EF English Proficiency Index

The EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) attempts to rank countries by the average level of English language skills amongst those adults who took the EF test.[1] 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.[2][3] The index is an online survey first published in 2011[4] based on test data from 1.7 million test takers.[5] The most recent, ninth edition was released in October 2019.[6][7]

Methodology

The EF EPI eighth edition was calculated using test data from 1.3 million test takers in 2017. The test takers were self-selected and no demographic information was collected on them. The tests are used by the company for marketing and placement purposes. 85 countries and 3 territories appear in the eighth edition of the index. In order to be included, a country was required to have at least 400 test takers.[8]

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 2018 report and accompanying country fact sheets include 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.[8]

Primary conclusions
  1. Exports per capita, Gross National Income per capita and innovation all correlate positively with English proficiency.[9]
  2. English proficiency levels are evolving at different rates in different countries around the world, including a few countries with declining English skills.[10]
  3. Europe as a whole speaks the best English, while the Middle East is the worst.[11]
  4. Women speak English better than men.[12]

2019 rankings

Below are the latest country scores, proficiency bands, and rankings as published in 2019.[13]

2019 Rank Country 2019 Score 2019 Proficiency Band
1  Netherlands 70.27 Very High Proficiency
2  Sweden 68.74 Very High Proficiency
3  Norway 67.93 Very High Proficiency
4  Denmark 67.87 Very High Proficiency
5  Singapore 66.82 Very High Proficiency
6  South Africa 65.38 Very High Proficiency
7  Finland 65.34 Very High Proficiency
8  Austria 64.11 Very High Proficiency
9  Luxembourg 64.03 Very High Proficiency
10  Germany 63.77 Very High Proficiency
11  Poland 63.76 Very High Proficiency
12  Portugal 63.14 Very High Proficiency
13  Belgium 63.09 Very High Proficiency
14  Croatia 63.07 Very High Proficiency
15  Hungary 61.86 High Proficiency
16  Romania 61.36 High Proficiency
17  Serbia 61.30 High Proficiency
18  Kenya 60.51 High Proficiency
19   Switzerland 60.23 High Proficiency
20  Philippines 60.14 High Proficiency
21  Lithuania 60.11 High Proficiency
22  Greece 59.87 High Proficiency
23  Czech Republic 59.30 High Proficiency
24  Bulgaria 58.97 High Proficiency
25  Slovakia 58.82 High Proficiency
26  Malaysia 58.55 High Proficiency
27  Argentina 58.38 High Proficiency
28  Estonia 58.29 High Proficiency
29  Nigeria 58.26 High Proficiency
30  Costa Rica 57.38 Moderate Proficiency
31  France 57.25 Moderate Proficiency
32  Latvia 56.85 Moderate Proficiency
33  Hong Kong 55.63 Moderate Proficiency
34  India 55.49 Moderate Proficiency
35  Spain 55.46 Moderate Proficiency
36  Italy 55.31 Moderate Proficiency
37  South Korea 55.04 Moderate Proficiency
38  Taiwan 54.18 Moderate Proficiency
39  Uruguay 54.08 Moderate Proficiency
40  Mainland China 53.44 Moderate Proficiency
41  Macau 53.34 Moderate Proficiency
42  Chile 52.89 Moderate Proficiency
43  Cuba 52.70 Moderate Proficiency
44  Dominican Republic 52.58 Moderate Proficiency
45  Paraguay 52.51 Moderate Proficiency
46  Guatemala 52.50 Moderate Proficiency
47  Belarus 52.39 Low Proficiency
48  Russia 52.14 Low Proficiency
49  Ukraine 52.13 Low Proficiency
50  Albania 51.99 Low Proficiency
51  Bolivia 51.64 Low Proficiency
52  Vietnam 51.57 Low Proficiency
53  Japan 51.51 Low Proficiency
54  Pakistan 51.41 Low Proficiency
55  Bahrain 50.92 Low Proficiency
56  Georgia 50.62 Low Proficiency
57  Honduras 50.53 Low Proficiency
58  Peru 50.22 Low Proficiency
59  Brazil 50.10 Low Proficiency
60  El Salvador 50.09 Low Proficiency
61  Indonesia 50.06 Low Proficiency
62  Nicaragua 49.89 Low Proficiency
63  Ethiopia 49.64 Low Proficiency
64  Panama 49.60 Low Proficiency
65  Tunisia 49.04 Low Proficiency
66    Nepal 49.00 Low Proficiency
67  Mexico 48.99 Low Proficiency
68  Colombia 48.75 Low Proficiency
69  Iran 48.69 Low Proficiency
70  United Arab Emirates 48.19 Very Low Proficiency
71  Bangladesh 48.11 Very Low Proficiency
72  Maldives 48.02 Very Low Proficiency
73  Venezuela 47.81 Very Low Proficiency
74  Thailand 47.61 Very Low Proficiency
75  Jordan 47.21 Very Low Proficiency
76  Morocco 47.19 Very Low Proficiency
77  Egypt 47.11 Very Low Proficiency
78  Sri Lanka 47.10 Very Low Proficiency
79  Turkey 46.81 Very Low Proficiency
80  Qatar 46.79 Very Low Proficiency
81  Ecuador 46.57 Very Low Proficiency
82  Syria 46.36 Very Low Proficiency
83  Cameroon 46.28 Very Low Proficiency
84  Kuwait 46.22 Very Low Proficiency
85  Azerbaijan 46.13 Very Low Proficiency
86  Myanmar 46.00 Very Low Proficiency
87  Sudan 45.94 Very Low Proficiency
88  Mongolia 45.56 Very Low Proficiency
89  Afghanistan 45.36 Very Low Proficiency
90  Algeria 45.28 Very Low Proficiency
91  Angola 44.54 Very Low Proficiency
92  Oman 44.39 Very Low Proficiency
93  Kazakhstan 43.83 Very Low Proficiency
94  Cambodia 43.78 Very Low Proficiency
95  Uzbekistan 43.18 Very Low Proficiency
96  Ivory Coast 42.41 Very Low Proficiency
97  Iraq 42.39 Very Low Proficiency
98  Saudi Arabia 41.60 Very Low Proficiency
99  Kyrgyzstan 41.51 Very Low Proficiency
100  Libya 40.87 Very Low Proficiency

