In 2022, 6.5% of primary school students in the EU were learning two or more foreign languages, according to Eurostat.
There are plenty of advantages to learning foreign languages at an early age: it improves your understanding of the world, allows you to converse with your neighbours, lets you discover new series in their original language and helps you be better understood (for the most part) while on holiday abroad.
Later on in life, multilingualism broadens professional opportunities, improves access to services and favours social cohesion by strengthening intercultural dialogue. Scientific studies also show that speaking more than one language can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s.
It’s therefore a great idea to study foreign languages at school as early as possible. However, foreign language learning is uneven across EU countries.
Which European pupils study foreign languages the most?
Multilingual learning in the minority
In 2022, 6.5% of primary school pupils in the EU were learning two or more foreign languages, according to Eurostat.
Luxembourg was the only EU country where the majority of primary school pupils (79.6%) were learning two or more foreign languages.
Part of this success may lie in Eurostat’s methodology. It states that although the official languages of Luxembourg are French, German and Luxembourgish, for the purpose of education statistics, French and German were counted as foreign languages
It was followed by Latvia (37.2%), Greece (34.9%) and Estonia (33.6%).
While studying two or more foreign languages is in the minority, the good news is that learning languages is on the rise across the EU.
Between 2013 and 2022, the share of primary school pupils in the EU learning at least two foreign languages increased from 4.6% to 6.5%.
By contrast, in the nine EU countries where the share declined, Poland (-6.8%) and Luxembourg (-4.2%) reported the most significant drop.
Back to middle school
At lower secondary level, 60.7% of the pupils were learning two or more foreign languages in 2022.
The highest shares were observed in Finland (98%), Italy (96%) and Greece (96%).
In Finland, depending on their mother tongue, students have to choose between Finnish and Swedish. They were both considered as foreign languages for the purpose of education statistics, Eurostat clarified.
By contrast, the lowest shares were observed in Ireland (6.1%), Hungary (6.6%) and Austria (7.7%).
As in primary education, the learning of foreign languages is on the rise in middle school.
Compared with 2013, the share of lower secondary pupils in the EU learning at least two foreign languages rose to 60.7% in 2022, from 58.4%.
This share increased the most in Czechia (24.1%), France (21.8%) and Belgium (18.5%). But keep in mind that Belgium has three official state languages: Dutch, French and German.
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