EF English Proficiency Index

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 or region	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

2024 capital city rankings

City	2024 score	2024 proficiency band
Amsterdam	657	Very high
Copenhagen	633	Very high
Vienna	628	Very high
Helsinki	627	Very high
Lisbon	626	Very high
Zagreb	626	Very high
Stockholm	617	Very high
Berlin	615	Very high
Bern	614	Very high
Oslo	614	Very high
Athens	613	Very high
Warsaw	612	Very high
Cape Town	609	Very high
Budapest	606	Very high
Bratislava	604	Very high
Bucharest	601	Very high
Sofia	601	Very high
Prague	596	High
Manila	592	High
Belgrade	590	High
Tallinn	589	High
Nairobi	586	High
Paris	586	High
Vilnius	585	High
Buenos Aires	584	High
Kuala Lumpur	584	High
Brussels	580	High
Lagos	578	High
Chișinău	577	High
Paramaribo	569	High
Montevideo	567	High
Tegucigalpa	563	High
Kyiv	562	High
Seoul	562	High
Asunción	560	High
San José	557	High
Tbilisi	556	High
Lima	553	High
Madrid	553	High
Santiago	552	High
Accra	551	High
La Paz	551	High
Minsk	548	Moderate
Nicosia	548	Moderate
Rome	548	Moderate
Tirana	547	Moderate
Beirut	544	Moderate
Colombo	543	Moderate
Yerevan	541	Moderate
Moscow	540	Moderate
Brasília	538	Moderate
Tel Aviv	537	Moderate
Dhaka	530	Moderate
Islamabad	530	Moderate
Caracas	529	Moderate
Kathmandu	526	Moderate
San Salvador	526	Moderate
Algiers	525	Moderate
Addis Ababa	524	Moderate
Hanoi	524	Moderate
Havana	523	Moderate
Jakarta	523	Moderate
Santo Domingo	522	Moderate
Tunis	522	Moderate
Quito	521	Moderate
Dar es Salaam	520	Moderate
Kampala	520	Moderate
Beijing	518	Moderate
Guatemala City	518	Moderate
Managua	517	Moderate
Tehran	514	Moderate
Bogotá	513	Moderate
Rabat	510	Moderate
Ankara	505	Moderate
Maputo	503	Moderate
Bishkek	501	Moderate
Tokyo	496	Low
Abu Dhabi	489	Low
Panama City	489	Low
Doha	485	Low
Antananarivo	483	Low
Damascus	483	Low
Cairo	481	Low
Astana	469	Low
Kuwait City	469	Low
Dakar	466	Low
Ulaanbaatar	466	Low
Yangon	466	Low
Bangkok	465	Low
Baku	464	Low
Mexico City	464	Low
Lilongwe	459	Low
Phnom Penh	457	Low
Tashkent	457	Low
Amman	455	Low
Muscat	453	Low
Kabul	451	Low
Khartoum	442	Very low
Dushanbe	439	Very low
Port-au-Prince	437	Very low
Yaoundé	436	Very low
Cotonou	432	Very low
Praia	429	Very low
Baghdad	427	Very low
Tripoli	421	Very low
Sanaa	420	Very low
Riyadh	416	Very low
Kigali	412	Very low
Luanda	412	Very low
Abidjan	410	Very low
Delhi	406	Very low
Mogadishu	375	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] 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] The selection bias is noted but not mitigated in EF's analysis.^[16]

References

^ ^a ^b "EF EPI 2024 - EF English Proficiency Index". 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
^ English: Who speaks English? Archived 2 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine. The Economist. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
^ Study Offers Snapshot of Global English-Language-Learner Trends Archived 16 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Education Week. Retrieved on 2017-01-17.
^ The EF SET powers the EF EPI Archived 24 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. EF SET. Retrieved on 2017-10-05.
^ The EF EPI Archived 30 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. ef.com. Retrieved on 2017-10-05.
^ Low English Levels Can Hurt Countries' Progress Archived 17 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine. New York Times. Retrieved on 2017-01-17.
^ "EF English Proficiency Index" (PDF). ef.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 May 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
^ 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
^ ^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.
^ 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.
^ How Well Does Your Country Speak English? . Voice of America. Retrieved on 2017-1-17.
^ 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.
^ SurveyLang project Archived 23 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine. European Commission. Retrieved on 2012-09-20.
^ [1] Archived 28 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Michele Gazzola & Daniele Mazzacani, "Il valore economico del plurilinguismo". Retrieved on 2023-01-17.
^ [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.
^ Bolton, Kingsley; Bacon-Shone, John (2020). "The Statistics of English across Asia". The Handbook of Asian Englishes. Wiley. pp. 49–80. doi:10.1002/9781118791882.ch3. ISBN 978-1-118-79180-6.

External links

Official website

[EF_EPI_Ranking-1] "EF EPI 2024 - EF English Proficiency Index". 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.

[economist1-2] English: Who speaks English? Archived 2 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine. The Economist. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.

[Edweek-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.

[EF_SET-4] The EF SET powers the EF EPI Archived 24 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. EF SET. Retrieved on 2017-10-05.

[ef.com-5] The EF EPI Archived 30 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. ef.com. Retrieved on 2017-10-05.

[NYT-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

[ef.edu-9] 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.

[HBR-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.

[VOA-11] How Well Does Your Country Speak English? . Voice of America. Retrieved on 2017-1-17.

[World_Economic_Forum-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.

[Gazzola_and_Mazzacani-14] [1] Archived 28 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Michele Gazzola & Daniele Mazzacani, "Il valore economico del plurilinguismo". Retrieved on 2023-01-17.

[NLNews-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.

[16] Bolton, Kingsley; Bacon-Shone, John (2020). "The Statistics of English across Asia". The Handbook of Asian Englishes. Wiley. pp. 49–80. doi:10.1002/9781118791882.ch3. ISBN 978-1-118-79180-6.

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