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, tenth edition was released in November 2020.[6][7]

Methodology

The EF EPI tenth edition was calculated using test data from 2.2 million test takers in 2019. The test takers were self-selected. 98 countries and 2 territories appear in the tenth edition of the index. In order to be included, a country was required to have at least 400 test takers.[8]

This methodology does not lead to any meaningful results however, due to sampling bias. As such, the proficiency scores aren't based on representative samples, rendering the data meaningless.

Example:

Country A and Country B both have 10 million inhabitants. In Country A, 98% of the population is highly proficient in English. In Country B, only 5% are proficient, with 95% of the population speaking very little or no English at all. Let's assume that 1000 inhabitants from both countries take the EF EPI test. Since the test takers were self-selected, the vast majority are already proficient in English, as inhabitants with little to no English knowledge generally didn't bother with online English tests. This gives us a result stating that both Country A and Country B have, in fact, very high levels of English proficiency despite the enormous gap between the percentage of proficient inhabitants.

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 2020 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.[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, 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]

2020 rankings

Below are the latest country scores, proficiency bands, and rankings as published in 2020.[13]

2020 Rank Country 2020 Score 2020 Proficiency Band
1  Netherlands 652 Very High Proficiency
2  Denmark 632 Very High Proficiency
3  Finland 631 Very High Proficiency
4  Sweden 625 Very High Proficiency
5  Norway 624 Very High Proficiency
6  Austria 623 Very High Proficiency
7  Portugal 618 Very High Proficiency
8  Germany 616 Very High Proficiency
9  Belgium 612 Very High Proficiency
10  Singapore 611 Very High Proficiency
11  Luxembourg 610 Very High Proficiency
12  South Africa 607 Very High Proficiency
13  Croatia 599 High Proficiency
14  Hungary 598 High Proficiency
15  Serbia 597 High Proficiency
16  Poland 596 High Proficiency
17  Romania 589 High Proficiency
18   Switzerland 588 High Proficiency
19  Czech Republic 580 High Proficiency
20  Bulgaria 579 High Proficiency
21  Greece 578 High Proficiency
22  Kenya 577 High Proficiency
22  Slovakia 577 High Proficiency
24  Lithuania 570 High Proficiency
25  Argentina 566 High Proficiency
25  Estonia 566 High Proficiency
27  Philippines 562 High Proficiency
28  France 559 High Proficiency
29  Latvia 555 High Proficiency
30  Italy 547 Moderate Proficiency
30  Malaysia 547 Moderate Proficiency
32  South Korea 545 Moderate Proficiency
33  Hong Kong 542 Moderate Proficiency
34  Nigeria 537 Moderate Proficiency
34  Spain 537 Moderate Proficiency
36  Costa Rica 530 Moderate Proficiency
37  Chile 523 Moderate Proficiency
38  Mainland China 520 Moderate Proficiency
39  Paraguay 517 Moderate Proficiency
40  Belarus 513 Moderate Proficiency
41  Cuba 512 Moderate Proficiency
41  Russia 512 Moderate Proficiency
43  Albania 511 Moderate Proficiency
44  Ukraine 506 Moderate Proficiency
45  Macau 505 Moderate Proficiency
46  Bolivia 504 Moderate Proficiency
47  Georgia 503 Moderate Proficiency
48  Dominican Republic 499 Low Proficiency
49  Honduras 498 Low Proficiency
50  India 496 Low Proficiency
51  Armenia 494 Low Proficiency
51  Uruguay 494 Low Proficiency
53  Brazil 490 Low Proficiency
54  Tunisia 489 Low Proficiency
55  Japan 487 Low Proficiency
56  El Salvador 483 Low Proficiency
56  Iran 483 Low Proficiency
56  Panama 483 Low Proficiency
59  Peru 482 Low Proficiency
60    Nepal 480 Low Proficiency
61  Pakistan 478 Low Proficiency
62  Ethiopia 477 Low Proficiency
63  Bangladesh 476 Low Proficiency
63  Guatemala 476 Low Proficiency
65  Vietnam 473 Low Proficiency
66  United Arab Emirates 472 Low Proficiency
67  Venezuela 471 Low Proficiency
68  Sri Lanka 466 Low Proficiency
69  Turkey 465 Low Proficiency
70  Kuwait 461 Low Proficiency
71  Qatar 459 Low Proficiency
72  Jordan 456 Low Proficiency
73  Nicaragua 455 Low Proficiency
74  Bahrain 453 Low Proficiency
74  Indonesia 453 Low Proficiency
74  Morocco 453 Low Proficiency
77  Colombia 448 Very Low Proficiency
78  Mongolia 446 Very Low Proficiency
79  Afghanistan 445 Very Low Proficiency
80  Angola 444 Very Low Proficiency
81  Algeria 442 Very Low Proficiency
82  Mexico 440 Very Low Proficiency
83  Egypt 437 Very Low Proficiency
84  Cambodia 435 Very Low Proficiency
85  Sudan 434 Very Low Proficiency
86  Azerbaijan 432 Very Low Proficiency
87  Syria 431 Very Low Proficiency
88  Uzbekistan 430 Very Low Proficiency
89  Cameroon 419 Very Low Proficiency
89  Thailand 419 Very Low Proficiency
91  Ivory Coast 414 Very Low Proficiency
92  Kazakhstan 412 Very Low Proficiency
93  Ecuador 411 Very Low Proficiency
93  Myanmar 411 Very Low Proficiency
95  Rwanda 408 Very Low Proficiency
96  Kyrgyzstan 405 Very Low Proficiency
97  Saudi Arabia 399 Very Low Proficiency
98  Oman 398 Very Low Proficiency
99  Iraq 383 Very Low Proficiency
100  Tajikistan 381 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]

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/assetscdn/WIBIwq6RdJvcD9bc8RMd/legacy/__/~/media/centralefcom/epi/downloads/full-reports/v10/ef-epi-2020-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 2020 - EF English Proficiency Index". 2020.
  14. SurveyLang project. European Commission. Retrieved on 2012-09-20.
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