A recent study by GlobalEnglish Corporation showed that the Philippines leads the world in business English proficiency among its workforce, beating even the United States, Canada and Australia.

The Philippines is the only country to reach intermediate level and a score of above 7.0 in the 2012 index of 76 countries worldwide. Joining the Philippines “with a score of 7.11” in the top five are Norway, with a score of 6.54; Estonia, 6.45; Serbia, 6.38; and Slovenia, 6.19.

A score above 7.0, said the GlobalEnglish study, is a BEI level that indicates relatively high proficiency. It also indicates the ability to perform relatively complex tasks and take active roles in business discussions.

GlobalEnglish “a Brisbane, California-based company that works with multinational companies like Procter and Gamble, Cisco, Phzer and HSBC to support business English performance in workplaces around the world” recently released its yearly Business English Index (BEI). The BEI is the only index that evaluates and ranks workforce proficiency in business English across the globe.

The study, according to a report published in Yahoo! News, said that the results are “particularly interesting because the Philippines, a country with one-tenth of the population of India, recently overtook India as a hub for call centers.” The study added that there are now more than 400,000 Filipinos working in call centers, about 50,000 more than in India.

The GlobalEnglish report also said that a country’s capability in business English indicates business success and economic growth. “It is not surprising that both the Philippines and Norway” the only two countries in the top five in both 2011 and 2012 “are improving their economies, based on the latest GDP data from the World Bank,” the report added.

With a score of 7.11, the Philippines is classified by GlobalEnglish BEI as intermediate level. The rest of the countries included in the study are at the beginner or basic level.