The UK has been ranked 13th out of 30 in a study of broadband performance around the world, two places ahead of the US.

The compared nations were given a composite score based on their penetration rate, average download speed and the lowest price of a monthly access package. The UK's was placed ahead of Luxembourg and Germany but trails Europe's leaders in the sector – Finland, the Netherlands and France.

South Korea topped the list with an adoption rate of 93 per cent, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a US-based not-for-profit organisation.

The average download speed in the Asian country is 49.5Mbit/s, while the standard cost of access is just $0.37 (19p) for each megabit of connection speed.

UK penetration is now 55 per cent, but the standard broadband connection only handles a download speed of 2.6Mbit/s. And our users pay an average of $1.24 per megabit for their service.

The full rankings can be viewed here.