Students in ISCED 1-3 by number of modern foreign languages studied (1998-2012) by country

Countries reporting
30
Highest
3.18 million
France
Lowest
23,567
Malta
Median
394,156
Years covered
15
1998–2012
Data points
429

What the numbers show

Students in ISCED 1-3 by number of modern foreign languages studied (1998-2012) is currently reported for 30 countries. The highest value is 3.18 million in France; the lowest is 23,567 in Malta.

The median across all reporting countries is 394,156, and the mean is 753,819.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 135.

Over the past decade 5 countries rose and 23 fell. The largest increase was in Slovenia (up 25.9%), and the largest decrease in Lithuania (down 44.1%).

Students in ISCED 1-3 by number of modern foreign languages studied: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 France 3.18 million 2012 down 18.1% falling
2 Germany 2.94 million 2012 down 12.9% falling
3 Italy 2.82 million 2012 up 1.7% rising
4 Spain 2.80 million 2012 up 13.1% rising
5 Poland 2.16 million 2012 volatile
6 Netherlands 1.20 million 2012 down 0.5% flat
7 Romania 803,902 2012 down 21.9% falling
8 Belgium 699,263 2012 down 2.9% rising
9 Portugal 679,193 2012 volatile
10 Greece 629,257 2012 down 2.6% falling
11 Sweden 596,710 2012 down 17.6% falling
12 Ireland 506,216 2012 up 14.8% rising
13 Czechia 477,413 2012 down 20.9% falling
14 Norway 423,351 2012 down 1.4% flat
15 Denmark 403,206 2012 down 2.9% rising
16 Hungary 385,105 2012 down 19.4% falling
17 Finland 347,245 2012 down 11.7% falling
18 Austria 305,719 2012 down 20.3% falling
19 Bulgaria 250,352 2012 down 28.4% falling
20 Slovakia 199,413 2012 down 27.8% falling
21 Croatia 158,924 2012 down 16.6% falling
22 Latvia 113,462 2012 down 0.4% falling
23 Lithuania 110,385 2012 down 44.1% falling
24 Slovenia 107,142 2012 up 25.9% rising
25 North Macedonia 106,749 2012 down 11.4% falling
26 Estonia 72,442 2012 down 33.3% falling
27 Cyprus 53,955 2012 down 15.1% falling
28 Luxembourg 32,269 2012 up 1.0% flat
29 Iceland 29,387 2012 down 6.3% falling
30 Malta 23,567 2012 down 28.0% falling

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

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Students in ISCED 1-3 by number of modern foreign languages studied by country. Statizoid, drawing on Eurostat. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/students-in-isced-1-3-by-number-of-modern-foreign-languages-studied-1998-2012/

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About this data

Indicator
Students in ISCED 1-3 by number of modern foreign languages studied (1998-2012)
Source
Eurostat
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat)
Coverage
33 places, 429 data points, 1998–2012
Last refreshed