This statistic presents the leading European countries by their level of English proficiency as of March 2019. According to data provided by Klazz, Sweden had the highest percentage of people who were proficient in English at ** percent of the population.

In 2023, the United Kingdom had the most students learning English as a foreign language and accounted for ** percent of the total worldwide. ****** in the list was Australia, where ** percent of students studying English as a foreign language were hosted.

Argentina scored 562 out of a maximum of 800 points in the English Proficiency Index 2023. That was the highest score among all Latin American countries included in the survey. The Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, also received the highest English proficiency score among all the Latin American cities analyzed. Mexico and Haiti received the lowest scores in the region.

Using data from reports such as the "English Proficiency Index" (EDU) from Education First, one can see the significant impact of culture, education and globalization on the ability of citizens of different countries to speak English.

Singapore scored 609 out of a maximum of 800 points in the English Proficiency Index 2024, the highest score across the selected Asian countries and territories. In contrast, Cambodia reached an English Proficiency Index score of 408 that year.

In 2023, the growth in the number of students learning English as a foreign language was significant. New Zealand recorded a percentage growth of *** percent between 2022 and 2023.

Croatia's English Proficiency Index was the highest among CEE and CIS countries in 2024. An average respondent in the country received *** index points, meaning that their CEFR level was comparable to C1. CIS countries reported lower proficiency levels, with respondents in most Central Asian countries receiving a score comparable to B1.

According to Cognitive Market Research, the global English Proficiency Test market size is USD 2965.5 million in 2024. It will expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.70% from 2024 to 2031.

North America held the major market share for more than 40% of the global revenue with a market size of USD 1186.20 million in 2024 and will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9% from 2024 to 2031.
Europe accounted for a market share of over 30% of the global revenue with a market size of USD 889.65 million.
Asia Pacific held a market share of around 23% of the global revenue with a market size of USD 682.07 million in 2024 and will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% from 2024 to 2031.
Latin America had a market share for more than 5% of the global revenue with a market size of USD 148.28 million in 2024 and will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1% from 2024 to 2031.
Middle East and Africa hada market share of around 2% of the global revenue and was estimated at a market size of USD 59.31 million in 2024 and will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4% from 2024 to 2031.
Employers category is experiencing the fastest growth in the English Proficiency Test Market. The rising trend of multinational companies and the global nature of business operations necessitate a workforce proficient in English.

Market Dynamics of English Proficiency Test Market

Key Drivers for English Proficiency Test Market

Increasing Global Mobility of Students and Professionals to Increase the Demand Globally

The increasing global mobility of students and professionals is a significant driver in the English Proficiency Test Market. As educational institutions worldwide, particularly in English-speaking countries, attract a growing number of international students, the need for standardized English proficiency assessments becomes critical. Similarly, professionals seeking employment opportunities in multinational corporations or pursuing career advancements in global markets must demonstrate their English language capabilities. This trend is fueled by globalization and the widespread recognition of English as the lingua franca of business, academia, and technology, thereby boosting the demand for reliable and comprehensive English proficiency tests.

Rising Demand for English in Non-English Speaking Regions to Propel Market Growth

The rising demand for English language skills in non-English speaking regions is another crucial driver of the English Proficiency Test Market. As countries in Asia, Latin America, and Europe increasingly integrate into the global economy, proficiency in English becomes a valuable asset for individuals and businesses. Governments and educational systems in these regions are incorporating English language education into their curricula, and companies are investing in language training for their employees to enhance competitiveness. This growing emphasis on English proficiency is creating substantial opportunities for test providers to expand their offerings and cater to a broader audience, further propelling market growth.

Restraint Factor for the English Proficiency Test Market

High Cost of Test Preparation and Registration Fees to Limit the Sales

A significant restraint in the English Proficiency Test Market is the high cost of test preparation and registration fees. Many potential test-takers, especially students and professionals from developing countries, find these costs prohibitive. The expense of preparatory courses, study materials, and the tests themselves can deter individuals from taking the exams, limiting their opportunities for education and employment in English-speaking regions. This financial barrier not only affects individuals but also impacts the overall market growth, as it reduces the number of people who can afford to demonstrate their English proficiency through standardized tests.

