The morning read on Europe's digital policy Friday 30 October 2026
Search

FTTH coverage in Europe by country: fibre ranking and take-up

The latest official figures, published in June 2026 and measured at the end of June 2025, show fibre to the premises (FTTP) covering 74.1% of households in the EU. Romania (96.3%), Spain (96.0%), Iceland (95.6%), Portugal (95.5%) and Cyprus (95.5%) have the highest coverage, while Belgium (35.5%), Germany (44.0%), Czechia (44.8%) and Austria (50.9%) have the lowest. Take-up lags behind: across 39 European countries, the average fibre take-up rate, meaning subscribers as a share of homes passed, was about 54% in September 2025.

The country figures below come from the European Commission's Connectivity Coverage in Europe 2025 study, released on 17 June 2026 with the State of the Digital Decade package. It covers the 27 member states plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In this edition FTTP became the most widespread single fixed broadband technology in the surveyed countries for the first time. Figures last checked: 30 October 2026.

FTTP coverage by country (mid-2025)

Share of households passed by a fibre-to-the-premises network. The EU27 average rose from 69.2% to 74.1% in a year.

90% or more

  • Romania: 96.3%
  • Spain: 96.0%
  • Iceland: 95.6%
  • Portugal: 95.5%
  • Cyprus: 95.5%
  • Bulgaria: 93.5%
  • France: 91.7%
  • Netherlands: 91.5%
  • Norway: 91.0%
  • Malta: 90.4%
  • Denmark: 90.2%

Between the EU average and 90%

  • Sweden: 85.6%
  • Luxembourg: 85.2%
  • Ireland: 84.5%
  • Slovenia: 83.9%
  • Hungary: 81.8%
  • Estonia: 81.1%
  • Finland: 80.0%
  • Lithuania: 79.0%
  • Poland: 78.6%
  • United Kingdom: 78.2%
  • Croatia: 77.9%
  • Italy: 77.6%
  • Slovakia: 76.0%

Below the EU average of 74.1%

  • Switzerland: 67.7%
  • Latvia: 62.1%
  • Greece: 59.8%
  • Austria: 50.9%
  • Czechia: 44.8%
  • Germany: 44.0%
  • Belgium: 35.5%

The largest one-year gains were in Greece (from 46.1% to 59.8%), Finland (from 68.3% to 80.0%) and Ireland (from 73.5% to 84.5%). Germany moved from 36.8% to 44.0%, but it is one of seven countries, with Austria, Switzerland, the UK, Latvia, Luxembourg and Czechia, that revised household counts, rural definitions or methods in the 2025 round. For those countries, part of the change may reflect the revision rather than new construction.

For news on operators and national rollout plans, see our Telecom section.

Fibre coverage versus gigabit coverage

The EU's 2030 goal under the Digital Decade policy programme, adopted in December 2022, is gigabit connectivity for every end user at a fixed location. The target does not name a technology. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1353 sets three coverage KPIs to monitor progress: fixed very high capacity network (VHCN) coverage, FTTP coverage and 5G coverage. VHCN counts FTTP plus cable networks upgraded to DOCSIS 3.1 or later. EU-wide VHCN coverage stood at 85.5% of households in mid-2025.

The gap between the two measures explains why some countries with little fibre are much closer to the target:

  • Belgium: 35.5% FTTP but 96.2% VHCN, because DOCSIS 3.1 cable passes 92.2% of households.
  • Germany: 44.0% FTTP and 79.9% VHCN, with DOCSIS 3.1 cable at 62.8%.
  • Switzerland: 67.7% FTTP and 90.1% VHCN.
  • Netherlands: 91.5% FTTP and 98.7% VHCN.

Malta is the only one of the 31 countries with full (100%) VHCN coverage, and ten countries are above 95%. Czechia has the lowest VHCN coverage in the study at 54.7%, followed by Greece at 59.8%.

Take-up: how many homes actually use fibre

Coverage shows which homes a fibre network passes; take-up shows who has signed up. The European FTTH/B Market Panorama 2026 from FTTH Council Europe, which now operates as Fibre Council Europe, counted about 295 million homes passed by fibre to the home or building across 39 countries in September 2025, roughly 79% of households. About 160 million of them subscribed, an average take-up rate of about 54%, slightly more than two points higher than a year earlier.

For take-up by country, the OECD publishes the share of fixed broadband subscriptions that run over fibre. Its October 2026 release, covering the end of 2025, puts the OECD-wide figure at about 51%. European countries in its data:

  • Highest: Iceland 96%, Spain 91%, Romania 87%, Finland 85%, France 82%, Lithuania 82%, Latvia 80%, Norway 77%, Sweden 77%.
  • Middle: Luxembourg 73%, Portugal 72%, Denmark 68%, Poland 61%, Slovenia 60%, Ireland 59%, Bulgaria 57%, Slovakia 55%, Estonia 54%, Hungary 48%.
  • Lowest: Netherlands 44%, United Kingdom 42%, Switzerland 39%, Italy 36%, Croatia 33%, Czechia 25%, Greece 24%, Germany 17%, Austria 16%, Belgium 14%.

