Which country has the highest English Proficiency Index?

Netherlands has the highest English Proficiency Index in 2025, at 636, followed by Norway (610) and Singapore (609).

Which country has the lowest English Proficiency Index?

Yemen has the lowest English Proficiency Index in 2025, at 394.

What is the median English Proficiency Index across countries?

The median is 505 across the 116 countries with data in 2025.

Where does this english proficiency by country data come from?

Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Education First (EF EPI 2022).

Country rankings

English Proficiency by Country

Name: English Proficiency by Country
Creator: Rankodex

Netherlands has the highest English Proficiency Index in 2025 (636), followed by Norway (610) and Singapore (609). Yemen has the lowest (394).

Culture117 countries · 2 metricsUpdated Aug 18, 2024Original page

1 source

Education First (EF EPI 2022)

ShowingEnglish Proficiency IndexBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →

Year

116 of 235 countries

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English Proficiency Index, 2025

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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Ranking

Highest first: the first 15 and last 5 of 116 countries.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median

505

Middle half 459 – 557

Average

507

116 countries

Highest

636

Netherlands

Lowest

394

Yemen

Biggest changes · 2023 → 2025

112 countries have a value in both years.

Largest increases

Largest decreases

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

116 countries · # = rank by English Proficiency Index

#
1	Netherlands	636	Very high
2	Norway	610	Very high
3	Singapore	609	Very high
4	Sweden	608	Very high
5	Croatia	607	Very high
6	Portugal	605	Very high
7	Denmark	603	Very high
8	Greece	602	Very high
9	Austria	600	Very high
10	Germany	598	High
11	South Africa	594	High
12	Romania	593	High
13	Belgium	592	High
14	Finland	590	High
15	Poland	588	High
16	Bulgaria	586	High
17	Hungary	585	High
18	Slovakia	584	High
19	Kenya	581	High
20	Estonia	578	High
21	Luxembourg	576	High
22	Philippines	570	High
23	Lithuania	569	High
24	Serbia	568	High
25	Czechia	567	High
26	Malaysia	566	High
26	Suriname	566	High
28	Argentina	562	High
29	Cyprus	558	High
30	Nigeria	557	High
31	Switzerland	550	High
32	Hong Kong	549	Moderate
33	Honduras	545	Moderate
34	Georgia	543	Moderate
35	Belarus	539	Moderate
36	Spain	538	Moderate
36	Uruguay	538	Moderate
38	Armenia	537	Moderate
39	Moldova	536	Moderate
40	Ukraine	535	Moderate
41	Ghana	534	Moderate
41	Costa Rica	534	Moderate
43	Albania	533	Moderate
44	Russia	532	Moderate
45	Paraguay	531	Moderate
46	Italy	528	Moderate
47	Chile	525	Moderate
47	Bolivia	525	Moderate
49	France	524	Moderate
50	South Korea	523	Moderate
51	Israel	522	Moderate
52	Nepal	520	Moderate
52	Cuba	520	Moderate
54	Peru	519	Moderate
55	Uganda	518	Moderate
56	El Salvador	513	Moderate
57	Venezuela	510	Moderate
58	Guatemala	507	Moderate
59	Dominican Republic	503	Moderate
60	Nicaragua	502	Moderate
61	Bangladesh	500	Moderate
62	Iran	499	Low
63	Ethiopia	498	Low
63	Vietnam	498	Low
65	Turkey	497	Low
66	Mozambique	496	Low
66	Tunisia	496	Low
68	Pakistan	493	Low
69	Lebanon	492	Low
70	India	490	Low
71	United Arab Emirates	489	Low
72	Panama	488	Low
73	Tanzania	487	Low
74	Sri Lanka	486	Low
75	Colombia	485	Low
76	Qatar	480	Low
77	Morocco	479	Low
78	Syria	473	Low
79	Algeria	471	Low
80	Indonesia	468	Low
81	Brazil	466	Low
82	Egypt	465	Low
82	Ecuador	465	Low
84	Mongolia	464	Low
85	Madagascar	463	Low
86	Azerbaijan	462	Low
87	Mexico	459	Low
88	Kyrgyzstan	457	Low
89	Kuwait	456	Low
89	Cape Verde	456	Low
91	China	455	Low
92	Japan	454	Low
93	Myanmar	449	Very low
94	Palestine	448	Very low
95	Afghanistan	447	Very low
95	Malawi	447	Very low
97	Cameroon	445	Very low
98	Uzbekistan	439	Very low
99	Sudan	432	Very low
99	Haiti	432	Very low
101	Jordan	431	Very low
102	Senegal	429	Very low
103	Kazakhstan	427	Very low
104	Oman	421	Very low
105	Saudi Arabia	417	Very low
106	Thailand	415	Very low
107	Iraq	414	Very low
108	Benin	413	Very low
109	Tajikistan	412	Very low
110	Angola	409	Very low
111	Cambodia	408	Very low
112	Libya	405	Very low
113	Rwanda	401	Very low
114	Ivory Coast	399	Very low
114	Somalia	399	Very low
116	Yemen	394	Very low

What correlates with English Proficiency Index (2025)?

Pearson r against 1,626 other country metrics sharing at least 70 countries. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher English Proficiency Index tend to score higher on these (or rank better)

Cancer Rate Total - ASRCancer Rates by Country
r = +0.74 · very strong · n = 115
Plot
Gender Equality RankGender Roles by CountryA rank: rank 1 is the best
r = −0.73 · very strong · n = 77
Plot
Female Cancer Rate ASRCancer Rates by Country
r = +0.73 · very strong · n = 115
Plot
OpportunitySocial Progress Index by Country
r = +0.73 · very strong · n = 112
Plot
Mortality, Female - Crude RateCancer Rates by Country
r = +0.73 · very strong · n = 115
Plot
Crude Cancer Rate - FemaleCancer Rates by Country
r = +0.72 · very strong · n = 115
Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher English Proficiency Index tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)

Vulnerability ScoreGlobal Slavery Index by Country
r = −0.68 · strong · n = 112
Plot
Average Household SizeNumber of Households by Country
r = −0.68 · strong · n = 108
Plot
Vulnerability Score (lower is better)Countries that Still Have Slavery
r = −0.68 · strong · n = 112
Plot
6+ Member HouseholdNumber of Households by Country
r = −0.67 · strong · n = 107
Plot
Civil Liberties Freedom RatingVoting Rights by Country
r = −0.66 · strong · n = 111
Plot
Teetotalers FemaleTeetotalism by Country
r = −0.66 · strong · n = 112
Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest English Proficiency Index?: Netherlands has the highest English Proficiency Index in 2025, at 636, followed by Norway (610) and Singapore (609).
Which country has the lowest English Proficiency Index?: Yemen has the lowest English Proficiency Index in 2025, at 394.
What is the median English Proficiency Index across countries?: The median is 505 across the 116 countries with data in 2025.
Where does this english proficiency by country data come from?: Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Education First (EF EPI 2022).

Largest increases

Largest decreases

Higher together

Opposite directions

Quick answers

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