In just ten years, the number of Portuguese who speak a second language has increased from 52% to 72%, according to our old friends at the National Institute of Statistics.
This makes Portugal shine out among its European partners as its adults have shown the greatest increase in their language skills.
In 2016, 72% of people aged between 18 and 64 stated that they knew a language other than their mother tongue, according to the must-read publication, ‘Education and training of adults in Portugal: a statistical portrait of a decade – 2016.’
In 2016, "Portugal occupied an intermediate position in European countries in terms of knowledge of foreign languages but was the one that increased the proportion of the population with knowledge of foreign languages, up 20% between 2007 and 2016," according to the researchers.
English is the top second language with 60% stating they know how to speak it. Lagging behind came French at 22% and Spanish at only 15%.
"As for English, 34% of those who said they knew this language could understand and communicate reasonably and produce simple text and 26% had mastered it perfectly in oral and written form," reads the report.
There was no inverse statistic to show the percentage of foreign residents in Portugal who speak Portuguese but with the rise in the number of locals who understand and can communicate in English, this will make it less of an imperative for immigrants to Portugal to struggle with language lessons and the dreaded 'book of verbs.'
This aptitude of the Portuguese in foreign languages is more developed in the younger population which will help Portugal’s ambitions to become a European partner of increasing integration and importance.
According to Eurostat:
"Around two thirds of working-aged adults in the EU knew at least one foreign language. In 2011, just over one third (34.3 %) of the working-age adults (defined here as 25–64 year-olds) in the EU-28 reported that they did not know any foreign languages.
"A slightly higher proportion (35.8 %) reported that they knew one foreign language, while just over one fifth (21.1 %) knew two foreign languages, and fewer than one tenth (8.8 %) of all working-age adults knew three or more foreign languages.
See also: Foreign language skills statistics (Eurostat)
