Nearly 100 per cent, to be exact 99,9%, of lower secondary pupils in Cyprus have studied a foreign language during 2014, a Eurostat report says, issued today in Brussels.

According to the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat figures place Cyprus only second to 100% target countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, Luxemburg and Slovenia.

Furthermore, data show that over 88,9% of same lower secondary pupils is actually learning 2 foreign languages, while only a 11% is focused on just one. English is as everywhere else in EU28 the language of preference, while French is second at a high 88,1%.

Cyprus is on the top part of the EU28 concerning percentages for double foreign language studies, with an EU average of 59.9%. EU28 average just for the study of English as a foreign language at that levels hits the 97,3% mark, while French is second with 33,1%. Around 18 million lower secondary school pupils (or 98.6% of all pupils at this level) have studied at least one foreign language in 2014 in the EU28.