Pakistan has ranked ahead of India in English proficiency, securing a position seven places higher in the latest global English Proficiency Index.
The EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) 2025 places Pakistan at 67th among 123 countries and regions, with a score of 493. India ranks 74th with 484 points.
The ranking shows Pakistan scoring higher than India in speaking, reading, writing and listening.
We also asked Grok whether Pakistani English accents are better than Indian ones. However, the AI chatbot refused to declare a winner, saying accents cannot be ranked objectively.
What Grok Said About Pakistani and Indian Accents
Grok explained that Pakistani English often carries the influence of Urdu, Persian and Arabic pronunciation and intonation.
Indian English, meanwhile, varies more widely because of the country’s many regional languages. It also has stronger syllable-based timing patterns, according to the chatbot.
Grok said accent preferences depend on the listener rather than any objective measure of quality.
Some Pakistani users responding to the discussion argued that English is more commonly associated with educated and professional circles in Pakistan, while India has developed a wider variety of local English accents.
Pakistan Beats India in All Four English Skills
The EF EPI 2025 results show Pakistan ahead of India in every skill measured.
| English skill | Pakistan | India |
|---|---|---|
| Speaking | 517 | 500 |
| Reading | 512 | 494 |
| Writing | 515 | 504 |
| Listening | 470 | 457 |
Pakistan’s biggest lead is in speaking, where it scored 17 points more than India.
Pakistan’s overall score of 493 is also above the global average of 488. India’s score of 484 falls below it.
However, both countries remain in the index’s Low Proficiency category.
Pakistan’s score remained unchanged from the previous year, while India’s dropped by six points.
Which Pakistani Cities and Provinces Score Highest?
The index also provides a regional breakdown of English proficiency in Pakistan.
Punjab leads the provinces with a score of 554, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 501, Sindh at 491 and Balochistan at 489.
Among cities, Islamabad tops the list with 529 points, followed by Rawalpindi at 524.
Lahore scored 498, while Karachi recorded 496.
The index also shows differences across professional sectors. Pakistani workers in operations scored 515, followed by IT professionals at 504 and customer service workers at 486.
What the Ranking Means
English proficiency is an important skill for Pakistan’s IT exports, freelancing industry, call centres and professionals seeking jobs abroad.
A higher level of English can help workers communicate with international clients and compete for global opportunities.
However, the EF ranking measures English skills, not accents. It does not establish that Pakistani English sounds better than Indian English.
It shows that the Pakistani participants who took the test performed better on average across the four measured skills.
How the Global English Ranking Works
The EF EPI 2025 is based on test results from 2.2 million adults who took the free EF Standard English Test in 2024.
For the first time, this edition included speaking and writing alongside reading and listening. However, the additional sections were optional, and most participants were assessed only on reading and listening.
The test is taken voluntarily online. This means its results represent people who chose to participate rather than a randomly selected sample of each country’s population.
Despite this limitation, EF describes it as the world’s largest ranking of adult English skills.
