Coimbra, Braga, Azores, Porto, Aveiro, Castelo Branco, Madeira, Faro and Viseu - in that order - are the districts and regions where English is best spoken. Lisbon, which, before the Pandemic, was not far from the top of the ranking, took another hit and lost 18 points, falling four positions on the list. The data comes from the EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) report - which analyses data from more than 2.2 million non-native English speakers in 113 countries and regions.

At a city level, Coimbra leads the national ranking, followed by Braga (2nd) and Guimarães (3rd). The distinction is unprecedented for the City of Students, just as it is unprecedented that, since this study was published, neither Lisbon nor Porto appear on the podium of Portuguese cities where English is spoken best. Porto had won this title in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and Braga took the prize in 2022.

English proficiency in Coimbra (636 points) is on par with the best capitals in the world: Amsterdam (646 points), Vienna (640 points) and Copenhagen (639 points).

Overall, the Portuguese test results were worse this year than last year. Portugal had dropped 11 points last year and lost another seven this year. However, Portugal benefits from the slippage of others to move up one place in the index that assesses proficiency in the English language. Eighth place worldwide guarantees Portugal the “High Proficiency” status - which it achieved for the first time four years ago.

The Netherlands (1st), Singapore (2nd) and Austria (3rd) dominate the top 3 countries where English is spoken best.

In southern Europe Portuguese continue to be the best English speakers, leaving behind - but not far behind - Greece (12th), Italy and Spain (35th) and France (43rd).

“This year’s index portrays an illusion of global stability – where everyone’s English remains largely the same, but the truth is that gains in certain countries and regions are being offset by losses in others,” explains study coordinator Kate Bell.

For Bell, there are three points to remember: “First, young people’s English proficiency continues to fall (-89 points in young people between 18 and 20 years old since 2015), driven by some large countries, including India and Indonesia; second, English proficiency in a professional environment is increasing. Globally, these gains were made during the pandemic period (+20 points for adults over 30 between 2020 and 2021), however, many national trends indicate steady improvement since 2015; The gender gap is widening, with men's English improving (+14 points) and women's English decreasing (-19 points since 2014). However, the gender gap is not uniform, with 63 countries at or close to gender parity.”

Portugal follows the European trend

In Portugal, as in Europe, men are improving their level of English. Since 2019, men have surpassed women and the difference has become more pronounced. This year, Portuguese women dropped 600 points – which has not happened since 2019.

Looking at the numbers by age group, Portugal country is surprisingly in the youngest age group between 18 and 20 years old. While all over the world young people have been losing some proficiency, in Portugal there has been an improvement in English in this range. Even so, young people between 18 and 20 years old and adults over 41 years old are those who have the worst grades in this subject – however, they achieve a “high proficiency” grade.

Author

Originally from the UK, Daisy has been living and working in Portugal for more than 20 years. She has worked in PR, marketing and journalism, and has been the editor of The Portugal News since 2019. Jornalista 7920

Daisy Sampson