How many people speak english in the world

How many people speak English statistics 2020?

What language is spoken by the most people in the world?

The most common languages ​​in the world

What language is closest to English?

If the first foreign language was English, linguists advise learning the languages ​​of the Germanic and Romance groups, such as German, Dutch and Danish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Spanish.

How many people spoke English during Shakespeare’s day?

From Germanic Tribes to Shakespeare

Almost 30% of all world literature is published in English. It is difficult to imagine that at one time hardly a few thousand people spoke this language.

How many people speak English statistic?

How many percent of the population speaks English?

The All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) conducted a survey and found that only 5% of the population of our country are fluent in English. At the same time, the majority (63%) of Russians believe that a foreign language is necessary in the modern world, 93% are sure that it is best to learn English.

What is the most spoken language in the world?

It may seem to many that English is the most widely spoken language in the world. On the one hand, the statement is true: this language is the most popular, it is recognized as official in the business world and is used in international relations.

What is the number one language in the world?

Top most spoken languages

In this case, in the first place in terms of the number of speakers on the planet is the Chinese language (more than 800 million people). It is followed by Spanish, English, Hindi and Arabic. Among the most common languages ​​on the planet, you can also find Bengali, Portuguese and Russian.

What is the richest language in the world?

As for the richness of vocabulary, Greek is the leading language here: it has 5 million words. English, for example, contains only about half a million words.

What languages ​​are similar to each other?

Some mutually intelligible languages

What language is similar to Russian?

List of Slavic languages

What languages ​​are related to English?

Where is English in genealogical classification

Who influenced the English language?

The language was influenced by the conquests of the Normans, who spoke Old Norman, which in Britain developed into Anglo-Norman. Many Norman and French borrowings have entered the language vocabulary related to the church and the judiciary.

What is the essence of the great vowel shift?

Who brought writing to Britain?

How many people speak English and where is it spoken?

Updated May 10, 2022

Did you know that despite English’s unofficial position as the language of business, it is only spoken as a first language in a relatively small number of countries?

That said, it is the official language of choice in a number of countries and is widely spoken as a second language in many others.

So how many people really speak English and where is it spoken?

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How many people speak English?

About 1.35 billion people on Earth (population: 7.8 billion) speak English. That’s more than 15% of the world’s total population!

No wonder it’s regarded as the most spoken language in the world. As a result, it is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, The European Union (despite the fact that only two countries are native speakers) and many more international organizations and businesses.

The rise in popularity and importance of English is most clearly visible in the EU. In the mid-seventies, French was the dominant language.

However, with the membership of Finland and Sweden in the 1990s and Central and Eastern European countries in the 2000s, English took over as the dominant language and is now one of the three key languages in the EU, along with French and German.

Waves were made when Britain announced that it would be leaving the EU. Questions arose among some as to whether English would continue to be an official language post-Brexit.

However, as English is now considered a Lingua Franca, meaning a common or trade language, and the majority of employees within the system rely heavily on it, it is very unlikely to be removed from its position of prominence.

Which countries recognise English as an official language?

As a result of Britain’s extensive colonization, from the Americas to Africa and further afield to Asia, English has become the official language of certain countries by default.

From places like Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Singapore and the Philippines, English is recognized as the official, though it is not necessarily the primary, language spoken among the populace.

For these countries through their long history with Britain, it made sense to have English as the official language of communication on the international stage and in commerce.

Let’s not forget about the number of people learning English as a second language. According to the British Council, 1 billion people could be learning English at any one time, such is its popularity.

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Where can we find native English speakers?

Here’s another fact about the English language: Approximately 379 million people speak English as a first language.

The USA is home to the largest number of native English speakers. The other obvious territories are the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

From there we step predominantly into the former territories of the British colonies. Approximately 30 more countries speak English natively, many of which were colonized by the British empire.

From Anguilla to Gibraltar to British Indian Ocean Territory, these countries not only speak but recognise also English as their official language.

Other countries include Trinidad and Tobago, Guam, The United States Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Guyana and more.

What is the future of the English language?

Simply put, the future looks bright. Since the early 20th century, English’s cultural impact has continued to grow globally. From the inception of Hollywood in the 1920s to the aftermath of the Second World War.

