South Korea and Hong Kong took the top spots in average connection speed at 26.3 megabytes per second (Mbps) and 20.1 Mbps respectively, according to the Akamai State of the internet report for Q3, released by Massachusetts-based content delivery network services provider Akamai.

Singapore came in third at 18.2 Mbps, but led the pack in average peak connection speed at 162 Mbps, with Hong Kong and South Korea trailing behind at 116.2 Mbps and 114.2 Mbps respectively.

This is the fifth consecutive quarter for which Singapore has snagged the top spot.

(Read also: South Korea boasts world's fastest internet speed)

The global avg peak connection speed increased 16% YoY & 3.4% QoQ. More in our Q3 Connectivity Report https://t.co/DYhtqK5ZA4 #Akamai_SOTI pic.twitter.com/mJtVyFZvqH

— Akamai Technologies (@Akamai) December 14, 2016

To explain the difference between average connection speed and average peak connection speed, executive director of Deloitte Consulting in South-east Asia Jan Wupperman used an analogy of a highway, The Straits Times reported in July.

"When the highway is empty, your car can go at its maximum speed, or peak speed," he said. "But when there are many cars on the highway - such as when everyone is using the same bandwidth for streaming, surfing and downloading during peak hours - you end up with traffic jams, or a lower average speed."

Connectivity has grown globally, with the average connection speed growing 2.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter and increasing 21 per cent to 6.3 Mbps year-on-year, according to Akamai's report.

The global average peak connection speed increased 3.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 16 per cent year-on-year to 37.2 Mbps.

In the Asia-Pacific region, India had the lowest average connection speed at 4.1 Mbps, and the lowest average peak connection speed at 27.0 Mbps.

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