Portugal has moved up one position in the ranking and is now the 8th best English-speaking country in the world. The data comes from the EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) report – which analyzes data from more than 2.2 million non-native English speakers in 113 countries and regions.
Coimbra, Braga, Azores, Porto, Aveiro, Castelo Branco, Madeira, Faro and Viseu – in that order – are the districts and regions where English is best spoken. Lisbon, which, before the pandemic, was at the top of the rankings, took a tumble and lost 18 points, falling four places in the list.
In terms of cities, Coimbra leads the national ranking, followed by Braga (2nd) and Guimarães (3rd). The distinction is unprecedented for the City of Students, just as it is unprecedented that, since this study was published, neither Lisbon nor Porto have been on the podium of Portuguese cities where English is spoken best. Cidade Invicta had won this title in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Braga took the prize in 2022.
Coimbra’s English proficiency (636 points) is on a par with the best capitals in the world: Amsterdam (646 points), Vienna (640 points) and Copenhagen (639 points).
Overall, the Portuguese test results were worse this year than last year. Portugal dropped 11 points last year and lost another seven this year. Even so, our country is benefiting from the slippage of others to move up one place in the index that assesses English language proficiency. Portugal’s eighth place in the world gives it “High Proficiency” status – which it achieved for the first time four years ago.
The Netherlands (1st), Singapore (2nd) and Austria (3rd) dominate the top 3 countries where English is best spoken. In fact, the Dutch have won the trophy for four consecutive years.
In southern Europe, we continue to be the best English speakers, leaving behind – but not far behind – Greece (12th), Italy and Spain (35th, ex aequo) and France (43rd).
On the opposite side of the “ranking” of the countries with the most proficiency in English are the Democratic Republic of Congo (113th), Tajikistan (112th) and Yemen (111th) – which was the red bottom last year.
“This year’s index portrays an illusion of global stability – where everyone’s English remains practically the same, but the truth is that gains in certain countries and regions are being offset by losses in others,” explains the study’s coordinator, Kate Bell.
For her, there are three points to note: “Firstly, young people’s English proficiency continues to fall (-89 points in 18-20 year olds since 2015), driven by a few large countries, including India and Indonesia; secondly, English proficiency in a professional environment is increasing. Globally, these gains have been made during the pandemic period (+20 points for adults over 30 between 2020 and 2021), however, many national trends indicate a steady improvement since 2015; The gender gap is widening, with men’s English improving (+14 points) and women’s declining (-19 points since 2014). However, the gender gap is not uniform, with 63 countries at or near gender parity.”
Portugal follows European trend
In Portugal, as in Europe, men are improving their level of English. Since 2019, “they” have overtaken “them” and the gap has been widening. Portuguese women are down 600 points this year – which hasn’t happened since 2019.
Looking at the figures by age group, our country surprises in the younger 18 to 20 age group. While young people all over the world have been losing some proficiency, Portugal has seen an improvement in English in this age group. Even so, young people aged between 18 and 20 and adults over 41 are the lowest scorers in this study – but they still achieve a “high proficiency” score.
This year’s study, along with what we already saw last year, reinforces the idea that big cities are no longer synonymous with “better English”. This is a possible impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
All the countries with very high proficiency and many of the countries with high proficiency had lower average scores than last year, a possible demonstration of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on learning, travel and personal communication.