Despite this war seeing a depletion in the number of British colonies, it appeared to have an opposite effect on the popularity of the English language.

Finally, with the dawn of the internet, English appropriation and cultural understanding have spread to even the tiniest corners of the world.

Being spoken by more than 1.35 billion people in the world, the dominance of the English language continues to rise.

How Many People Speak English in the World?

Did you know that there are approximately 7.8 billion people on Earth? If we look around ourselves, we might get the impression that almost everyone speaks the English language. Yet, that is not true. In reality, only 4.9% of people around the world speak the English language. Such is the wide variety of languages spoken globally. Granted, English is the official language of communication and business correspondence across the world, it is the first language of only a small number of countries. As a result, it has opted as an official language in a few countries. Nevertheless, it is interesting to find how many people actually speak the English language and how many English-speaking countries there are in the world.

At present, there are approximately 1348 million English speakers in the world. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that businesses are striving to get their content translated into the English language. For that, they take the help of professional translation services and translation companies.

Before we explore the countries where the English language is spoken, let’s take a look at a brief history of the English language and how it originated.

The English language—A Brief History

A member of the Germanic language family, English originally descended from Proto-Germanic. On the other hand, other languages which descended from Proto-Germanic include German, Swedish and Dutch, along with 43 other Germanic languages. Furthermore, English is an Indo-European language —the largest language family in the world.

The English Language—Spread and Usage

Despite the official number of almost 1 billion English speakers around the globe, it is actually hard to define exactly how many people speak English. However, before we explore the answer to the question of how many people speak English in the world, let’s define what it actually means for a country to be “English speaking”.

There are approximately 18 countries where a majority of the population speaks English as a native language. Examples include countries such as Australia and the Bahamas. However, this number is far from the total number, as it does not include countries where English is the official language but not the primary spoken language. In fact, more than 50 countries have English as an official language but in many of them, not everyone speaks the language in day-to-day life.

Then comes the de facto language. De facto means that English is the primary language of daily life in these countries, but is not formally listed as the official language. For example, the US has English as its de facto language but does not have an official language of its own.

Finally, there are many countries where English is spoken as a minority language. This means that only a minority of the population speaks it or it is used in certain areas only, such as in academics and business meetings.

This all seems quite confusing, which is why we have compiled a list of English-speaking countries. Let’s take a look at the countries and their continents.

The English Language—Official Records

The world’s total population is approximately 7.8 billion. Out of this number, 1.35 billion speak English. However, the majority of these are not native English speakers. Approximately 360 million people speak English as a first language. On the global front, the most commonly spoken language is Chinese, followed by Spanish and then English. Not surprisingly, English is by far the most studied foreign language in the world and is followed by the French language.

A Look at the English Speaking Countries

English Speaking Countries in the Americas

English Speaking Countries In the Americas, English is spoken widely, making it hard to estimate the total number of speakers—but these are around 350 million. A majority of these native English speakers—approximately 297 million—live in the US. Another 30 million native English speakers live in Canada. Although many of the countries in the Caribbean have English as the official language, it is mainly left behind due to colonialism. This is why a majority of the population does not speak Standard English.

There are approximately 14 million people in South and Central America who speak English. Many of these speakers reside in Argentina (5.9 million), Colombia (2 million), Chile (1.97 million), and Puerto Rico (1.7 million).

Here are the countries where people speak English is spoken as an official language:

Although English is the official language, many of the people living in these countries do not speak English as their first language. Many of them communicate in Spanish, French, and other languages in their day-to-day lives.

English speaking European Countries

English Speaking European Countries Approximately 212 million English speakers reside in Europe. As a result, people often use English as a lingua franca who don’t speak it as a first language. In the United Kingdom, there are approximately 60 million English speakers. In fact, if we break down this number, there are 49.8 million speakers in England and Wales, 5 million in Scotland, and 1.7 million on North Island.

Germany comes next with the most number of English speakers—approximately 45.8 million. The next countries are France (25.4 million), and Italy (20.7 million). However, the majority of these people do not speak English as their native language—only about 240,000 people speak English natively in Germany.