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.[14]

gollark: No idea.
gollark: CC seems to still have it
gollark: I'm 3.0004 sure that CC:T actually is multithreaded now.
gollark: *Down*loading isn't an API operation so meh.
gollark: And PotatOS uses the same API key.

See also

References
  1. English: Who speaks English?. The Economist. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
  2. Study Offers Snapshot of Global English-Language-Learner Trends. Education Week. Retrieved on 2017-01-17.
  3. The EF SET powers the EF EPI. EF SET. Retrieved on 2017-10-05.
  4. The EF EPI. ef.com. Retrieved on 2017-10-05.
  5. Low English Levels Can Hurt Countries' Progress. New York Times. Retrieved on 2017-01-17.
  6. https://www.ef.com/__/~/media/centralefcom/epi/downloads/full-reports/v9/ef-epi-2019-english.pdf
  7. Women and managers are better at speaking English, study on proficiency finds. Business Insider. Retrieved on 2018-11-09
  8. EF English Proficiency Index – Comparing English skills between countries – EF EPI. Ef.com. Retrieved on 2018-11-09.
  9. Minh Tran: Countries with High English Proficiency Are More Innovative. 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.
  10. How Well Does Your Country Speak English?. Voice of America. Retrieved on 2017-1-17.
  11. Which countries are best at English as a second language?. World Economic Forum. Retrieved on 2017-1-17.
  12. Women are better than men at learning English. That’s not necessarily a good sign.. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2017-1-17.
  13. "EF EPI 2019 - EF English Proficiency Index". 2019.
  14. SurveyLang project. European Commission. Retrieved on 2012-09-20.
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