11 Best Countries in English Proficiency

Knowing 11 Best Countries in English Proficiency is excellent if you are a traveler from a country that has English as first language and you plan your next trip. This way you will be sure that you can speak with the bartender, grocery worker or common stranger if you need directions. Surely there is nothing worse for a tourist when he realizes that the natives can only say “Yes” and “No” and there ends their English language knowledge.

The fact is that English has become the international language and holds that position for decades. It is an official language for more than 60 countries in the world and holds the 3^rd place in terms of most native speakers, the first being Mandarin and second Spanish. It is estimated that 359 million people speak English as their first language.

Those who most benefit from this will be Americans. Unlike in Europe, where learning a second language in school is mandatory for most countries, in America that is not the case, so there is a low percentage of Americans that speak foreign languages. This knowledge is also helpful for others. You will be able to see if your country made it into the 11 best countries in English proficiency. If you are a patriot and you like to see your country’s success in other fields, maybe your country made it in 11 best countries in renewable energy as well.

When deciding on countries with highest English proficiency, we take into consideration countries that don’t have English as an official language. For our source, we took data from The EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI), who is the world’s largest ranking of countries by adult English skills. Since 2011 they have been monitoring the English proficiency among the countries. It turned out that European countries are ahead of all, while the Middle East is the worst when it comes to English proficiency. We took the data from the last issue, 2015 and all results are showed through EF EPI Score.

11. Germany

Germany has smaller English proficiency than the last year, when they were 10th place. Cities with best English proficiency are Hamburg and Bremen. Also,  women are better than men when it comes to this.

EF EPI Score: 61.83

10. Austria

Germany’s neighbors declined heavily in English proficiency this year. From 2011 to 2014 they were going back and forth between 6th and 7th place, but in 2015 they are only at place 10. Like in Germany, in Austria women are dominant over the men when it comes to English proficiency.

EF EPI Score: 61.97

9. Poland

One more of Germany’s neighbors is declining in English proficiency, but they still are ahead of some bigger and more developed countries of the world. Poland’s best rank was in 2014 when they were in 6th place.

EF EPI Score: 62.95

8. Luxembourg

Although this is a small country with small number of residents, its placing among the 11 Best Countries in English Proficiency should be considered as a success since proficiency level is very high. Luxembourg also has very high literacy.

EF EPI Score: 63.45

7. Estonia

It may come as a surprise, but this Baltic country has a very high English proficiency as well. They had even better scores in 2013, when they were 4th in the world.

EF EPI Score: 63.73

6. Slovenia

Slovenia has made a huge jump over the course of one year. Although in 2013 & 2014 they were in the steady 10th place, now they are ahead of a lot of bigger and more powerful countries. Perhaps relatedly, tourism has been steadily rising in Slovenia.

EF EPI Score: 64.97

5. Finland

As you will notice, here we begin the dominant Nordic countries. In Finland, unlike the other countries we have mentioned, the men have better proficiency.

EF EPI Score: 65.32

4. Norway

When the first EF EPI research took place in 2011, Norway was first place. Over the years, it went up and down, settling now on the 4th place, which shows that the trend of learning English is getting slower in Norway — or maybe Norway is being passed.

EF EPI Score: 67.83

3. Denmark

Last year’s number has managed to find its place in the top 3. Like Finland, in Norway men are ahead of female part of the population, although the difference is very small.

EF EPI Score: 70.05

2. The Netherlands

The Netherlands is the only country that had a steady score in English proficiency, since they didn’t deviate much, and were usually placed on the second spot.

EF EPI Score: 70.58

1. Sweden

Sweden ranks high on many lists, so why wouldn’t she be in the first place of 11 Best Countries in English Proficiency. This was Sweden’s third time at the top when it comes to English proficiency, managing to do the same in 2012 and 2013. Like in all Scandinavian countries, the male part of the population is more interested in learning the English language.

EF EPI Score: 70.94