These are the countries in Europe where English is the official language:

English Speaking Countries in Asia

English Speaking Countries in Asia have fewer English native speakers as compared to other continents. However, a majority of people speak English as a second or a foreign language. Although this population of English speakers is hard to calculate, official statistics place it around 460 million.

These are the countries in Asia that have English as the de facto or official language. This does not mean, however, that people speak it as a native language in these regions:

English Speaking Countries in Africa

English Speaking Countries in Africa have English as an official language mainly due to colonialism. However, only 6.5 million Africans speak English as their native tongue out of a population of 1.2 billion. Many of these Africans have learned English as a second language. This means that approximately 237 million people in Africa speak English either as a native or a non-native language.

On the other hand, many of African countries have other official languages. For example, South Africa has a total of 11 different official languages, with people speaking more dialects in the region. Although English is the official language in these countries, many people do not speak English. The greatest numbers of English speakers reside in Nigeria (111 million). Then comes Uganda (29 million), South Africa (16 million), and Cameroon (9.8 million).

Here is a list of African countries that come under the list of English-speaking countries as their people speak English as an official language.

English Speaking Countries in Oceania

English Speaking Countries in Oceania. There are approximately 30 million speakers in Oceania. In Australia, English is the official language but is the de facto language in the region. The majority population—about 22 million Australians speak English as their native language. On the other hand, New Zealand has about 4 million English speakers, but they speak a different dialect of English known as New Zealand English. Papua New Guinea (3.2 million) and Fiji (200,000) comes next. Other countries which speak English are the Cook Islands and Samoa.

These countries have a population that speaks English as the official language, although it might not be the primary language here.

Countries having the Highest English Proficiency

There is a need to explore how many countries are proficient in English after we have taken a look at the countries where English is spoken. So, this proficiency refers to the highest number of people who speak English well.

According to EF, a company administering English exams to companies has set up EPI—an English Proficiency Index which highlights the English-speaking proficiency level of people. Here are the countries where the EPI score is the highest.

The Role of Translation in the English Language

By having a look at the population of English-speaking countries, one cannot deny the importance of learning English. The same applies to businesses across the world as well. In fact, those companies which want to make an impact on the global audience just need to translate their content into the English language. This is where a professional and expert translation agency comes in. An expert language agency is likely to have a team of linguists who understand the importance of translating in the English language and would perform the work of translation skillfully.

The Last Word

English plays a role in the globalization process. With increasingly shifting demographics, urbanization, and localization efforts, the need to learn a universal language like English has become greater than ever before. This is the reason why companies, as well as individuals, should extend their horizons to include English as their language of correspondence and communication with the stakeholders and the global audience.

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How Many People Speak English And Where Is It Spoken?

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While English being a common language might seem a no-brainer, you might be curious to figure out just how many people speak English?

If your goal is to be able to travel more and make yourself understood with traveling, is English really spoken that much in the areas you’re interested in? Or, if you’re hoping to work or set up a business in another region, can you really make meaningful business connections by speaking in English?

You might be interested in knowing the answers to those questions before hiring an English tutor, so in this post, we’re going to take a look at how many people speak English around the world.

How many people speak English?

English is now the language with the most number of speakers around the world. According to the 2019 edition of Ethnologue, there are a total of 1.268 billion English-speakers in the world.

The spread of modern English around the world can be traced to the 17th century, during the time when the British were building their Empire and the United States was discovered and was now beginning to rebel against the British colonizers.

For an example of how the British Empire helped the English language to spread, let’s look at how many people speak English in India. There are currently about 125,344,727 English speakers in India, with 226,449 identifying it as their first language and 86,125,221 as their second language.

How many people speak English as their first language?

Of the total number of English-speakers in the world, there are 369.7 million who speak it as their first language. This makes it the 3rd most common first language in the world, compared to how many people speak Chinese and Spanish.

Chinese is the most common first language with 921.5 million speakers, while Spanish is the second most common first language with 463 million speakers.

How many people speak English as a second language?

There are 898.4 million people who say that English is their second language, this makes it the most common second language in the world followed by Hindi and French.

If you are curious about how many people speak Hindi in the world, there are 637.3 million, with 342 million speaking it as their first language. If they speak a second language, there is a good chance it is English.

