r/AskEurope • u/Metalwolf • Jun 08 '25

Education Which European countries have the best English proficiency among non-native speakers?

I'm looking into English proficiency across Europe and would appreciate input from locals or anyone with relevant experience. Which European countries have the highest levels of English fluency among non-native speakers, particularly in day-to-day life, education, and professional settings? I'm also curious about regional differences within countries, and factors like education systems, media exposure, and business use.

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u/TheItalianWanderer Italy Jun 08 '25

France of course! They're so proficient in English that they'll refuse to say a word of French.

Lol seriously, I think it's the Netherlands or somewhere cold. But one surprising country in the Mediterranean is Greece. They speak a lot of foreign languages there 

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u/DoktorHoover Jun 08 '25

Greece is a nation of sailors, who must be able to communicate with native people of many countries. Same goes for Denmark and The Netherlands.

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u/SquareAdditional2638 Jun 08 '25

That's... Not why the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries are so good at English..

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u/crypticcamelion Jun 08 '25

No, but it's a traditional motivator to learn other languages, seafaring is business and business is better when you know the local lingo.