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EF English Proficiency Index

World map
World map representing different levels of English proficiency in the world in 2023:[1]
  •   600 and above (Very high)
  •   599 – 575 (High)
  •   574 – 550 (High)
  •   549 – 525 (Moderate)
  •   524 – 500 (Moderate)
  •   499 – 475 (Low)
  •   474 – 450 (Low)
  •   449 – 425 (Very low)
  •   424 – 400 (Very low)
  •   below 400 (Very low)
  •   No data or English is official or de-facto national language

The EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) attempts to rank countries by the equity of English language skills amongst those adults who took the EF test.[2] It is the product of EF Education First, an international education company, and draws its conclusions from data collected via English tests available for free over the internet.[3][4] The index is an online survey first published in 2011[5] based on test data from 1.7 million test takers.[6] The most recent edition was released in November 2023.[7][8]

Methodology

The EF EPI 2024 edition was calculated using test data from 2.1 million test takers in 2023. The test takers were self-selected. 116 countries and territories appear in this edition of the index. In order to be included, a country was required to have at least 400 test takers.[9]

Report

The report is composed of a country ranking table, several pages of analysis with graphs correlating other economic and social factors with English proficiency, and analysis of each region or continent. The 2023 report includes English proficiency levels by gender, age group, and region, within countries, and some English proficiency scores by city. The website displays portions of the report and has analysis of English skills in many countries and territories.[9]

Primary conclusions

  • Exports per capita, gross national income per capita and innovation all correlate positively with English proficiency.[10]
  • English proficiency levels are evolving at different rates in different countries, including a few countries with declining English skills.[11]
  • Europe has the highest proficiency in English, while the Middle East averages the lowest.[12]

2024 country rankings

Below are the latest country scores, proficiency bands, and rankings as published in 2024.[1]

Country Score Proficiency Band
 Netherlands 636 Very high proficiency
 Norway 610 Very high proficiency
 Singapore 609 Very high proficiency
 Sweden 608 Very high proficiency
 Croatia 607 Very high proficiency
 Portugal 605 Very high proficiency
 Denmark 603 Very high proficiency
 Greece 602 Very high proficiency
 Austria 600 Very high proficiency
 Germany 598 High Proficiency
 South Africa 594 High Proficiency
 Romania 593 High proficiency
 Belgium 592 High Proficiency
 Finland 590 High proficiency
 Poland 588 High proficiency
 Bulgaria 586 High proficiency
 Hungary 585 High proficiency
 Slovakia 584 High proficiency
 Kenya 581 High proficiency
 Estonia 578 High proficiency
 Luxembourg 576 High proficiency
 Philippines 570 High proficiency
 Lithuania 569 High proficiency
 Serbia 568 High proficiency
 Czechia 567 High proficiency
 Malaysia 566 High proficiency
 Suriname 563 High proficiency
 Argentina 562 High proficiency
 Cyprus 558 High proficiency
 Nigeria 557 High proficiency
  Switzerland 550 High proficiency
 Hong Kong 549 Moderate proficiency
 Honduras 545 Moderate proficiency
 Georgia 543 Moderate proficiency
 Belarus 539 Moderate proficiency
 Spain 538 Moderate proficiency
 Uruguay 538 Moderate proficiency
 Armenia 537 Moderate proficiency
 Moldova 536 Moderate proficiency
 Ukraine 535 Moderate proficiency
 Costa Rica 534 Moderate proficiency
 Ghana 534 Moderate proficiency
 Albania 533 Moderate proficiency
 Russia 532 Moderate proficiency
 Paraguay 531 Moderate proficiency
 Italy 528 Moderate proficiency
 Bolivia 525 Moderate proficiency
 Chile 525 Moderate proficiency
 France 524 Moderate proficiency
 South Korea 523 Moderate proficiency
 Israel 522 Moderate proficiency
 Cuba 520 Moderate proficiency
 Peru 519 Moderate proficiency
 Uganda 518 Moderate proficiency
 El Salvador 513 Moderate proficiency
   Nepal 512 Moderate proficiency
 Venezuela 510 Moderate proficiency
 Guatemala 507 Moderate proficiency
 Nicaragua 505 Moderate proficiency
 Dominican Republic 503 Moderate proficiency
 Bangladesh 500 Moderate proficiency
 Iran 499 Low proficiency
 Ethiopia 498 Low proficiency
 Vietnam 498 Low proficiency
 Turkey 497 Low proficiency
 Tunisia 496 Low proficiency
 Pakistan 493 Low proficiency
 Lebanon 492 Low proficiency
 India 490 Low proficiency
 United Arab Emirates 489 Low proficiency
 Panama 488 Low proficiency
 Tanzania 487 Low proficiency
 Sri Lanka 486 Low proficiency
 Colombia 485 Low proficiency
 Qatar 480 Low proficiency
 Morocco 479 Low proficiency
 Syria 473 Low proficiency
 Algeria 471 Low proficiency
 Mozambique 469 Low proficiency
 Indonesia 468 Low proficiency
 Brazil 466 Low proficiency
 Ecuador 465 Low proficiency
 Egypt 465 Low proficiency
 Mongolia 464 Low proficiency
 Madagascar 463 Low proficiency
 Azerbaijan 462 Low proficiency
 Mexico 459 Low proficiency
 Kyrgyzstan 457 Low proficiency
 Cape Verde 456 Low proficiency
 Kuwait 456 Low proficiency
 China 455 Low proficiency
 Japan 454 Low proficiency
 Myanmar 449 Very low proficiency
 Palestine 448 Very low proficiency
 Afghanistan 447 Very low proficiency
 Malawi 447 Very low proficiency
 Cameroon 445 Very low proficiency
 Uzbekistan 439 Very low proficiency
 Haiti 432 Very low proficiency
 Sudan 432 Very low proficiency
 Jordan 431 Very low proficiency
 Senegal 429 Very low proficiency
 Kazakhstan 427 Very low proficiency
 Oman 421 Very low proficiency
 Saudi Arabia 417 Very low proficiency
 Thailand 415 Very low proficiency
 Iraq 414 Very low proficiency
 Benin 413 Very low proficiency
 Tajikistan 412 Very low proficiency
 Angola 409 Very low proficiency
 Cambodia 408 Very low proficiency
 Libya 405 Very low proficiency
 Rwanda 401 Very low proficiency
 Ivory Coast 399 Very low proficiency
 Somalia 399 Very low proficiency
 Yemen 394 Very low proficiency

