Global Language Statistics

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Mandarin-Chinese has most native speakers

Top 10 languages with most native speakers:

  • Mandarin Chinese (920 million; primarily China, Taiwan, Singapore) 11.5% 11.5%
  • Spanish (490 million; Spain, Latin America & parts of U.S.) 6.1% 6.1%
  • English (375 million; U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand) 4.7% 4.7%
  • Hindi (345 million; India & Nepal) 4.3% 4.3%
  • Bengali (240 million; Bangladesh, India) 3.0% 3.0%
  • Portuguese (230 million; Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique) 2.9% 2.9%
  • Russian (154 million; Russia, former Soviet states) 1.9% 1.9%
  • Japanese (125 million; Japan) 1.6% 1.6%
  • Yue Chinese / Cantonese (85 million; S.China, Hong Kong, Macau) 1.1% 1.1%
  • Punjabi (83 million; India/Punjab, Pakistan/Punjab) 1.0% 1.0%

English is most spoken in the world

Top 10 languages most spoken (native and non-native speakers):

  • English (appr. 1.5 billion speakers) 18.7% 18.7%
  • Mandarin Chinese (appr. 1.1 billion speakers) 13.8% 13.8%
  • Hindy (appr. 610 million speakers) 7.6% 7.6%
  • Spanish (appr. 559 billion speakers) 7.0% 7.0%
  • French (appr. 310 million speakers) 3.9% 3.9%
  • Arabic (appr. 274 million speakers) 3.4% 3.4%
  • Bengali (appr. 273 million speakers) 3.4% 3.4%
  • Portuguese (appr. 264 million speakers) 3.3% 3.3%
  • Russian (appr. 255 million speakers) 3.2% 3.2%
  • Urdu (appr. 232 million speakers) 2.9% 2.9%

Of the world's total population...

%

is native English speaker

%

speaks English as a second language

%

does NOT speak English

In the U.S.A., 26% are native speakers in a language other than English

Of this group, more than 12% are native Spanish speakers. (This does not include everyone who identifies as ‘Hispanic’, which is 19.1% of the U.S. population). 

  • Native ENGLISH speakers in USA ~245.4 million 74% 74%
  • NON-ENGLISH native speakers in U.S.A. ~86.6 million 26% 26%
  • SPANISH native speakers in USA ~41.2 million 12.4% 12.4%
  • CHINESE (Mandarin, Cantonese, etc.) native speakers in USA ~3.4 million 1% 1%
  • TAGALOG/FILIPINO native speakers in USA ~1.7 million 0.5% 0.5%
  • VIETNAMESE native speakers in USA ~1.5 million 0.45% 0.45%
  • ARABIC native speakers in USA ~1.4 million 0.42% 0.42%
  • FRENCH native speakers in USA ~1.2 million 0.36% 0.36%
  • KOREAN native speakers in USA ~1.1 million 0.33% 0.33%
  • RUSSIAN native speakers in USA ~1 million 0.30% 0.30%
  • GERMAN native speakers in USA ~857,000 0.26% 0.26%

%

of consumers are more likely to buy a product with information in their native language

%

of consumers said the ability to obtain information in their own language is more important than price.

Source:  Common Sense Advisory (CSA) Research “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy”.

English proficiency varies greatly by country and region

2024 EF English Proficiency Index.
Based on test results of 2.1m adults in 116 countries & regions.  Source: https://www.ef.co.uk/epi/

Very High Proficiency

01 Netherlands
02 Norway
03 Singapore
04 Sweden
05 Croatia
06 Portugal
07 Denmark
08 Greece
09 Austria

High Proficiency

10 Germany
11 South Africa
12 Romania
13 Belgium
14 Finland
15 Poland
16 Bulgaria
17 Hungary
18 Slovakia
19 Kenya
20 Estonia
21 Luxembourg
22 Philippines
23 Lithuania
24 Serbia
25 Czechia
26 Malaysia
27 Suriname
28 Argentina
29 Cyprus
30 Nigeria
31 Switzerland

Moderate Proficiency

32 Hong Kong (China)
33 Honduras
34 Georgia
35 Belarus
36 Spain
36 Uruguay
38 Armenia
39 Moldova
40 Ukraine
41 Costa Rica
41 Ghana
43 Albania
44 Russia
45 Paraguay
46 Italy
47 Bolivia
48 Chile
49 France
50 South Korea
51 Israel
52 Cuba
53 Peru
54 Uganda
55 El Salvador
56 Nepal
57 Venezuela
58 Guatemala
59 Nicaragua
60 Dominican Republic
61 Bangladesh

