Most Spoken Languages
Top 24 Most Spoken Languages in the World
Worldwide over seven billion people converse with each other in over 7000 different languages. It’s not easy to find up to date and accurate statistics so think of this list as a “rough guide” to the most spoken languages in the world. The top 24 most spoken languages in the world are listed below. The totals include native and second language speakers.
Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world. It’s spoken by almost 1 billion Chinese. Mandarin is part of the Chinese family of languages which is made up from thirteen different groups including Wu Chinese (which includes Shanghainese), Yue Chinese (which includes Cantonese) and standard Chinese.
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| Most Spoken Languages | Total (millions) | Language Family | Spoken in these countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese (including Mandarin) | 1,282 | Sino-Tibetan | PR-China, Taiwan, Singapore |
| Spanish | 528 | Romance | Spain, Mexico, Central & South America (except Brazil), United States |
| Hindustani (Hindi & Urdu) | 544 | Indo-Aryan | India, Pakistan |
| English | 984 | Germanic | UK, USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa |
| Arabic | 422 | Semitic | Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, Iraq, Middle East, Sudan, Somalia and others |
| Malay (Indonesian & Malaysian) | 281 | Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian | Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore |
| Bengalese | 261 | Indo-Aryan | Bangladesh, India |
| Portuguese | 229 | Romance | Portugal, Brazil |
| Russian | 267 | Slavonic | Russia, Russian Federation |
| Japanese | 128 | Japanese-Ryukyuū | Japan, USA, Brazil |
| Hausa | 150 | Afro-Asiatic, Chadic | Niger, Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Togo and Libya |
| French | 229 | Romance | France, Switzerland, Belgium (Wallonia), Africa, Canada, Luxembourg, Monaco |
| German | 129 | Germanic | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Eastern Belgium |
| Persian | 121 | Indo-European, Iranian | Iran, Iraq, Russia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan (as Dari), Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (as Tajik) |
| Swahili | 107 | Niger–Congo language, Coastal Tanzanian, Bantu | Tanzania, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique (as Mwani), Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Comoros, Mayotte, Zambia, Malawi, South Sudan and Madagascar |
| Javanese | 85 | Austronesian | Indonesia (Java) |
| Turkish | 71 | Turkic, Oghuz | Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Romania, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Vietnamese | 68 | Austro Asiatic | North and South Vietnam, USA, Cambodia, France, Germany |
| Punjabi | 148 | Indo-Aryan | Pakistan, North-West India |
| Korean | 78 | Altaic | North and South Korea |
| Telugu | 92 | Dravidian | India |
| Italian | 68 | Romance | Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, United States, San Marino |
| Marathi | 74 | Indo-Aryan | India |
| Tamil | 75 | Dravidian | India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius |
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