Meanwhile, French is the third-most common second language in the world. How many people speak French as their second language? That’s about 199.3 million.

How many countries have English as their official language?

There are 60 territories where English serves as an official language. This doesn’t mean it’s the first language or necessarily the native language, but it does mean that it’s the language used by the government.

Since English really spread across the world due to the activities of the British Empire, a majority of the places where English is still an official language includes a lot of former colonies or territories.

Antigua and Barbuda

Papua New Guinea

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

Where is English spoken in the world?

Americas

As is probably to be expected, the United States has the most native speakers of English in the world. Even more than the United Kingdom as their population is greater than that of the UK. All in all, there are about 300 million native English speakers in the US.

After America, Canada has the most number of English speakers in the Americas, According to Statistics Canada, in their 2016 Census, 22,162,865 Canadians said English was the language that they spoke most often while at home.

In the Central Americas only Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Belize have a significant number of English speakers. Spanish is still the official language in this part of the globe. It should be noted, however, that Belize is the only Central American country with English as its official language.

In South America, a majority of the population speak Spanish or Portuguese, but English is the third most common language that isn’t an indigenous dialect. There are around 5.4 million English speakers in this region, mostly from Argentina and Columbia.

Europe

Of course, English is still widely spoken in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has a total of about 59,600,000 English speakers, with 54,400,000 considering it their first language while Ireland has 4,350,000 English speakers, with 4,122,100 calling it their first language.

According to a 2012 report by the European Commission, “Europeans and their Languages”, English is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the EU, after German and tied with Italian. It is also the most widely spoken foreign language in the member states where it is not an official language.

Germany has a pretty large contingent of English speakers, around 45,400,000. So does Italy with 17,000,000, and the Netherlands with 15,250,000. English speaking in the Netherlands is actually quite widespread as that accounts for about 90% of their population.

Africa

In the continent of Africa, you will find most of the English speaking population in countries that were formerly colonies. Compared to the total population of about 1 billion, only about 130 million speak English and only 6,500,000 consider it their native tongue.

Nigeria has the largest contingent of English speakers, with 108,036,049. Next comes South Africa with 16,424,417, then Kenya with 8,100,000, followed by Cameroon with 7,500,000.

India and Pakistan have the most number of English speakers in Asia. Not surprising given their history with the British Empire.

India has 125,344,737 English speakers with 125,344,737, but only 226,449 consider it their first language. Pakistan has 108,036,049 English speakers with 8,642,883 considering it their first language.

The Philippines may have been a colony of Spain, but it was under the US till it gained its independence. American English is still quite common in this country, which has 64,025,890 English speakers. Of this, 36,935 consider it their first language.

Special mention should go to Singapore, which has “only” 4,218,737 English speakers, but that makes up 83% of their population. Only 36% of these consider it their first language, however, as it is only one of four official languages including Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil.

Maybe you are curious about how many people speak Japanese versus how many people speak English in Japan? Well, as we mentioned before, English is only the 3rd most spoken language in the world if we count native speakers or those who consider it their first language. Japanese is the 8th with around 128 million native speakers.

There are a substantial number of English speakers in Japan but Japanese is still the official and national language. Thus, many people who do speak English count it as an additional language.

Middle East

Arabic is still the most commonly spoken language in the Middle East. How many people speak Arabic? About 422 million people speak Arabic and it is the fifth most spoken language in the world.

In the Middle East, English is usually considered as a “business” language and taught as a second language in schools and universities. It’s not really considered a native language.

Egypt has a good portion of English-language speakers, around 35 percent of their population, however, it is rarely thought of as a first language. Around 35 percent of the population of Iraq also considers English a second language.

Israel has a big percentage of their population, around 84.97% saying they can speak English, but only 1% of that says it’s their first language.

Caribbean

Aside from native languages or dialects, the most common languages spoken in the Caribbean tend to be Spanish, French, Dutch, or English. The prevalence of these four European languages is a result of colonization and the official language of the territory tends to be the language of the colonial power that held the island either first or for the longest period of time.

English is the official language of about 18 territories in the Caribbean, it is also considered the official language of the tourism industry so even if you are not in an area where English is the official language, there’s a good chance people there speak it as a second or additional language.

