Global English knowledge level decreases with men showing greater proficiency
English is the world’s most common second language. Each year, global education company Education First (EF) pulls together the top (and bottom) countries when it comes to English speaking in its English Proficiency Index (EPI). Analyzing the results of 2.1 million non-native English speakers who took EF’s Standard English Tests in 2023, it gives each country a ranking out of 800 points. This year, the results showed a general decline in English proficiency, with women and students having the weakest skills. In the 2024 results, nine out of 10 of the most English-proficient countries in the world are European.
As in 2023, the Netherlands once again took the top spot with 636 points. Also among the top countries boasting ‘very high proficiency’ were Norway, which made it to second place globally with 610 points and Sweden, which took fourth place with 608 points. Croatia, Portugal, Denmark, Greece and Austria made up the rest of the top level category.
European countries with a ‘high proficiency’ in English included Germany, Romania, Belgium, Finland and Poland. France has dropped down the scale since 2021, when it sat in the ‘high proficiency’ category in 31st place globally. In 2024, it has dropped still further to 49th place globally with 524 points – the lowest of all Northern European countries included in the study. Italy only comes in a few places above France in 46th with 528 points while Spain sits at 36 with 538 points. They were beaten by Georgia and Belarus, in 34th and 35th place globally. Other European countries in the ‘moderate proficiency’ category include Moldova, Albania, Russia, Ukraine and Armenia.
Places where you might really struggle to be understood include Turkey (65th) and Azerbaijan (86th) – both of which fall in the ‘low proficiency’ category.
It should be noted that despite Europe dominating the top of the index, it found that the continent’s English skills have slumped this year, with 60 per cent of countries reporting slightly lower scores than last year. On the positive side, the long downward youth proficiency trend in the 18-20 cohort halted this year. Since last year, women’s English proficiency remained stable while men’s declined, which has narrowed the gender gap. However, in 40 countries, men’s English proficiency is still significantly higher than women’s.
Africa remains the exception as the only continent where women have consistently better English skills than men, and women’s proficiency improved the most.