2023 city rankings

City 2023 score 2023 proficiency band
Amsterdam 646 Very high
Vienna 640 Very high
Copenhagen 639 Very high
Stockholm 637 Very high
Oslo 629 Very high
Berlin 625 Very high
Sofia 622 Very high
Bern 621 Very high
Tallinn 621 Very high
Helsinki 617 Very high
Cape Town 614 Very high
Zagreb 612 Very high
Athens 611 Very high
Vilnius 610 Very high
Lisbon 609 Very high
Warsaw 605 Very high
Bucharest 602 Very high
Budapest 600 Very high
Belgrade 594 High
Bratislava 592 High
Buenos Aires 592 High
Brussels 592 High
Prague 589 High
Manila 587 High
Nairobi 586 High
Paris 579 High
Lagos 578 High
Chișinău 573 High
Kuala Lumpur 564 High
La Paz 562 High
Seoul 559 High
Tirana 559 High
Madrid 558 High
Rome 555 High
Santiago 553 High
Accra 552 High
Tbilisi 551 High
Tegucigalpa 551 High
Asunción 549 Moderate
Minsk 549 Moderate
Montevideo 549 Moderate
San José 549 Moderate
Kyiv 547 Moderate
Beirut 545 Moderate
Havana 543 Moderate
Brasília 542 Moderate
Moscow 542 Moderate
Hanoi 538 Moderate
Islamabad 538 Moderate
Yerevan 536 Moderate
Lima 536 Moderate
San Salvador 534 Moderate
Tunis 533 Moderate
Jakarta 531 Moderate
Colombo 528 Moderate
Santo Domingo 528 Moderate
Kathmandu 527 Moderate
Caracas 521 Moderate
Dhaka 521 Moderate
Guatemala City 521 Moderate
Tehran 521 Moderate
Kampala 520 Moderate
Addis Ababa 515 Moderate
Dar es Salaam 515 Moderate
Beijing 514 Moderate
Algiers 513 Moderate
Quito 513 Moderate
Rio de Janeiro 513 Moderate
Shanghai 512 Moderate
Managua 511 Moderate
Dubai 510 Moderate
Rabat 506 Moderate
Ankara 503 Moderate
Tokyo 503 Moderate
Jerusalem 500 Moderate
Medellín 500 Moderate
Ulaanbaatar 500 Moderate
Panama City 491 Low
Astana 485 Low
Bishkek 484 Low
Doha 484 Low
Damascus 477 Low
Cairo 476 Low
Guangzhou 475 Low
Amman 470 Low
Baku 466 Low
Mexico City 462 Low
Kabul 458 Low
Bangkok 457 Low
Delhi 451 Low
Kuwait City 446 Very low
Tashkent 445 Very low
Mogadishu 442 Very low
Khartoum 440 Very low
Muscat 436 Very low
Yaoundé 436 Very low
Naypyidaw 433 Very low
Luanda 428 Very low
Port-au-Prince 427 Very low
Abidjan 425 Very low
Baghdad 425 Very low
Phnom Penh 422 Very low
Kinshasa 421 Very low
Tripoli 410 Very low
Kigali 409 Very low
Sanaa 408 Very low
Riyadh 400 Very low
Dushanbe 392 Very low

