In 2020, English was the most commonly studied foreign language at the upper secondary general and vocational education level in the EU, with 96% and 79% of students learning it, respectively. Spanish ranked second (27%), followed by French (22%), German (21%) and Italian (3%).
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In 2020, 96.1% of pupils in primary education, 98.4% of students in lower secondary and 90.3% in upper secondary education in the EU studied at least one foreign language.
In 2020, 60% of pupils in upper secondary general education (ISCED level 34) in the EU studied two or more foreign languages as compulsory subjects or as compulsory curriculum options, +1 percentage point (pp) more than in 2019. In upper secondary vocational education (ISCED level 35), this share was 35%, also +1 pp higher than in 2019.
In Luxembourg and France, all students in upper secondary general education studied two or more foreign languages.
Romania, Finland and Czechia also registered a large share of students studying two or more languages (all 99%). These Member States were followed closely by Slovakia and Estonia (both 98%), Slovenia (96%) and Croatia (94%).
When it comes to upper secondary vocational education, Romania led as the only Member State where almost all students (97%) studied two or more foreign languages in 2020. Finland (89%) followed, with Luxembourg and Poland (both 77%) coming next.
I am surprised that French is ranked third after Spanish because I thought French would be more popular with students in the EU.