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All you need to know about TOEIC test takers

Who were the TOEIC test takers in 2019?

To understand more about TOEIC test takers, they fill in a TOEIC® Background Questionnaire before each test. This Background Questionnaire is a self-survey gathering information about test takers’ educational background, work experience, English-language study and use, test taking experience, etc. From this data, ETS publishes, each year, a Report on Test Takers Worldwide which allows you to learn all you need to know about TOEIC® Listening and Reading test takers.

What are the main demographics of TOEIC test takers?

According to the 2019 Report on Test Takers Worldwide, we can see that the majority of TOEIC test takers are 21 to 25-year-olds (39,7%), followed by test takers under 20 (22,9%) and 26-30-year-old (14,8%). We can also see that test-takers between 26 and 30 tend to have a better total score (646 on average) than any other group. The results show that the scores are on average increasing from test-takers under 20 (average total score of 504) to test takers between 26 and 30. From this point, average scores are then decreasing all the way to test-takers over 45 (average total score of 555).

The report allows us to compare test-takers' scores per nationality. It is interesting to see that, compared to the 2018 Report on Test Takers Worldwide, the ten nationalities with the highest TOEIC® test scores changed. For instance, while Canada keeps its first place, The Czech Republic, The Philippines, and Morocco are no longer part of the top ten and their spots were taken by Portugal, Argentina, and Russia. 2019 top ten now is:

  1. Canada – 877
  2. Germany – 812
  3. Lebanon – 782
  4. Belgium – 772
  5. Italy – 763
  6. Portugal – 736
  7. France – 733
  8. Tunisia – 733
  9. Argentina – 727
  10. Russia – 726

Educational or business background and affinity with the English language

From the report, we can see that half of the test takers held an undergraduate degree or were pursuing an undergraduate degree when taking the TOEIC® Listening and Reading test. Regarding academic majors, the largest percentage of test-takers majored in engineering (26%) and business-related studies (17,9%). Moreover, 52% of test-takers were full-time students against 37% of full-time employees. Out of this latter group, most test-takers were employed in either the manufacturing or service industries.

When it comes to the affinity with the English language, the 2019 test-takers’ profile exhibited very similar patterns to those in previous years. 79% of 2019 test-takers indicated that they studied English for six or more years, and, for 23% of them, the skills the most emphasized during their studies were listening and reading.

It is also interesting to see that out of all test takers worldwide, 11% of them spent six months or more in a native English-speaking country, against 65% who never spent time in an English-speaking country.

31% of test-takers in 2019 were taking a TOEIC® Listening and Reading test for learning purposes, 24% for a job application, and 24% for graduation; what would be your reason to take the test?

To be able to compare your scores with test takers worldwide, prepare with one of our official preparation tools, and register for one of our sessions!