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

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