The EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) is a report which attempts to rank countries by the average level of English skills amongst adults. It is the product of EF Education First

EF Education First

EF Education First is an international education company that specializes in language training, educational travel, academic degree programs and cultural exchange. The company was founded in 1965 by Bertil Hult, in the Swedish university town of Lund under the name Europeiska Ferieskolan...

, a global language training company, and draws its conclusions from data collected via online English tests available for free over the internet. The report was published for the first time in March, 2011 based on the results of over 2 million test takers.

Methodology

The index is compiled from the results of 2.3 million adults who took one of four short online English tests between 2007 and 2009. The test takers were self-selected and no demographic information was collected on them. The tests are used by the company for marketing and placement purposes. 42 countries and 2 territories appear in the 2011 index. All other countries did not have enough test takers to be considered valid. In order to be included a country was required to have at least 400 test takers total and at least 100 test takers per test on three of the four tests administered.

Findings

The report is composed of a country ranking table and several pages of analysis with graphs correlating other economic and social factors with English proficiency. The same graphs are presented on the website in an interactive format. The website also has in-depth profiles of the role of English in 15 countries which are not contained in the report.

Primary conclusions

1. Exports per capita, Gross National Income
   Gross National Income
   The GNI consists of: the personal consumption expenditures, the gross private investment, the government consumption expenditures, the net income from assets abroad , and the gross exports of goods and services, after deducting two components: the gross imports of goods and services, and the...
   
    per capita and average number of years of schooling all correlate positively with English proficiency. That is to say wealthier countries speak better English.
2. Native speakers of languages that are commonly spoken speak English less well than native speakers of rarer languages.
3. Europe
   Europe
   Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
   
    as a whole speaks the best English, Latin America
   Latin America
   Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
   
    the worst.
4. Starting English education younger in school does not necessarily improve adult proficiency.

The conclusion which drew the most journalistic commentary was that China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 have comparable levels of English proficiency,, with China soon to be the largest English speaking country in the world, this despite the colonial history and English-speaking reputation of India. However, previous reports have also underlined the difficulties India faces in English language education as well as the rise of China in English competency.

EF English Proficiency Index Rankings

Scores are a percent correct and can thus range from 0 to 100.

Country	2011 Rank	2011 Score	2011 Level
Norway	1	69.09	Very High Proficiency
Netherlands	2	67.93	Very High Proficiency
Denmark	3	66.58	Very High Proficiency
Sweden	4	66.26	Very High Proficiency
Finland	5	61.25	Very High Proficiency
Austria	6	58.58	High Proficiency
Belgium	7	57.23	High Proficiency
Germany	8	56.64	High Proficiency
Malaysia	9	55.54	High Proficiency
Poland	10	54.62	Moderate Proficiency
Switzerland	11	54.60	Moderate Proficiency
Hong Kong	12	54.44	Moderate Proficiency
South Korea	13	54.19	Moderate Proficiency
Japan	14	54.17	Moderate Proficiency
Portugal	15	53.62	Moderate Proficiency
Argentina	16	53.49	Moderate Proficiency
Early Modern France	17	53.16	Moderate Proficiency
Mexico	18	51.48	Moderate Proficiency
Czech Republic	19	51.31	Moderate Proficiency
Hungary	20	50.80	Moderate Proficiency
Slovakia	21	50.64	Moderate Proficiency
Costa Rica	22	49.15	Low Proficiency
Italy	23	49.05	Low Proficiency
Spain	24	49.01	Low Proficiency
	25	48.93	Low Proficiency
Saudi Arabia	26	48.05	Low Proficiency
Guatemala	27	47.80	Low Proficiency
El Salvador	28	47.65	Low Proficiency
People's Republic of China	29	47.62	Low Proficiency
India	30	47.35	Low Proficiency
Brazil	31	47.27	Low Proficiency
Russia	32	45.79	Low Proficiency
Dominican Republic	33	44.91	Very Low Proficiency
Indonesia	34	44.78	Very Low Proficiency
Peru	35	44.71	Very Low Proficiency
Chile	36	44.63	Very Low Proficiency
Ecuador	37	44.54	Very Low Proficiency
Venezuela	38	44.43	Very Low Proficiency
Vietnam	39	44.32	Very Low Proficiency
Panama	40	43.62	Very Low Proficiency
Colombia	41	42.77	Very Low Proficiency
Thailand	42	39.41	Very Low Proficiency
Turkey	43	37.66	Very Low Proficiency
Kazakhstan	44	31.74	Very Low Proficiency

Criticism

The EF English Proficiency Index has been criticized for its lack of representative sampling in each country. The report states that participants in the tests are self-selected and must have access to the internet. This pushes the index towards the realm of an online survey rather than a statistically valid evaluation.

However there are few alternative comparisons available of countries by their English skills, and those that exist are smaller in scale, as is the case with a reported British Council

British Council

The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...

 study, or they have other sampling flaws, as is the case with rankings of countries by standardized English test scores such as the TOEFL

TOEFL

The Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL , evaluates the ability of an individual to use and understand English in an academic setting....

. The European Commission is currently conducting a language survey, SurveyLang, which tests a representative sample of 15 year old European students on their foreign language skills and evaluates teaching strategies according to the results. The project plans to release its first report in 2012.