Similar reports

The European Commission performed a language survey, SurveyLang, which tested a representative sample of 15-year-old European students on their foreign language skills. The report and data sets were released for 13 European countries in June 2012.[13]

Criticisms

The EF English Proficiency Index has been the subject of criticism in literature. From the point of view of methodology, it suffers from self-selection bias. Instead of testing the level of English proficiency in the population, it tests the level of English of those who self-select. [14] On a political level, the EF English Proficiency Index can promote linguistic imperialism. EF does not create a ranking of countries on the basis of ability to speak a second language, but only on English proficiency, which is implicitly singled out as the only language that counts to know. English-speaking countries are therefore excluded from the ranking and implicitly designated as the 'gold standard' to be achieved. The EF English Proficiency Index thus gives a worldwide quantitative representation of the 'deficit model', whereby a country's level of progress is measured on the benchmark of a subset of countries. Moreover, the countries at the top of the rankings are often those whose official languages are gradually subject to 'domain loss' in favour of English, because they are being used less and less in scientific research, academic teaching and multinational corporations.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "EF EPI 2024 - EF English Proficiency Index". 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  2. ^ English: Who speaks English? Archived 2 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine. The Economist. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
  3. ^ Study Offers Snapshot of Global English-Language-Learner Trends Archived 16 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Education Week. Retrieved on 2017-01-17.
  4. ^ The EF SET powers the EF EPI Archived 24 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. EF SET. Retrieved on 2017-10-05.
  5. ^ The EF EPI Archived 30 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. ef.com. Retrieved on 2017-10-05.
  6. ^ Low English Levels Can Hurt Countries' Progress Archived 17 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine. New York Times. Retrieved on 2017-01-17.
  7. ^ "EF English Proficiency Index" (PDF). ef.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 May 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  8. ^ Women and managers are better at speaking English, study on proficiency finds Archived 16 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Business Insider. Retrieved on 2018-11-09
  9. ^ a b EF English Proficiency Index – Comparing English skills between countries – EF EPI Archived 18 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Ef.com. Retrieved on 2018-11-09.
  10. ^ Minh Tran: Countries with High English Proficiency Are More Innovative Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Harvard Business Review. "Minh Tran is Director of Research and Partnerships for EF Education First and a member of the team that launched the EF Standard English Test." Retrieved on 2017-01-17.
  11. ^ How Well Does Your Country Speak English? Archived 30 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Voice of America. Retrieved on 2017-1-17.
  12. ^ Which countries are best at English as a second language? Archived 8 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine. World Economic Forum. Retrieved on 2017-1-17.
  13. ^ SurveyLang project Archived 23 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine. European Commission. Retrieved on 2012-09-20.
  14. ^ [1] Archived 28 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Michele Gazzola & Daniele Mazzacani, "Il valore economico del plurilinguismo". Retrieved on 2023-01-17.
  15. ^ [2] Archived 8 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. "English takes over at Dutch universities, just 40% of courses still in Dutch", DutchNews.nl. Retrieved on 2016-08-26.
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