Dubai could lose out on vital foreign investment because it’s been ranked as being one of the world’s worst cities for its proficiency in the English language.
According to academic provider Education First’s (EF) rankings, Dubai ranked bottom of the class from 25 cities around the world, despite being the Middle East’s centre for international trade.
Zurich, Switzerland came top.
News of Dubai’s low ranking will probably come as a surprise to many expats living and working in the desert kingdom where everything from street signs to newspapers and the most used language is English.
Dubai is also an increasingly popular holiday destination, led by the widely spoken English population.
A spokesman for EF said: “Proficiency in English is increasingly important in helping international companies decide where they should locate their businesses around the globe.
English as a foreign language
“And tourist destinations cannot let those with better English proficiency gain a larger share of the £4 trillion tourism market.”
The survey polled 1.7 million adults around the world and found that Swedish employees were the most proficient in English closely followed by Denmark and the Netherlands.
The survey also found that there were huge differences in English skills in larger cities compared with rural areas.
This is highlighted by the big difference in Russia with those in fourth-place Moscow scoring higher than those outside the city.
The EF spokesman added: “This illustrates the economic rewards and opportunities which are on offer to those who speak English in urban areas.”
Despite their fast-growing economies, Beijing and Shanghai only managed 19th and 21st in the survey and this could put them at a disadvantage when competing against Tokyo and Singapore, which are the highest placed cities in Asia, as international financial centres.
MENA countries fare worst
The survey found that the best cities for English speakers were all German, including Frankfurt and Munich.
EF also conducted a similar exercise in 2011 when it focused on how proficient countries were.
It found that United Arab Emirates ranked a lowly 49th place out of 54 countries surveyed.
That result placed it below Kuwait in 45th and Egypt on 48th.
However, the UAE was placed above Saudi Arabia in 52nd position. Libya was the worst country for speaking English.
At the other end of the scale, the countries with the most proficiency in English were nearly all Scandinavian – Sweden was top, followed by Denmark, Netherlands, Finland and Norway.
