Croatia climbs to 2nd in the world for English language proficiency
- by croatiaweek
- in News
Zagreb (Photo: Boška i Krešo/Zagreb Tourist Board)
Croatia has achieved its best-ever result in the newly released EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) 2025, rising from 11th place to 2nd and establishing itself as one of the strongest non-native English-speaking countries in the world.
The results were published on Tuesday, based on test data from 2.2 million adults across 123 countries and regions.
The EF EPI is compiled from the EF SET, the world’s largest free and standardised English assessment platform, making it one of the most comprehensive global evaluations of English proficiency.
Croatia Among Global Leaders
Only the Netherlands ranks higher than Croatia in this year’s index, while Austria completes the global top three.
Croatia’s rise marks one of the most significant improvements worldwide, and Zagreb also performed exceptionally well, securing a place in the Top 10 among all assessed cities.
Copenhagen was the top city, followed by Vienna, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Helsinki and Berlin. Zagreb was 7th equal with Athens and Sofia.
The 2025 report highlights several international trends:
• Europe continues to lead, with the Netherlands, Croatia, Austria, Germany and Norway forming the top tier.
• Speaking remains the weakest skill in more than half of all participating countries, despite overall improvements in reading and listening.
• Skill imbalances persist: Many countries show sizeable differences between their strongest and weakest English competencies.
• Gender gap narrowing: Women generally continue to score slightly higher, and the gap is closing in most regions, although it widened modestly in the Middle East.
• Younger adults still lagging: Those under 25 are not rebounding to pre-pandemic levels, and in many countries score lower than older age groups.
Top 15 countries
1. Netherlands – 624
2. Croatia – 617
3. Austria – 616
4. Germany – 615
5. Norway – 613
6. Portugal – 612
7. Denmark – 611
8. Sweden – 609
9. Belgium – 608
10. Slovakia – 606
11. Romania – 605
12. Finland – 603
13. South Africa – 602
14. Zimbabwe – 602
15. Poland – 600
You can see the full report here
