Top 10 English Speaking Countries in Europe

Published on September 21, 2023 at 7:25 pm by Zarah Hamid in Industries, Lists, News

In this article, we will be going over the top 10 English speaking countries in Europe. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can move directly to the Top 5 English Speaking Countries in Europe.

Europe: A Welcoming Experience

Europe is known to offer an authentic feel and experience in its diverse local cultures. This eases out the nervousness of settling in or starting off as an outsider in Europe’s most popular countries. The region has quite a lot to offer to English speaking people around the world. A high to moderate English proficiency prevails in the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain which enhances the chances of feeling at home in Europe. The expatriate communities also have a strong network thereby adding to the social support from primarily English speaking individuals in a new country.

Booming Opportunities to Consider

Whether it is a desire for a better quality of life, greater affordability, promising career growth or an opportunity to invest, many Americans proceed to settle in Europe and lead the expat life.

The job prospects are admirable in some of Europe’s English speaking countries. Ireland is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and currently serves as an attraction for both locals as well as foreigners seeking professional jobs. There is an increasing demand for skilled workers in the country thereby representing a golden opportunity for job aspirants across the world. On September 11, The Economic Times reported that the Irish government’s Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment entails that IT, healthcare and engineering jobs are especially high in demand. The city of Dublin is a technological hub, hosting the offices of 16 global tech giants including Alphabet Inc.’s Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Global pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and AstraZeneca plc (NYSE:AZN) also operate in the city thereby adding to its business value and career prospects.

Although real estate prices have been rising in Europe, there are still many investment opportunities to consider. On September 19, Business Insider reported that Eastern Europe could be a potential location to buy cheap property. It highlighted that the average calculated price of a city center apartment of approximately 1,075 square feet is low in countries such as Romania, Greece, and Bulgaria where English is a common second language. Non-EU residents might be restricted to fully owning land in some of these countries but they are capable of buying the property at affordable prices. Thus, English speaking expats can converge into these European cities without much cultural hindrance.

Scope of Being Bilingual

According to the US Census Bureau, almost 65 million Americans know a language other than English. Although being a native speaker of one of the world’s most spoken languages is a pro, learning another language is never a bad idea. It doesn’t only open gateways to interact with others in a foreign country but helps develop a cultural understanding of new places. Communication skills in a second language are fundamentally important for businesses as well as they help expand in an international market.

Companies Supporting Language Learning

Language barriers are one of the most important considerations for anybody looking forward to living or working in Europe. Communication meant for conveying messages or connecting with others has become more crucial than ever. Many companies around the world have significantly reduced these barriers by providing language teaching services. Some of these include Duolingo Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL), Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST) and Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR).

Duolingo Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) is a popular US-based edtech company that assists many with learning languages. It aims to teach not only common languages like English but also native European languages such as Irish, Norwegian, and Welsh. The company’s app is one of the most installed apps dedicated to multilingual language learning. With a surge in tourists entering Europe as either immigrants or travelers, the trend of learning the native European language has been on the rise. On May 9, the company revealed that Spanish, French and German have been the most popular languages to learn after English. This development could be beneficial for those planning to move to Spain, France, or Germany where they could adapt to the native language through language learning with Duolingo Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL). Earlier in March, the company partnered with OpenAI to launch ‘Duolingo Max’ for personalized Spanish and French lessons for English speakers.

Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST) provides a dynamic learning experience as the learner can pair spoken words from a native speaker to an image. It is quite popular in Europe for its cultural immersion feature as it helps foreigners immerse themselves in the local culture. On August 30, CNN reported Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST) as the best language learning app as a result of a study that analyzed the design and features of common language learning apps. The company’s app was ranked high for its easy-to-navigate interface and ability to gauge the user’s intent to learn a language for instance for work, travel or family, so relevant lessons could be given. These lessons are available in Dutch, German, Greek, Spanish and French. After a free trial lasting for 3 days, a money-back guarantee is also given against a paid subscription.

Another company that aims to transform the way people learn is Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR). This leading global edtech offers professional certifications in 40 different languages including European languages such as Spanish and French. On June 19, the company reported that it would be launching its new AI-powered platform to translate more than 2,000 courses from English into French, Spanish, German, and many other languages to expand access to its course offerings to people from different geographies by the end of 2023.

Now that we have taken a look at the potential of being bilingual in Europe and discussed some companies including Duolingo Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL), Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST) and Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) which enable language learning, let’s take a look at the top English speaking countries in Europe.

Top X English Speaking Countries in Europe

Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

Methodology

In order to create a list of the top English-speaking countries in Europe, we considered the percentage of English-speaking population in an EU country. If one third of the total population were English speakers in an EU country, we selected the country. This data was sourced from the European Commission’s Eurobarometer Survey. This survey reports language statistics from Europe in 2012. Our hypothesis is that countries that had a higher percentage of English speakers in 2012 will have a higher percentage currently as well. Hence, the countries which experienced a higher population growth are likely to have a higher percentage of English speakers. In order to adjust for the population change from 2012 to 2022, we have taken the population growth of EU countries from the World Bank and ranked them on the basis of these population growths. Thus, population growth has been chosen as a metric, and the EU countries with higher population growth as of 2022 have been prioritized and placed higher on the list.

To make our research more transparent, we have not just considered those EU countries where English is an official language. This is because there are only a handful of countries in Europe where English has been recognized as an official language and a majority of the population in several EU countries speaks English even if it is not their native language.

Top 10 English Speaking Countries in Europe:

10. Slovenia

Population Growth as of 2022: 2.5%

Percentage of English Speakers as of 2012: 34.37%

Slovenia is one of the top 10 English speaking countries in Europe. Although English is not an official language, it is widely spoken in the country. The English skills of the population are also adequate.

9. Finland

Population Growth as of 2022: 2.6%

Percentage of English Speakers as of 2012: 45.25%

Another country in Europe where English is widely spoken is Finland. Many people in the country can speak fluent English although their native language is Finnish and hence, Finland qualifies for this list as well.

Duolingo Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL), Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST) and Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) offer easy access to efficiently learn new languages.

8. United Kingdom

Population Growth as of 2022: 5.1%

Percentage of English Speakers as of 2012: 94.45%

The United Kingdom is the largest English-speaking country in Europe. English is the de facto official language in the country. The English proficiency rate is high in the United Kingdom and a significant portion of the population uses English as their primary language for education, business, and regular communication.

7. Denmark

Population Growth as of 2022: 5.6%

Percentage of English Speakers as of 2012: 52.95%

Many people can speak English in the country which makes it easier for foreigners to navigate without knowing the native Danish language. Thus, the English proficiency is comparatively high and this is what makes Denmark one of the top 10 English speaking European nations.

Some of the top companies innovating in providing language learning solutions include Duolingo Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL), Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST) and Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR).

6. Netherlands

Population Growth as of 2022: 5.7%

Percentage of English Speakers as of 2012: 38.46%

A vast majority of people in the Netherlands speak Dutch as their native language however the English proficiency level is high in the country which indicates a high number of English speaking natives. Thus, the Netherlands is one of the top 10 English speaking nations in Europe.

Click to continue reading and see Top 5 English Speaking Countries in Europe.