Sweden Returns to Top Spot in World Ranking of English Proficiency Reveals EF's Annual Proficiency Index

EF's survey of 1.3 million adults highlights global trends in English proficiency  

ZURICH, Oct. 30, 2018 /CNW/ - EF Education First released its annual global ranking of English proficiency today, drawing on data from 1.3 million non-native English speakers in 88 countries and regions. For the fourth time in eight years, Sweden tops the EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI), bumping last year's top-scorer, the Netherlands, to second place.

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"Our EF EPI research shows that countries and individuals continue to invest in English education, recognizing the importance of the language as a lever for competitiveness," said Dr. Minh N. Tran, EF's Senior Director of Research. "Since EF started publishing this ranking, it has become the de facto reference point for governments, companies, and educators when they discuss English skills."

Key findings of this year's EF EPI include:

• Europe remains the global leader in English proficiency. Eight of the top 10 spots in the ranking are held by European countries.
• Africa shows stronger gains in English proficiency than any other region, with Algeria, Egypt, and South Africa improving by two or more points.
• For the first time ever, an Asian nation enters the top three slots, with Singapore ranking third. However, Asia continues to possess a large regional divide between the highest and lowest proficiency countries.
• Latin America is the only region to show a slight overall decline in English proficiency. Scores in the region remain more uniform than anywhere else, with only a small gap between the lowest and highest proficiency countries.
• Women continue to outpace men in English skills worldwide, and this gender gap has been widening since 2016.
• New correlations indicate that societies with higher English proficiency are more egalitarian. Among other metrics, these countries enroll more girls in preschool and report a greater proportion of women with bank accounts.

The EF EPI is based on test scores from the EF Standard English Test (EF SET), the world's first free standardized English test. Thousands of schools, companies, and governments worldwide use the EF SET for large-scale testing.

The EF EPI 2018 report and regional fact sheets are available for download at http://www.ef.com/epi. The EF EPI 2018 ranking is below.

About EF Education First 

EF Education First is a global education company focusing on language, academic, cultural exchange, and educational travel programs. With a mission to open the world through education, EF was founded in 1965 and has 580 schools and offices in more than 50 countries.

EF English Proficiency Index 2018 Ranking of Countries and Regions: 

		EF EPI Proficiency
Rank Country or Region		Band
1	Sweden	Very High
2	Netherlands	Very High
3	Singapore	Very High
4	Norway	Very High
5	Denmark	Very High
6	South Africa	Very High
7	Luxembourg	Very High
8	Finland	Very High
9	Slovenia	Very High
10	Germany	Very High
11	Belgium	Very High
12	Austria	Very High
13	Poland	High
14	Philippines	High
15	Switzerland	High
16	Romania	High
17	Croatia	High
18	Serbia	High
19	Portugal	High
20	Czech Republic	High
21	Hungary	High
22	Malaysia	High
23	Greece	High
24	Slovakia	High
25	Bulgaria	High
26	Lithuania	High
27	Argentina	High
28	India	Moderate
29	Nigeria	Moderate
30	Hong Kong SAR	Moderate
31	South Korea	Moderate
32	Spain	Moderate
33	Lebanon	Moderate
34	Italy	Moderate
35	France	Moderate
36	Costa Rica	Moderate
37	Dominican Republic	Moderate
38	Belarus	Moderate
39	Senegal	Moderate
40	Uruguay	Moderate
41	Vietnam	Moderate
42	Russia	Moderate
43	Ukraine	Moderate
44	Macau SAR	Moderate
45	Georgia	Low
46	Chile	Low
47	China	Low
48	Taiwan	Low
49	Japan	Low
50	Pakistan	Low
51	Indonesia	Low
52	Albania	Low
53	Brazil	Low
54	Ethiopia	Low
55	Guatemala	Low
56	Panama	Low
57	Mexico	Low
58	Sri Lanka	Low
59	Peru	Low
60	Colombia	Low
61	Bolivia	Low
62	Egypt	Low
63	Bangladesh	Low
64	Thailand	Low
65	Ecuador	Low
66	Iran	Very Low
67	Morocco	Very Low
68	Tunisia	Very Low
69	Honduras	Very Low
70	El Salvador	Very Low
71	United Arab Emirates	Very Low
72	Nicaragua	Very Low
73	Turkey	Very Low
74	Jordan	Very Low
75	Venezuela	Very Low
76	Syria	Very Low
77	Azerbaijan	Very Low
78	Kuwait	Very Low
79	Oman	Very Low
80	Kazakhstan	Very Low
81	Algeria	Very Low
82	Myanmar	Very Low
83	Saudi Arabia	Very Low
84	Afghanistan	Very Low
85	Cambodia	Very Low
86	Uzbekistan	Very Low
87	Iraq	Very Low
88	Libya	Very Low

SOURCE EF Education First (EF)