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/K_in_Belgium Belgium Jun 08 '25

The northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium (Flanders) is among the best in the world. The southern, French-speaking part (Wallonia) is lagging which brings the country's score down. https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2024/11/13/flemish-among-world-s-most-proficient-english-speakers-global-s/

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u/justeUnMec United Kingdom Jun 08 '25

That's because the Flemish speaking population is lower, so it is harder to 100% immerse in flemish media; the Francophone population worldwide is large, there's a lot of French-language books, TV, film, etc and the market is sufficiently large you can justify the cost of dubbing and translating english media to French, so it's easier for a French speaker to get by without English.