Low Proficiency

62 Iran
63 Ethiopia
63 Vietnam
65 Turkey
66 Tunisia
67 Pakistan
68 Lebanon
69 India
70 United Arab Emirates
71 Panama
72 Tanzania
73 Sri Lanka
74 Colombia
75 Qatar
76 Morocco
77 Syria
78 Algeria
79 Mozambique
80 Indonesia
81 Brazil
82 Ecuador
82 Egypt
84 Mongolia
85 Madagascar
86 Azerbaijan
87 Mexico
88 Kyrgyzstan
89 Cape Verde
89 Kuwait
91 China
92 Japan

Very Low Proficiency

93 Myanmar
94 Palestine
95 Afghanistan
95 Malawi
97 Cameroon
98 Uzbekistan
99 Haiti
99 Sudan
101 Jordan
102 Senegal
103 Kazakhstan
104 Oman
105 Saudi Arabia
106 Thailand
107 Iraq
108 Benin
109 Tajikistan
110 Angola
111 Cambodia
112 Libya
113 Rwanda
114 Côte d’Ivoire
114 Somalia
116 Yemen

 

%

of the world's population speaks an "INDO-EUROPEAN" language (the largest language family in the world).

  • Romance Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian.

 

  • Germanic Languages: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian.

 

  • Indo-Aryan Languages: Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu, Marathi.
  • Slavic Languages: Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, Bulgarian.

 

  • Celtic Languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh.

 

  • Greek and Albanian: Stand-alone branches within the family.

English dominates web content... but user language is much more dispersed

Top 10 languages used for web content:

  • English 52.1% 52.1%
  • Spanish 5.5% 5.5%
  • German 4.8% 4.8%
  • French 3.8% 3.8%
  • Russian 3.0% 3.0%
  • Japanese 2.4% 2.4%
  • Portuguese 2.3% 2.3%
  • Italian 1.9% 1.9%
  • Chinese 1.7% 1.7%
  • Arabic 1.5% 1.5%

Top 10 languages spoken by internet users (native and non-native):

  • English 25.9% 25.9%
  • Chinese/Mandarin (massive population & thriving digital economy) 19.4% 19.4%
  • Spanish (widely spoken in Latin America, Spain and among U.S. Hispanics) 7.9% 7.9%
  • Arabic (growth in Middle Eastern digital markets and social media) 5.2% 5.2%
  • Portuguese (Brazil’s large population and widespread internet use) 4.1% 4.1%
  • Indonesian/Malay (large population and increasing internet penetration) 4.0% 4.0%
  • French (used across Europe, Africa, and parts of Canada) 3.7% 3.7%
  • Japanese (high internet penetration and vibrant digital economy) 3.1% 3.1%
  • Russian (used across Russia & neighboring countries with shared linguistic ties) 3.0% 3.0%
  • German (high internet use in Germany, austria and Switzerland) 2.6% 2.6%

Sources:  

Language Statistics and Global Rankings

1. Ethnologue: Languages of the World.
A comprehensive database of world languages, including speaker populations and geographical distributions.
Website: www.ethnologue.com

2. UNESCO
Provides research on linguistic diversity and endangered languages.
Website: www.unesco.org

3. World Economic Forum
Publishes language-related studies and global communication trends.
Website: www.weforum.org

4. Common Sense Advisory (CSA Research)
Focuses on the impact of language on consumer behavior and global business strategies.
Website: www.csa-research.com

Regional and Country-Specific Language Data

5. Pew Research Center
Offers detailed reports on languages spoken in the U.S. and global linguistic trends.
Website: www.pewresearch.org

6. Eurostat
Tracks language use and multilingualism within European countries.
Website: ec.europa.eu/eurostat

7. U.S. Census Bureau
Provides language use statistics in the United States, including the American Community Survey (ACS).
Website: www.census.gov

Language and Internet Usage

8. Internet World Stats
Tracks internet usage statistics, including the most common languages online.
Website: www.internetworldstats.com

9. W3Techs
Monitors the languages used on websites globally.
Website: www.w3techs.com

Language Education and Proficiency Studies

10. EF English Proficiency Index
Ranks countries based on English proficiency levels.
Website: www.ef.edu/epi

11. Harvard Business Review
Features articles on the role of language in global business and marketing.
Website: hbr.org

General Statistical Sources

12. World Bank
Provides demographic and cultural data that complement language statistics.
Website: www.worldbank.org

13. CIA World Factbook
Includes language distributions for individual countries.
Website: www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook

14. EF English Proficiency Index 2024
Source: https://www.ef.co.uk/epi/