The 10 countries with the 'worst English' British tourists often avoid - full list

British tourists often avoid the countries with the ‘worst’ English proficiency in the world. Education First (EF) has an English Proficiency Index, which ranks 116 countries based on the results of 2.1 million EF Standard English Tests.

The results, a score out of 800, do not reflect the English capacity of all people within a country. Instead, it provides an idea of the popularity of English. According to EF, countries with higher English proficiency correlated positively with human capital, global innovation, talent competitiveness, and productivity.

They added that higher English proficiency is connected to lower gender gaps, better scores on the environmental performance index, higher global freedom scores, and more social mobility. Considering the amount of English spoken in the country you’re considering visiting is important for the majority of Brits.

New research shows that just 6% of Brits say they can speak a second language proficiently, despite one third (33%) of UK adults having grown up in a bilingual household.

The British Council estimates that over 300 languages are spoken in London alone, and yet Brits are still recognised as the “worst language learners in Europe”.

The research from Duolingo also revealed that one in five (21%) UK adults admit they believed “everyone abroad spoke English” when they were school age.

Twelve countries had very high English Proficiency Index scores of 600 or greater. The country with the highest score was the Netherlands with 647. Other countries in the top five were Singapore, Austria, Denmark, and Norway.

The 10 countries with the worst English proficiency - and their index score

10. Kazakhstan - 415

9. Somalia - 411

8. Ivory Coast - 410

7. Iraq - 410

6. Saudi Arabia - 409

5. Rwanda - 409

4. Libya - 392

3. Yemen - 392

2. Tajikistan - 388

1. Democratic Republic of the Congo - 385