This relationship doesn’t show causation—improving people’s English might not lead those other indicators to increase. But the correlations are strong enough that improvements in English ability are a good proxy for positive changes in other areas. Good knowledge of English means people have access to a huge set of global ideas and services that would otherwise be unavailable. [...]
There are a couple things to note here. For one, the overall trend is up. Among these 59 countries—the ones the EF has measured every year since 2014—the average score has gone from 51.9 to 53.5. Second, countries with previously very low levels of proficiency—many of them places in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Iran—are starting to catch up. In part this just shows regression to the mean: countries starting from a low base have more room to improve. It also shows, though, that the minimum level of English is rising, even in places where it is not widely spoken. [...]
The EF’s data comes with a couple caveats. The proficiency scores are based on free online tests, so the people taking them are self-selected. They are not a representative sample of the country’s citizens, and may instead represent a group that is particularly interested in English and has access to the internet. And the EF only has data on a partial list of the world’s nations.
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