EF English Proficiency Index

The EF EPI 2022 edition was calculated using test data from 2.1 million test takers in 2021. The test takers were self-selected. 111 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]

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 2022 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]

Below are the latest country scores, proficiency bands, and rankings as published in 2022.[1]

2022 Rank	Country	2022 Score	2022 Proficiency Band
1	Netherlands	661	Very High Proficiency
2	Singapore	642	Very High Proficiency
3	Austria	628	Very High Proficiency
4	Norway	627	Very High Proficiency
5	Denmark	625	Very High Proficiency
6	Belgium	620	Very High Proficiency
7	Sweden	618	Very High Proficiency
8	Finland	615	Very High Proficiency
9	Portugal	614	Very High Proficiency
10	Germany	613	Very High Proficiency
11	Croatia	612	Very High Proficiency
12	South Africa	609	Very High Proficiency
13	Poland	600	Very High Proficiency
14	Greece	598	High Proficiency
15	Slovakia	597	High Proficiency
16	Luxembourg	596	High Proficiency
17	Romania	595	High Proficiency
18	Hungary	590	High Proficiency
19	Lithuania	589	High Proficiency
20	Kenya	582	High Proficiency
21	Bulgaria	581	High Proficiency
22	Philippines	578	High Proficiency
23	Czech Republic	575	High Proficiency
24	Malaysia	574	High Proficiency
25	Latvia	571	High Proficiency
26	Estonia	570	High Proficiency
27	Serbia	567	High Proficiency
28	Nigeria	564	High Proficiency
29	Switzerland	563	High Proficiency
30	Argentina	562	High Proficiency
31	Hong Kong	561	High Proficiency
32	Italy	548	Moderate Proficiency
33	Spain	545	Moderate Proficiency
34	France	541	Moderate Proficiency
35	Ukraine	539	Moderate Proficiency
36	South Korea	537	Moderate Proficiency
37	Costa Rica	536	Moderate Proficiency
38	Cuba	535	Moderate Proficiency
39	Belarus	533	Moderate Proficiency
40	Russia	530	Moderate Proficiency
41	Ghana	529	Moderate Proficiency
42	Moldova	528	Moderate Proficiency
43	Paraguay	526	Moderate Proficiency
44	Bolivia	525	Moderate Proficiency
45	Chile	524	Moderate Proficiency
45	Georgia	524	Moderate Proficiency
47	Albania	523	Moderate Proficiency
48	Honduras	522	Moderate Proficiency
49	Uruguay	521	Moderate Proficiency
50	El Salvador	519	Moderate Proficiency
51	Peru	517	Moderate Proficiency
52	India	516	Moderate Proficiency
53	Dominican Republic	514	Moderate Proficiency
54	Lebanon	513	Moderate Proficiency
55	Uganda	512	Moderate Proficiency
56	Tunisia	511	Moderate Proficiency
57	Armenia	506	Moderate Proficiency
58	Brazil	505	Moderate Proficiency
58	Guatemala	505	Moderate Proficiency
60	Vietnam	502	Moderate Proficiency
61	Nicaragua	499	Low Proficiency
62	China	498	Low Proficiency
63	Tanzania	496	Low Proficiency
64	Turkey	495	Low Proficiency
65	Nepal	494	Low Proficiency
66	Bangladesh	493	Low Proficiency
67	Venezuela	492	Low Proficiency
68	Ethiopia	490	Low Proficiency
69	Iran	489	Low Proficiency
70	Pakistan	488	Low Proficiency
71	Sri Lanka	487	Low Proficiency
72	Mongolia	485	Low Proficiency
73	Qatar	484	Low Proficiency
74	Israel	483	Low Proficiency
75	Panama	482	Low Proficiency
76	Morocco	478	Low Proficiency
77	Colombia	477	Low Proficiency
78	Algeria	476	Low Proficiency
78	United Arab Emirates	476	Low Proficiency
80	Japan	475	Low Proficiency
81	Indonesia	469	Low Proficiency
82	Ecuador	466	Low Proficiency
83	Syria	461	Low Proficiency
84	Kuwait	459	Low Proficiency
85	Egypt	454	Low Proficiency
86	Mozambique	453	Low Proficiency
87	Afghanistan	450	Low Proficiency
88	Mexico	447	Very Low Proficiency
89	Uzbekistan	446	Very Low Proficiency
90	Jordan	443	Very Low Proficiency
91	Kyrgyzstan	442	Very Low Proficiency
92	Azerbaijan	440	Very Low Proficiency
93	Myanmar	437	Very Low Proficiency
94	Cambodia	434	Very Low Proficiency
95	Sudan	426	Very Low Proficiency
96	Cameroon	425	Very Low Proficiency
97	Thailand	423	Very Low Proficiency
98	Haiti	421	Very Low Proficiency
99	Kazakhstan	420	Very Low Proficiency
100	Somalia	414	Very Low Proficiency
101	Oman	412	Very Low Proficiency
102	Saudi Arabia	406	Very Low Proficiency
103	Iraq	404	Very Low Proficiency
104	Ivory Coast	403	Very Low Proficiency
105	Angola	402	Very Low Proficiency
106	Tajikistan	397	Very Low Proficiency
107	Rwanda	392	Very Low Proficiency
108	Libya	390	Very Low Proficiency
109	Yemen	370	Very Low Proficiency
110	Democratic Republic of the Congo	367	Very Low Proficiency
111	Laos	364	Very Low Proficiency

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]

The EF English Proficiency Index has been the subject of criticism in the literature. From the point of view of methodology, it suffers from the 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]

• English as a second or foreign language
• Test of English as a Foreign Language

• Official website