Surfshark recently released the Global Internet Value Index (IVi), which uncovers countries that are overpaying for their internet connection plan. Nigeria is in 109th place in the world with an index 44 times lower than the global average.

Oceania and Europe lead the world in internet value, while internet affordability in North America, South America, and Africa is below average. Globally, only 4 out of 10 people get their internet at fair prices, while the remaining 61% overpay for internet they get.

Global Internet Value index (IVi) is calculated by dividing each country’s internet speed by internet affordability to determine which countries are overpaying for their internet.

According to Surfshark’s data, Nigeria ranks 109th globally with an index of 0.0017, which is 44 times lower than the global average, meaning Nigerians are overpaying for the internet they get compared to other countries worldwide.

In terms of regional position, Nigeria ranks 16th with its index 56% lower than Africa’s average. Nigeria is in 12th place in Sub-Saharan Africa. Countries like South Africa and Ghana rank 70th and 105th respectively, both overpaying for the internet they get. Nigeria has a 90% lower index compared to South Africa and 26% lower index compared to Ghana.

“Internet Value index offers to look at internet connection from a practical perspective – whether we get what we pay for. Even economically affluent countries with relatively fast internet can overpay compared to others worldwide,” says Agneska Sablovskaja, Lead Researcher at Surfshark. “However, some countries may have slower internet but also pay a considerably lower price, which is then considered fair.”

4 out of 10 Africans get their internet at a fair price

Comparing internet value in Africa, 4 out of every 10 people can access the internet at a fair price. South Africa remains the outright leader, with Egypt ranking second, followed by Morocco. While the top-ranking African country, South Africa, is part of the Sub-Saharan Africa subregion, the Northern Africa subregion performs better overall, with the average index of its 4 countries being 2 times higher than Sub-Saharan Africa’s.

All Northern African countries have above-average internet value, while only 1 in 4 (26.3%) Sub-Saharan African countries do. Zimbabwe and Uganda are the lowest-ranking African countries, followed closely by Cameroon.

4 out of 10 people in Asia can access the internet at a fair price compared to the rest of the region. Israel takes the lead in Asia with the best internet value index, followed by Singapore and South Korea.

78% of European people get their internet at fair prices. Denmark takes the lead in Europe with an index nearly four times higher than the European average, closely followed by France. The three lowest-ranking countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and North Macedonia, are all located in Southern Europe.

In North America, 7 out of every 10 individuals can access the internet at a fair price. The United States outperforms Canada regarding internet value.

None of the countries that form part of the Latin American and the Caribbean subregion of North America have above-average internet value. 59% of South Americans get their internet at a fair price. Chile is South America’s leader in internet value, followed by Uruguay and Brazil.

Oceania’s internet value index is 2.5 times higher than the global average. Australia ranked 5th in the world, and New Zealand ranked 25th overall.

Methodology

This study ranks 117 countries and territories based on the Internet Value index (IVi), which is determined by fixed broadband internet and mobile internet speed-to-affordability ratios.

Pillars have four indicators directly influencing the quality to affordability aspect: 1) time to work to afford fixed broadband internet (hours). 2) time to work to afford mobile internet (hours). 3) median fixed broadband download speed (Mbps). 4) median mobile internet download speed (Mbps).