Migrant integration statistics - skills in host country language

Data extracted in September 2022.

Planned article update: September 2030.

Highlights

In 2021, 61.9 % of foreign-born people in the EU reported that their host country’s language was either their mother tongue or they were proficient in it, while a third (33.7 %) had a basic or moderate skill level and 4.4 % had no or hardly any skills in that language.

Distribution of foreign-born persons aged 15–74 years according to their skills in their host country’s language, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfso_21lang02)

This article presents statistics on migrants' skills in relation to their host country’s language. The data used in the article come from the 8-yearly regular module of the Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) on the labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants held in 2021. The presented results cover the European Union (EU) as a whole and its individual EU countries, as well as two EFTA countries (Norway and Switzerland). The focus is on foreign-born people living in private households aged 15–74 years.

This article forms part of the online publication on migrant integration statistics.

Overview

In 2021:

More than 60 % of foreign-born people in the EU reported, that either they were proficient in their host country’s language or it was their mother tongue. In addition, 33.7 % had a basic or moderate skill level. The share reporting that they had no or hardly any skills in the host country’s language was 4.4 %.
Females in the EU were more likely than males to have mother tongue or proficient skills in their host country’s language but were also more likely to have no or hardly any skills in this language. An analysis by age shows a similar situation, with younger (aged 15–29 years) and older people (aged 55–74 years) more likely than those aged 30–54 years to have mother tongue or proficient skills and also more likely to have no or hardly any skills in the host country’s language.
Younger people (aged 15–29 years) had the highest share of foreign-born people whose mother tongue was that of the host country and the lowest share with moderate or basic skills of the host country’s language. The combined share of mother tongue or proficient for younger people was 67.3 %. By comparison, this combined share was 59.9 % for people aged 30–54 years and 62.9 % for older people (aged 55–74 years).
Comparing people aged 30–54 years and older people, the largest difference (in percentage point terms) was that for the share of foreign-born people with only basic and moderate host country language skills, which was 3.5 percentage points higher for those aged 30–54 years.

Figure 1: Distribution of foreign-born persons according to their language skills, analysis by sex and age, EU, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfso_21lang03)

Host country language skills

As already noted in the introduction, more than three fifths (61.9 %) of foreign-born people in the EU reported in 2021 that their host country’s language was either their mother tongue or they were proficient in it. In addition, 33.7 % had a basic or moderate skill level. The share reporting that they had no or hardly any skills in the host country’s language was 4.4 %.

Among the 18 EU countries for which data are complete and reliable (Figure 2), the share of foreign-born people who reported that their host country’s language was either their mother tongue or they were proficient in was highest in 2021 in Portugal (90.4 %). Hungary (86.3 %) also recorded a particularly high share. The lowest shares, by far, were observed in Estonia (17.6 %) and Malta (15.2 %).

The share of foreign-born people with hardly any or no skills in their host country’s language was the highest for Malta (48.8 %), Estonia (30.4 %), Cyprus (22.7 %), Latvia and the Netherlands (both 10.2 %). Elsewhere the shares were at most 6.9 %.

Figure 2: Distribution of foreign-born persons aged 15–74 years according to their skills in their host country’s language, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfso_21lang02)

Foreign-born females in the EU were more likely than males to have mother tongue or proficient skills in their host country’s language in 2021 (Table 1). This situation was also observed in 11 of the 15 EU countries for which data are available. The largest gap with a higher share for females (the difference of 7.7 percentage points) was observed in Lithuania.

Equally, foreign-born females in the EU were more likely than males to have no or hardly any skills in their host country’s language in 2021. Among the 15 EU countries for which data are available, there was no clear pattern: seven had a higher share of no or hardly any skills in their host country’s language for females and seven a higher share for males; in Czechia, the shares were the same. The largest gender gap, by far, was in Estonia, where 38.1 % of foreign-born males had hardly any or no skills in their host country’s language compared with 22.9 % for females.

Table 1: Distribution of foreign-born persons aged 15–74 years according to their skills in their host country’s language, analysis by sex, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfso_21lang02)

When analysed by citizenship, a clear distinction of host country language skills can be identified for foreign-born people in the EU in 2021 (Figure 3).

Citizens of the host (reporting) country had the highest share of foreign-born people whose mother tongue was that of the host country and the lowest shares with moderate, basic, or hardly any or no skills of the host country’s language. The combined share of mother tongue or proficient for citizens of the host country was 79.9 %. By comparison, this combined share was 57.9 % for citizens of other EU countries (not the host country) and 43.8 % for non-EU citizens.
Comparing citizens of other EU countries and non-EU citizens, the former had a slightly smaller share of people whose mother tongue was that of the host country, a much larger share who were proficient, and smaller shares for the remaining language skill levels.