Jamaica, which is one of the biggest and most populous islands in the Caribbean, was originally conquered by Spain but became a British colony and stayed so till 1962. Its official language remains English, with its national language being Jamaican Patois which is basically identical to English – with differences in pronunciation and vocabulary.

There are 2,650,000 English speakers in Jamaica or about 97% of the population. Around 45,9000 consider it their first language, while 50,000 would classify it as their second language.

Puerto Rico, which is still considered a US territory, has both English and Spanish as their official languages. Spain is still the primary language though, with English being the primary language of only 10% of the population. English is taught as a second language and is compulsory in schools.

There are around 1,910,000 English speakers in Puerto Rico, with only about 100,000 considering it their first language and the rest considering it a second or additional language.

Oceana

Oceana is the world region that included Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. So this includes Australia and New Zealand, former British Colonies, and current members of the Commonwealth.

As is common with former British colonies, both Australia and New Zealand have English as one of their official languages. It also tends to be the dominant language spoken and used daily.

Australia has 97% (17,357,833) of its population identified as English-speakers, with 70% (15,013,965) claiming it as their first language. New Zealand also has around 97% (3,673,623) of their population identifying as English-Speakers, with 85% (3,673,623) claiming it as their first language.

English might “only” be the third most common language in the world, but as you can see you’re quite likely to run into English speakers wherever you go.

English is considered a “lingua franca” or a common language of communication between people who might not share a native language or speak the same dialect.

It is also officially and unofficially a language that is often spoken or understood in the business and government sectors. Where ever you go, and whatever your purpose might be going there, English is a good language to know to make sure you can make yourself understood.

Which language is mostly spoken in the world?

English, with around 1,132 total speakers.

What is the most spoken language in the world 2019?

In 2019, the most spoken languages was English.

English as a Global Language

Global English, World English, and the Rise of English as a Lingua Franca

In Shakespeare’s time, the number of English speakers in the world is thought to have been between five and seven million. According to linguist David Crystal, «Between the end of the reign of Elizabeth I (1603) and the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II (1952), this figure increased almost fiftyfold, to around 250 million» (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2003). It’s a common language used in international business, which makes it a popular second language for many.

How Many Languages Are There?

There are roughly 6,500 languages spoken in the world today. About 2,000 of them have fewer than 1,000 speakers. While the British empire did help spread the language globally it’s only the third most commonly spoken language in the world. Mandarin and Spanish are the two most commonly spoken languages on Earth.

From How Many Other Languages Has English Borrowed Words?

English is jokingly referred to as a language thief because of it has incorporated words from over 350 other languages into it. The majority of these «borrowed» words are latin or from one of the Romance languages.

How Many People in the World Today Speak English?

Roughly 500 million people in the world are native English speakers. Another 510 million people speak English as a second language, which means that there are more people who speak English along with their native language than there are native English speakers.

In How Many Countries Is English Taught as a Foreign Language?

English is taught as a foreign language in over 100 countries. It’s considered the language of business which makes it a popular choice for a second language. English language teachers are often paid very well in countries like China and Dubai.

What Is the Most Widely Used English Word?

«The form OK or okay is probably the most intensively and widely used (and borrowed) word in the history of the language. Its many would-be etymologists have traced it variously to Cockney, French, Finnish, German, Greek, Norwegian, Scots, several African languages, and the Native American language Choctaw, as well as a number of personal names. All are imaginative feats without documentary support.» (Tom McArthur, The Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford University Press, 2002)

How Many Countries in the World Have English as Their First Language?

«This is a complicated question, as the definition of ‘first language’ differs from place to place, according to each country’s history and local circumstances. The following facts illustrate the complexities:

«Australia, Botswana, the Commonwealth Caribbean nations, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Ireland, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States have English as either a de facto or statutory official language. In Cameroon and Canada, English shares this status with French; and in the Nigerian states, English and the main local language are official. In Fiji, English is the official language with Fijian; in Lesotho with Sesotho; in Pakistan with Urdu; in the Philippines with Filipino; and in Swaziland with Siswati. In India, English is an associate official language (after Hindi), and in Singapore English is one of four statutory official languages. In South Africa, English [is] the main national language—but just one of eleven official languages.