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 2023 edition was calculated using test data from 2.1 million test takers in 2022. The test takers were self-selected. 113 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]

2023 country rankings

Below are the latest country scores, proficiency bands, and rankings as published in 2023.[1]

2023 rank Country 2023 score 2023 proficiency band
1  Netherlands 647 Very high proficiency
2  Singapore 631 Very high proficiency
3  Austria 616 Very high proficiency
4  Denmark 615 Very high proficiency
5  Norway 614 Very high proficiency
6  Sweden 609 Very high proficiency
7  Belgium 608 Very high proficiency
8  Portugal 607 Very high proficiency
9  South Africa 605 Very high proficiency
10  Germany 604 Very high proficiency
11  Croatia 603 Very high proficiency
12  Greece 602 Very high proficiency
13  Poland 598 High proficiency
14  Finland 597 High proficiency
15  Romania 596 High proficiency
16  Bulgaria 589 High proficiency
17  Hungary 588 High proficiency
18  Slovakia 587 High proficiency
19  Kenya 584 High proficiency
20  Philippines 578 High proficiency
21  Lithuania 576 High proficiency
22  Luxembourg 575 High proficiency
23  Estonia 570 High proficiency
24  Serbia 569 High proficiency
25  Malaysia 568 High proficiency
26  Czech Republic 565 High proficiency
27  Nigeria 562 High proficiency
28  Argentina 560 High proficiency
29  Hong Kong 558 High proficiency
30   Switzerland 553 High proficiency
31  Honduras 544 Moderate proficiency
32  Georgia 541 Moderate proficiency
33  Belarus 539 Moderate proficiency
34  Ghana 537 Moderate proficiency
35  Italy 535 Moderate proficiency
35  Moldova 535 Moderate proficiency
35  Spain 535 Moderate proficiency
38  Costa Rica 534 Moderate proficiency
39  Albania 533 Moderate proficiency
39  Uruguay 533 Moderate proficiency
41  Bolivia 532 Moderate proficiency
41  Russia 532 Moderate proficiency
43  Cuba 531 Moderate proficiency
43  France 531 Moderate proficiency
45  Paraguay 530 Moderate proficiency
45  Ukraine 530 Moderate proficiency
47  Uganda 529 Moderate proficiency
48  Armenia 528 Moderate proficiency
49  South Korea 525 Moderate proficiency
50  El Salvador 524 Moderate proficiency
51  Peru 521 Moderate proficiency
52  Chile 518 Moderate proficiency
53  Guatemala 515 Moderate proficiency
54  Israel 514 Moderate proficiency
55  Dominican Republic 512 Moderate proficiency
56  Venezuela 508 Moderate proficiency
57    Nepal 507 Moderate proficiency
58  Iran 505 Moderate proficiency
58  Vietnam 505 Moderate proficiency
60  Bangladesh 504 Moderate proficiency
60  India 504 Moderate proficiency
62  Nicaragua 503 Moderate proficiency
63  Tunisia 502 Moderate proficiency
64  Pakistan 497 Low proficiency
65  Lebanon 496 Low proficiency
66  Turkey 493 Low proficiency
67  Sri Lanka 491 Low proficiency
67  Tanzania 491 Low proficiency
69  Ethiopia 490 Low proficiency
70  Brazil 487 Low proficiency
71  Panama 486 Low proficiency
71  United Arab Emirates 486 Low proficiency
73  Mongolia 482 Low proficiency
73  Qatar 482 Low proficiency
75  Colombia 480 Low proficiency
76  Morocco 478 Low proficiency
77  Algeria 475 Low proficiency
78  Madagascar 474 Low proficiency
79  Indonesia 473 Low proficiency
80  Ecuador 467 Low proficiency
80  Syria 467 Low proficiency
82  China 464 Low proficiency
83  Azerbaijan 463 Low proficiency
83  Egypt 463 Low proficiency
85  Kuwait 461 Low proficiency
86  Malawi 460 Low proficiency
87  Japan 457 Low proficiency
88  Afghanistan 456 Low proficiency
89  Mexico 451 Low proficiency
90  Kyrgyzstan 450 Low proficiency
90  Myanmar 450 Low proficiency
92  Palestine 445 Very low proficiency
93  Uzbekistan 442 Very low proficiency
94  Cameroon 438 Very low proficiency
94  Senegal 438 Very low proficiency
96  Jordan 431 Very low proficiency
97  Sudan 430 Very low proficiency
98  Cambodia 421 Very low proficiency
98  Haiti 421 Very low proficiency
100  Oman 418 Very low proficiency
101  Angola 416 Very low proficiency
101  Benin 416 Very low proficiency
101  Thailand 416 Very low proficiency
104  Kazakhstan 415 Very low proficiency
105  Somalia 411 Very low proficiency
106  Iraq 410 Very low proficiency
107  Ivory Coast 409 Very low proficiency
108  Saudi Arabia 408 Very low proficiency
109  Rwanda 405 Very low proficiency
110  Libya 392 Very low proficiency
110  Yemen 392 Very low proficiency
112  Tajikistan 388 Very low proficiency
113  Democratic Republic of the Congo 385 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 589 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 2023 - EF English Proficiency Index". 2023. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  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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