The average 2012 BEI score of the 76 countries included in the proficiency rankings is only 4.15. This low score confirms that current Business English skills are not sufficient enough to meet the performance demands of today's global economy.

"Businesses must adopt effective solutions that help all their non-native English employees develop their skills over the long term, while also immediately improving their workday productivity with relevant performance support tools," advices Kahl.

"Countries and companies that don't address the need for global teams to effectively communicate and collaborate in a single language of business will be unable to successfully operate across borders, and they'll suffer efficiency and profitability losses that will impact their ability to compete in the global economy," he concludes.