Where is English spoken best? Albania with "moderate skills", Tirana performs better

Moving to a new country can be difficult, especially if you don't speak the country's language or an official language.

Some of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe have less English language skills. But in which European country will you be understood better and in which countries will you need knowledge of the local language?

Every year, global education company Education First (EF) ranks countries from very proficient to very weak when it comes to speaking English in its English Proficiency Index (EPI). Analyzing the results of 2.2 million adults who took EF's standardized English tests in 2022, it gives each country a ranking out of a maximum of 800 points.

How is Albania evaluated?

Albania ranks 39th globally, rated with 533 points, in the "Moderate Skills" category, but in the capital it is rated with 559 points, moving to the "High Skills" category.

Compared to 2022, there is an improvement of 10 places.

Among the countries of the region, only Serbia is included, which ranks 24th with 569 points, in the "very high skills" category.

Which European countries have the best English language skills?

As in 2022, the Netherlands again took first place with 647 points, having the best ESL skills both in Europe and in 113 countries worldwide. Part of the countries with "very good skills" were also Austria, which ranks 3rd globally with 616 points.

The Nordic countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden dominated after her, followed by Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Croatia and Greece.

European countries with a 'high proficiency' in English included Poland (13th globally), Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Estonia, Serbia, Czech Republic and Switzerland (30th) .

France lags behind in English language skills

France has moved down the scale since 2021, when it fell in the 'high skills' category to 31st globally. In 2022, it dropped to 'moderate ability' with 541 points, placed 34th. This year, it has fallen to 43rd place globally and 34th in Europe, with 531 points, the lowest of all Northern European countries included in the study.

With 535 points, Italy and Spain also fell into the 'moderate skills' category, ranking jointly 35th globally, or 32nd and 33rd in Europe, similar to their positions in the year 2022.

These countries were also below Georgia and Belarus, both ranked 32nd and 33rd globally.

Other European countries in the 'moderate skills' category include Moldova (35th), Russia, Ukraine and Armenia (48th).

Countries where you might really struggle to understand include Turkey (66th) and Azerbaijan (83rd), both of which fall into the 'poor skills' category.

Despite Spain, Italy and France ranking lower than many European countries, English proficiency is highest in their capitals./ Euronews