portugal and Netherlands. In 2009, all countries had penetration rates between 29% (France) and 34% (Norway), with Portugal lagging behind at 17%. Since then, growth has been steady, although more pronounced in some countries such as Portugal, which has seen strong growth to reach around 44% in 2024. Switzerland dominated for most of the period and remained in the lead until 2022. In 2024, Switzerland (46.75%) was overtaken by France (47,5%) and South Korea (47.3%).