Nigeria Ranks 29th Globally, 5th in Africa for English Skills (EF 2025)

Nigeria has been ranked 29th in the world and 5th in Africa for English proficiency in the EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) 2025. Nigeria’s EF EPI score is 568, which places the country in EF’s “High proficiency” band.

What the EF EPI Measures (and Why It Matters)

The EF EPI is an annual ranking that compares adult English skills across countries and regions. The 2025 edition is based on test results from 2.2 million adults across 123 countries and regions.

To interpret the ranking correctly, EF explains that its national scores use a three-year rolling average to reduce sharp year-to-year swings. EF also notes that participants are self-selected, meaning the results may not perfectly represent every part of a country’s population.

EF also described 2025 as a milestone year because speaking and writing skills were assessed using AI-based tools alongside the wider testing system.

Nigeria’s Performance: Strong Overall, Speaking Still Behind

Nigeria’s results show stronger performance in reading (586) and writing (579) than in speaking (549). This suggests that while literacy-based English remains strong, spoken communication is a key area where improvement could raise overall performance.

This matters because English proficiency influences how easily Nigerian professionals and businesses compete in cross-border services, remote work, customer support roles, trade documentation, and international business relationships.

Top 10 English-Proficiency Countries in Africa (EF EPI 2025)

In Africa, the top 10 ranked countries in the index are:

South Africa (13th, 602), Zimbabwe (13th, 602), Kenya (19th, 593), Zambia (27th, 573), Nigeria (29th, 568), Ghana (36th, 540), Uganda (53rd, 518), Ethiopia (65th, 499), Tunisia (66th, 498), Morocco (68th, 492).