MAP: Where in Italy do people speak the best English?

Italy is a popular destination for people looking to move from abroad, but it isn't the easiest place to navigate for foreign nationals, not least because of lower English proficiency levels compared to other Western countries.

The latest report from international education company Education First (EF), which compares non-English-speaking nations worldwide based on average English proficiency, ranked Italy 46th out of 116 countries.

Italy sat just above France (49th), but lower than many of its European neighbours, including Spain (36th), Germany (10th), Greece (8th) and Portugal (6th). 

The top spot went to the Netherlands.

Though Italy fared worse than most fellow EU members in 2024, the findings showed that the number of English speakers in the country and their command of the language varied greatly from region to region, especially between north and south.

What do the scores say about Italy?

Italy ranked 32nd out of 35 European countries for English proficiency in 2024.

Its average countrywide score stood at 528 – down by seven points compared to 2023.

Any score between 500 and 549 is considered as indicating "moderate" proficiency, meaning that people can do things like "participate in meetings in one’s area of expertise, understand song lyrics and write professional emails on familiar subjects".

That said, English levels were found to vary greatly across the peninsula, with scores tending to be higher in large cities and tourist hotspots in the north of the country.

In 2024, EF scores across Italy ranged from a minimum of 511 to a maximum of 581.

Any score between 550 and 599 falls into the "high" proficiency category, meaning that speakers can “make a presentation at work, understand TV shows and read a newspaper”.

Italian cities ranked

Verona, in the northern Veneto region, was the highest-ranked Italian city, with a score of 580.

It was followed by Bari (577), Bologna (572), Turin (571) and Milan (570).

Here's the full top 10:

1. Verona (580)
2. Bari (577)
3. Bologna (572)
4. Turin (571) 
5. Milan (570)
6. Palermo (566)
7. Venice (562) 
8. Cagliari (558)
9. Rome (548) 
10. Florence (547)

Italian regions ranked

Besides cities, the study also looked at English proficiency levels across different Italian regions.

Five Italian regions were found to have "high" English proficiency, whereas the rest fell in the "moderate" range.

The northeastern Friuli-Venezia Giulia region ranked the highest, with a score of 581. It was followed by Emilia-Romagna (560) and Trentino-Alto Adige (559).

As for the worst regions in Italy for English proficiency, Calabria and Abruzzo came in last, with scores of 511 and 512 respectively. 

The study excluded the central Molise region because it did not meet the “minimum of 400 test takers”.

Here are the rankings for all Italian regions (excluding Molise):

1. Friuli-Venezia Giulia (581)
2. Emilia-Romagna (560)
3. Trentino-Alto Adige (559)
4. Veneto (558)
5. Piedmont & Aosta Valley (552)
6. Liguria (543)
7. Lombardia (540)
8. Marche (540)
9. Umbria (539)
10. Toscana (535)
11. Lazio (529)
12. Campania (527)
13. Sicilia (524)
14. Puglia (520)
15. Sardegna (515)
16. Basilicata (513)
17. Abruzzo (512)
18. Calabria (511)