Limited Accessibility in Rural and Remote Regions

One key restraint in the English proficiency test market is the limited availability of authorized test centers and digital infrastructure in rural and remote areas. Many prospective candidates, especially in developing countries, face challenges in reaching testing locations or accessing reliable internet for online examinations. This restricts participation and limits the market’s growth potential in under...

Mexico is the country with the largest number of native Spanish speakers in the world. As of 2024, 132.5 million people in Mexico spoke Spanish with a native command of the language. Colombia was the nation with the second-highest number of native Spanish speakers, at around 52.7 million. Spain came in third, with 48 million, and Argentina fourth, with 46 million. Spanish, a world language As of 2023, Spanish ranked as the fourth most spoken language in the world, only behind English, Chinese, and Hindi, with over half a billion speakers. Spanish is the official language of over 20 countries, the majority on the American continent, nonetheless, it's also one of the official languages of Equatorial Guinea in Africa. Other countries have a strong influence, like the United States, Morocco, or Brazil, countries included in the list of non-Hispanic countries with the highest number of Spanish speakers. The second most spoken language in the U.S. In the most recent data, Spanish ranked as the language, other than English, with the highest number of speakers, with 12 times more speakers as the second place. Which comes to no surprise following the long history of migrations from Latin American countries to the Northern country. Moreover, only during the fiscal year 2022. 5 out of the top 10 countries of origin of naturalized people in the U.S. came from Spanish-speaking countries.

Proportion of Twitter posts in most select languages by article author country.

The data collected aim to test whether English proficiency levels in a country are positively associated with higher democratic values in that country. English proficiency is sourced from statistics by Education First’s "EF English Proficiency Index" which covers countries' scores for the calendar year 2022 and 2021. The EF English Proficiency Index ranks 111 countries in five different categories based on their English proficiency scores that were calculated from the test results of 2.1 million adults. While democratic values are operationalized through the liberal democracy index from the V-Dem Institute annual report for 2022 and 2021. Additionally, the data is utilized to test whether English language media consumption acts as a mediating variable between English proficiency and democracy levels in a country, while also looking at other possible regression variables. In order to conduct the linear regression analyses for the dats, the software that was utilized for this research was Microsoft Excel.The raw data set consists of 90 nation states in two years from 2022 and 2021. The raw data is utilized for two separate data sets the first of which is democracy indicators which has the regression variables of EPI, HDI, and GDP. For this table set there is a total of 360 data entries. HDI scores are a statistical summary measure that is developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which measures the levels of human development in 190 countries. The data for nominal gross domestic product scores (GDP) are sourced from the World Bank. Having strong regression variables that have been proven to have a positive link with democracy in the data analysis such as GDP and HDI, would allow the regression analysis to identify whether there is a true relationship between English proficiency and democracy levels in a country. While the second data set has a total of 720 data entries and aims to identify English proficiency indicators the data set has 7 various regression variables which include, LDI scores, Years of Mandatory English Education, Heads of States Publicly speaking English, GDP PPP (2021USD), Common Wealth, BBC web traffic and CNN web traffic. The data for years of mandatory English education is sourced from research at the University of Winnipeg and is coded in the data set based on the number of years a country has English as a mandatory subject. The range of this data is from 0 to 13 years of English being mandatory. It is important to note that this data only concerns public schools and does not extend to the private school systems in each country. The data for heads of state publicly speaking English was done through a video data analysis of all heads of state. The data was only used for heads of state who had been in their position for at least a year to ensure the accuracy of the data collected; with a year in power, for heads of state that had not been in their position for a year, data was taken from the previous head of state. This data only takes into account speeches and interviews that were conducted during their incumbency. The data for each country’s GDP PPP scores are sourced from the World Bank, which was last updated for a majority of the countries in 2021 and is tied to the US dollar. Data for the commonwealth will only include members of the commonwealth that have been historically colonized by the United Kingdom. Any country that falls under that category will be coded as 1 and any country that does not will be coded as 0. For BBC and CNN web traffic that data is sourced by using tools in Semrush which provide a rough estimate of how much web traffic each news site generates in each country. Which will be utilized to identify the average number of web traffic for BBC News and CNN World News for both the 2021 and 2022 calendar. The traffic for each country will also be measured per capita, per 10 thousand people to ensure that the population density of a country does not influence the results. The population of each country for both 2021 and 2022 is sourced from the United Nations revision of World Population Prospects of both 2021 and 2022 respectively.