The OECD counts fibre and LAN connections together and has no figures for Cyprus or Malta. Set against coverage, the numbers show where networks are built but not yet widely used: the Netherlands passes 91.5% of households with fibre, yet fibre carries only about 44% of its fixed subscriptions. Latvia shows the opposite pattern, with fibre at about four in five fixed connections even though coverage is 62.1%.

Rural fibre coverage

FTTP reached 62.6% of rural EU households in mid-2025, up from 58.8% a year earlier.

  • Highest rural coverage: Romania 94.0%, Denmark 92.7%, Cyprus 89.5%, Spain 88.7%, France 87.8%.
  • Lowest rural coverage: Belgium 4.6%, Greece 7.0%, Latvia 10.9%, Czechia 11.8%.

Denmark is the only country in the study where rural FTTP coverage is higher than its national figure. Rural Belgium is covered mainly by cable rather than fibre: 86.1% of its rural households have VHCN coverage. Because several countries redrew their rural areas in 2025, rural year-on-year changes are less comparable than the national ones.

Why some countries lead and others lag

The Commission's study links low FTTP coverage in Belgium, Germany, Austria and Czechia to extensive upgraded copper (VDSL) and cable networks, which weakened the short-term commercial case for laying fibre. It credits early large-scale fibre investment and active copper switch-off for the progress of Spain, Portugal and several Nordic markets.

Copper retirement now shows up in the data. EU-wide DSL coverage fell from 74.5% to 70.3% in a year. The study reports that Norway completed nationwide copper retirement after closing its traditional telephone network (PSTN), Sweden prepared to retire VDSL by the end of 2025 and Romania accelerated decommissioning. In the dataset, DSL coverage is recorded as zero in Spain and Norway.

EU policy points the same way. On 21 January 2026 the Commission proposed the Digital Networks Act, a regulation that would make national plans for phasing out copper networks mandatory. As a legislative proposal, it still has to be agreed by the European Parliament and the Council, so its details can change. More on EU telecom rules in our Policy section.

Outside the EU: UK, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland

  • United Kingdom: 78.2% FTTP coverage in the Commission's mid-2025 data. Ofcom's Connected Nations spring 2026 update puts full fibre at 82% of homes (24.9 million) in January 2026, and gigabit-capable broadband at 89%.
  • Norway: 91.0% FTTP, with its copper network already retired.
  • Switzerland: 67.7% FTTP; upgraded cable lifts VHCN coverage to 90.1%.
  • Iceland: 95.6% FTTP, and the highest fibre share of subscriptions in the OECD data at 96%.

Ukraine is not part of the Commission study or the OECD series, so it has no comparable entry. Coverage in Romania, Bulgaria, the Baltics and other Eastern European markets is listed above.

How to read these numbers

  • Dates differ. Commission data refer to the end of June 2025, FTTH Council data to September 2025 and OECD data to December 2025. National regulators often publish newer figures, as Ofcom does for the UK.
  • Methods differ. The Commission study surveys national regulators and, where needed, operators. The FTTH Council combines operator inputs, regulatory sources and market intelligence, and its 79% figure covers 39 countries rather than the EU27.
  • Coverage and take-up are different measures. Coverage counts homes a network passes; take-up counts homes or subscriptions actually connected.
  • FTTP, FTTH and FTTH/B. The Commission reports fibre to the premises (FTTP), while the FTTH Council reports fibre to the home or building (FTTH/B). Neither counts fibre-to-the-cabinet lines, where the final link to the home is copper.
  • The study is annual. Grant Thornton Advisory and LS telcom run it for the 2025 to 2027 period, so the next edition should report coverage as of mid-2026.

Frequently asked questions

Which European country has the best fibre coverage?

In the Commission's mid-2025 data, Romania (96.3%) and Spain (96.0%) have the highest share of households covered by fibre to the premises, followed by Iceland, Portugal and Cyprus. On take-up, Iceland leads: 96% of its fixed broadband subscriptions were fibre at the end of 2025, according to the OECD.

What percentage of EU households can get fibre?

FTTP covered 74.1% of EU households in mid-2025, up from 69.2% a year earlier. Counting cable networks upgraded to DOCSIS 3.1, gigabit-capable fixed coverage (VHCN) reached 85.5%.

Why does Germany have so little fibre?

Germany relied for years on upgraded copper and cable networks, which the Commission says reduced the commercial incentive to build fibre quickly. FTTP reached 44.0% of German households in mid-2025, although 79.9% were covered by a gigabit-capable network once cable is included.

What is the EU's 2030 gigabit target?

The Digital Decade policy programme aims for every end user at a fixed location to be covered by a gigabit network by 2030. It does not require fibre specifically: the Commission measures progress through fixed VHCN coverage, which combines FTTP and DOCSIS 3.1 cable, alongside FTTP coverage itself.

Does the UK have more fibre than the EU average?

Yes, slightly. The Commission's dataset puts UK FTTP coverage at 78.2% in mid-2025 against an EU27 average of 74.1%, and Ofcom's own count reached 82% of UK homes in January 2026.