Figure 3: Distribution of foreign-born persons aged 15–74 years according to their language skills, analysis by citizenship, EU, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfso_21lang03)

Figures 4–6 look in turn at each of the three aggregated language skill levels (no or hardly any language skills; basic or moderate language skills; mother tongue or proficient language skills). They each present information for foreign-born citizens (aged 15–74 years), comparing the shares for citizens of other EU countries and non-EU citizens.

Figure 4 shows the share in 2021 of foreign-born people with hardly any or no skills in the host country’s language; the reliable data are available for the EU, seven EU countries, Norway and Switzerland. For citizens of other EU countries, this share was highest in the Netherlands (19.9 %). For non-EU citizens, the highest shares were in Cyprus (45.9 %), the Netherlands (26.8 %) and Luxembourg (19.3 %). The largest gaps between the two categories of citizenship were observed in Cyprus and Luxembourg.

Figure 4: Share of foreign-born persons aged 15–74 years with no or hardly any language skills, analysis by citizenship, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfso_21lang03)

Concerning the share of foreign-born people with basic or moderate skills in their host country’s language (as shown in Figure 5), the reliable data for 2021 are available for the EU, nine EU countries, Norway and Switzerland. In the EU and all of these countries, a lower proportion of citizens of other countries had basic or moderate skills than did non-EU citizens. Among the countries, the largest gaps based on citizenship were observed in Belgium and Austria, while a larger gap was observed in Switzerland.

Figure 5: Share of foreign-born persons aged 15–74 years with basic or moderate language skills, analysis by citizenship, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfso_21lang03)

Unsurprisingly, Figure 6 broadly shows a mirror image of Figure 5: all of the six EU countries for which 2021 reliable data are available for the share of foreign-born people with mother tongue or proficient skills in the host country’s language recorded higher shares for other EU citizens than for non-EU citizens. These shares were most balanced in Spain, where there was nevertheless a 6.4 percentage point difference. The largest gap based on citizenship was observed in Luxembourg, where the difference between the two shares – with higher shares for other EU citizens than for non-EU citizens – was 30.3 percentage points.

For citizens of other EU countries, the shares of foreign-born people with mother tongue or proficient skills in the host country’s language were highest in 2021 in Spain (72.7 %). The lowest share was in the Netherlands (32.2 %).

For non-EU citizens, the share of foreign-born people with mother tongue or proficient skills in the host country’s language in 2021 was also highest in Spain (66.3 %). The lowest share was in the Netherlands (16.0 %).

Figure 6: Share of foreign-born persons aged 15–74 years with mother tongue or proficient language skills, analysis by citizenship, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfso_21lang03)

Source data for tables and graphs

Migrant integration statistics - skills in host country language: figures

Data sources

The data presented in this article are from the EU labour force survey (EU-LFS), the largest household sample survey in the EU. The survey covers the resident population, defined as all people usually residing in private households. As such, people living in collective households are excluded from the target population. Usual residence means the place where a person normally spends the daily period of rest, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage. The data for the EU are aggregated results for the 27 EU countries. Data in the 'Host country language skills' section come from the Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) module on the labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants, held in 2021. The module will be included again in 2029, with the new data expected to be published in 2030. For more information on the data sources used, please consult the online publication EU labour force survey.

Due to the sampling nature of the survey, some data have low reliability or are not published due to very low reliability or confidentiality. Data that are of low reliability are duly marked in the footnotes below the figures and tables.

Main concepts

Five language skill levels are identified:

Mother tongue
Proficient
Moderate
Basic
Hardly any or none

These five levels are used in Figure 3. An aggregated classification regrouping these five levels into three levels is used in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5 as well as Table 1.

For the definition of mother tongue, the aim is to identify the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the survey. In bilingual or multi-lingual homes, a person may have more than one mother tongue.
The categories of proficient, moderate and basic correspond to the advances, intermediate and beginner levels of the common European framework of references for languages.
Hardly any or no language skills corresponds to someone who does not speak the language at all or only understands and can use a few words and phrases.

Multilingual countries (such as Belgium) interpret the host country language as the official language of the region where the respondent lives. Luxembourg considered each of the three official languages (Luxembourgish, German and French) as the "main host country language" and asked separately for each one of those languages.

Calculation of shares in totals

While most survey respondents provided information on their language skills, a relatively small proportion did not. Those that did not are classified as not stated (non-response) or unknown.

The calculation of shares/distributions is ideally based on a total excluding the number of people classified in the not stated or unknown. Therefore, the distributions for the language skills sum to 100.0 %.

Context

Successful integration may lead to economic and social benefits for migrants and for the society where they live. More information on the policies and legislation in force in this area can be found in an introductory article on migrant integration statistics.

Explore further

Database

Migrant integration

LFS ad hoc modules on migrants (mii_lfso)

Skills (sks)

Thematic section

External links