Proportion of Facebook posts in select languages by article author country.

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for the Country of Birth by English language skills in Scotland.

Country of birth

Country of birth is the country in which a person was born. Users should be mindful of changes in EU members and accession states between 2011 and 2022. This will affect the number of countries which make up certain categories when comparing the results between censuses.

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

English language skills

A classification of a persons skills in the English Language. It breaks down into combinations of "Understand (spoken)", "Speak", "Read" and "Write".

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

In 2022, Australia had the highest distribution of English language learning student weeks, totaling ** percent. The second-placed country in the list was Canada, with their share of English language student weeks totaling just short of ** percent of the countries surveyed.

This Dataset, in 29 files of xlsx format, contains the data of all metrics and accumulated information as they are described in the methodology, results and discussion section of the research article "Exploring the Dominance of the English Language on the Websites of EU Countries".

The global online English learning market is expected to reach USD 17.9 billion by 2033, expanding at a CAGR of 12.1% from 2025 to 2033. The increasing adoption of online education platforms, the growing need for English proficiency in the globalized economy, and the rising prevalence of mobile learning are driving the market expansion. The market is segmented by type, application, and region. Geographically, North America dominates the market with a significant share, followed by Asia Pacific. The rising demand for English language learning in countries such as China, India, and Japan, along with the presence of established players, is contributing to the growth in these regions. Europe is also a key market, with countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, and France showing high adoption rates of online English learning platforms. Key players in the market include Berlitz Languages, Vipkid, Pearson ELT, Sanako Corporation, 51talk, Inlingua International, Rosetta Stone, EF Education First, New Oriental, Wall Street English, iTutorGroup, Babbel, Busuu, Eleutian Technology, and others. The market is characterized by intense competition, with these companies investing heavily in product development, marketing, and geographical expansion.

Migrants can be considered as having made positive steps towards resettlement or integration when they are empowered to gain employment, contribute to the local and national economy and to make other positive contributions to their communities. Therefore, this indicator seeks to measure one key aspect of integration by identifying the proportion of non-English speaking third country nationals in a Local Authority area able to access and progress in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses, as measured by course waiting lists and attainment levels.

As of October 2025, English was the dominant language for online content, used by nearly half of all websites worldwide. Spanish ranked second, accounting for around 6 percent of web content, followed by German with 5.9 percent. English as the leading online language United States and India, the countries with the most internet users after China, are also the world's biggest English-speaking markets. The internet user base in both countries combined, as of January 2023, was over a billion individuals. This has led to most of the online information being created in English. Consequently, even those who are not native speakers may use it for convenience. Global internet usage by regions As of October 2024, the number of internet users worldwide was 5.52 billion. In the same period, Northern Europe and North America were leading in terms of internet penetration rates worldwide, with around 97 percent of its populations accessing the internet.

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Main language (detailed)

The language that is a person's first or preferred language.

This information helps central government, local authorities and the NHS to allocate resources and provide services for non-English speakers, e.g. English teaching and translation services. It is a better indicator than country of birth, which was previously used to forecast the additional cost of providing services to people whose first language is not English.

The data are also used to assess the impact of English or Welsh language ability on employment and other social inclusion indicators.

Information on the number of British Sign Language users helps with service planning and assists in developing policies to address the needs of the deaf community.

These statistics are used by public service providers to effectively target the delivery of their services, for example in the provision of translation and interpretation services, the availability of English language lessons, and the distribution of official information leaflets in alternative languages.

United States US: International Migrant Stock: Total data was reported at 46,627,102.000 Person in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 44,183,643.000 Person for 2010. United States US: International Migrant Stock: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 21,371,383.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 46,627,102.000 Person in 2015 and a record low of 10,825,599.000 Person in 1960. United States US: International Migrant Stock: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.; ; United Nations Population Division, Trends in Total Migrant Stock: 2012 Revision.; Sum;