English proficiency declining in East Asia, says report
English proficiency has been declining in some East Asian countries and regions, according to an annual report released by the English training institution Education First (EF).
The report, the English Proficiency Index 2023, drawing on data from over 2.2 million participants of the EF Standard English Test (EF SET) in 2022, evaluated adult English proficiency across 113 non-native English-speaking countries and regions.
The Netherlands tops the list with 647 points, leading for the fifth consecutive year, followed by Singapore and Austria with 631points and 616 points, respectively.
The report, the 13th edition of its kind, says the decline of English proficiency has been spotted in East Asian countries and regions in the past four years, and it was mainly caused by changes in the environment and focus, especially the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chinese mainland is listed in the low-proficiency tier with 464 points, ranking 82nd globally, with Beijing and Shanghai scoring 514 and 512, respectively. The mainland's best performance was in 2020 when it was ranked 38th and in the moderate-proficiency band.
Hong Kong is the only region in China listed in the high-proficiency tier with 558 points, ranked 29th.
Japan is ranked 87th with a score of 457, compared to 55th in 2020; and South Korea, scored 525, dropping from the 32nd to 49th.
Notably, there were 100 countries and regions included in the ranking in 2020.
