Education First (EF), an international education company that specializes in language training, recently issued its English Proficiency Index (EPI) report for the year 2023 in which it ranked 113 countries and regions across the world according to their population’s English skills. The report looks at how and where English proficiency is developing worldwide. In details, the report noted that the English language is, and by far, the most common language of information exchange, rendering it as such vital to accessing knowledge and expertise, explaining as such the strong correlation between the English language and several measures of innovation and competitiveness. As far as the methodology is concerned, EF analyzed the test results of more than 2.2 million adults who took English tests in the year 2022, 55% of whom were females and 45% were males. Accordingly, countries were ranked into 5 proficiency bands namely, the Very High Proficiency Band (score >600), the High Proficiency Band (score between 550 and 599), the Moderate Proficiency Band (score between 500 and 549), the Low Proficiency Band (score between 450 and 499) and the Very Low Proficiency Band (score <450). On the results front, EF noted that individuals aged between 18 and 20 have shown a severe deterioration in their English proficiency levels, while those aged between 31 and 40 have showcased the largest improvement. In addition, the report stated that English proficiency for both men and women has generally worsened, noting that men now have higher scores than women in every region of the world except in the Middle East. Always according to the report, Europe maintained pole position with a score of 553, followed by both Latin America and Africa (492 each), Asia (485) and the Middle East (454), with the global average standing at 502. On an international level, the Netherlands maintained its first position for the fifth consecutive year with a score of 647, followed by Singapore (score of 631) and Austria (score of 616), noting that all three countries fell under the “Very High Proficiency” category.

On a regional level, the report unveiled that the average level of English proficiency in the Middle East region has improved over the last decade, noting that said improvement owes mostly to the addition of countries with higher levels of English proficiency. The report also noted that very minimal changes were observed amongst countries in the region with the exception of Lebanon the score of which has deteriorated over the last two years. When it comes to results, Iran emerged as the only Middle Eastern country with a “Moderate English Proficiency”, coming in first in the region (58^th international rank with a score of 505) in the 2023 EF English Proficiency Index, followed by Lebanon (65^th international rank with a score of 496), the United Arab Emirates (71^st international rank with a score of 486), and Qatar (73^rd international rank with a score of 482), all of which were categorized under the “Low Proficiency Band”. On the bottom end of the scale, came each of Iraq (106^th international rank & 10^th regional rank with a score of 410), Saudi Arabia (108^th international rank & 11^th regional rank with a score of 408) and Yemen (110^th international rank & 12^th regional rank with a score of 392), each of which falling under the “Very Low Proficiency” band.

Concerning Lebanon, the report revealed that the Mount Lebanon region was the only region in the country having a “moderate” proficiency level (score: 543) and was followed by the North (“low” proficiency level, score: 494), Bekaa (“low” proficiency level, score: 450), Baalbek-Hermel (“very low” proficiency level, score: 432), South (“very low” proficiency level, score: 353), and Akkar (“very low” proficiency level, score: 330). In addition, Beirut was the only city with a “moderate” level of English proficiency (score: 545) and was trailed by Tripoli (“low” proficiency level, score: 493), Zahle (“very low” proficiency level, score: 443), Akkar (“very low” proficiency level, score: 321), and Tyre (“very low” proficiency level, score: 284). The report also mentioned that Lebanese aged between 31 and 40 enjoyed the highest average score of 506, while those aged between 18 and 20 had the lowest average score of 485.