Google: Mobile Web Access Speeds Increased 30% Over The Last 12 Months

Mobile browsing got significantly faster over the last 12 months, according to a new report from Google, and the average page load times on mobile are now comparable to desktop page load times. On mobile, web pages now load about 30 percent faster than a year ago, but when it comes to desktops, Google only found some very minor speed-ups. That, however, is actually quite impressive, given that the size of the average web page increased by over 56 percent in the last 12 months.

The report is based on aggregate data from Google Analytics’ Site Speed reports, which users can opt-in to transmit to Google. Given how many sites use Analytics, this data is likely representative of the web as a whole.

The company argues that mobile speeds increased thanks to improved browsers, more powerful mobile devices and the fast rise of LTE/4G networks. A year ago, Google’s data still showed that mobile browsing was typically 1.5x slower than desktop browsing.

The study found that users in Japan tend to see the fastest page load times, followed by Sweden, Poland and the United States. With regard to desktop browsing, Japan and Sweden are also in the lead, followed by Canada and the U.S.