The 2025 EF English Proficiency Index report shows that global English proficiency has stalled since 2020, with Thailand among the countries experiencing a decline.

The 2025 EF English Proficiency Index (EF IEP) is based on data from 2.2 million test takers across 123 countries worldwide, with an average age of 26. The report finds that English remains the world’s most common shared language for international communication. Demand for English courses and language acquisition programs has not dropped, and neither has investment by companies or governments in developing English skills, but overall progress has stalled since 2020.

The report found that reading is the strongest English skill in nearly 80% of countries. It is the easiest skill for school systems to develop, well-adapted to classroom instruction. In contrast, speaking is the weakest English skill in a majority of countries and has the lowest worldwide average score. It was also found that proficiency among the youngest adults remains lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four English skills, reading, listening, writing, and speaking, were found to develop unevenly, creating a significant skill gap. Countries with higher English proficiency have larger skill gaps between their strongest and weakest skills.

European countries continue to dominate the top global rankings for English proficiency, with the Netherlands ranking first among 123 countries and followed by Croatia and Austria.

In Asia, Malaysia has the highest English proficiency among 25 Asian countries and ranks 24th worldwide. Meanwhile, Thailand ranked the second lowest in Asia, with 402 scores, placing it in the “very low proficiency” category and 116th out of 123 countries.

Thailand’s English proficiency declined by 13 points from last year. Reading is the strongest skill, with a score of 416, followed by listening at 385. Speaking scored 377, while writing recorded the lowest score at 363.

The age group with the highest English proficiency was those aged 26–30, with an average score of 481. However, English proficiency among those aged 18-20 has shown a significant decrease since 2018. Analysed by city, Pattaya emerged as the top-performing city with a score of 474, followed by Bangkok with 467.