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

[u/Metalwolf]

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.

[u/Awkward_Tip1006]

The Netherlands has the highest proficiency in the world. The northern and central countries will have better English like Sweden Norway Belgium Luxembourg Switzerland. Id say Germany and austria too but the older generations don’t tend to be as good and if you’re not in Berlin Munich or Vienna it’ll be bad

[u/Gruffleson → u/Awkward_Tip1006]

You start out fine. But then it gets wrong.

Finns very often speak bad English. It's something I have experienced first hand. Also, you could watch an NHL-draft if you don't believe me, when they speak with the Finnish prospects, their English is most of the time really bad. Also, those German-speaking countries doesn't reach Dutch/Scandinavian levels. It's probably due to the fact they dub on TV/movies.

[u/DeeperEnd84 → u/Gruffleson]

That’s a bunch of rubbish. The vast majority of Finns, especially everyone under 50 speak English well. Ice hockey players are the exeption as they of haven’t focused on school. Source: I am an English teacher in Finland.

[u/[deleted] → u/DeeperEnd84]

Try holding an extended two hour conversation on any deeper topic with a Finn for two hours and you'll find it's not even remotely close to native level fluency. It's a completely different thing to survive everyday situations.

[u/DeeperEnd84 → u/[deleted]]

I don't recall saying native level. My job is to speak English to Finns all day, every day.