1. English (1,456 million speakers)
- First language speakers: 380 million
- Second language speakers: 1.077 billion
- Total speakers: 1.4+ billion
According to Ethnologue, English is the most spoken language in the world, including native and non-native speakers.
Like Latin or Greek at the time, English has become the world's common language. It is the default language in international business, tourism, technology, and much more. This is a Germanic language that originated in medieval England and is now the official language in 67 countries.
A bilingual person who speaks Spanish and English can understand 1 in 3 people who connect to the Internet. They can also access over 60% of everything published on the web. Despite its global prevalence, English has tons of regional variations in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar, leading to countless forms, including British, Australian, American, and even Californian and New Yorker.
2. Mandarin (1,138 million speakers)
- First language speakers: 939 million
- Second language speakers: 199 million
- Total speakers: 1.138 billion
Looking at total speakers, Mandarin is the second most widely spoken language in the world. However, it's the most spoken language in the world if you count only first-language (native) speakers due to China's significant population.
Mandarin is not actually a language but a set of dialects of the Chinese language. What unifies these dialects under the same name is that they all use the same written form, with minor variations. Unlike most Western languages, Mandarin uses a logographic writing system, where characters represent meanings rather than sounds. While complex, this system allows written communication across dialects. Their spoken forms aren’t mutually intelligible, though. For example, Mandarin has four distinct tones (plus a neutral tone), while Cantonese has nine tones.
3. Hindi (610 million speakers)
- First language speakers: 345 million
- Second language speakers: 266 million
- Total speakers: 610 million
Hindi is, along with English, one of the 22 official languages of India, the second-most inhabited country in the world. India’s incredible linguistic diversity (more than 121 languages coexist) explains the high rate of non-native speakers who use Hindi as a lingua franca. In addition to India, Hindi is spoken by over a quarter of Nepal's population!
It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language and uses the Devanagari script. The script is phonetic, meaning each character represents a specific sound, making reading relatively easy once you learn the characters. It also uses a complex honorific system, with different verb formations and pronouns based on the social relationship between speakers.
4. Spanish (559 million speakers)
- First language speakers: 485 million
- Second language speakers: 74 million
- Total speakers: 559 million
Spanish is the second most widely spoken language globally in terms of native speakers. It’s also the most spoken of the Romance languages and the third most used on the internet.
Spain’s enormous colonial expansion took this language not only to the Americas but also to Africa and Asia. Today, there are 21 Spanish-speaking countries in the world, with dozens more that have a significant Spanish-speaking population. Interestingly, the United States is the second country with the largest number of Spanish speakers in the world!
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5. French (310 million speakers)
- First language speakers: 81 million
- Second language speakers: 266 million
- Total speakers: 310 million
Like Spanish and English, French spread throughout the world along with the French colonial empire. Today, there are 29 French-speaking countries all around the world!
If English is the language of business, then French is considered the language of culture. Its enormous importance is also reflected in the fact that it is the third language with the largest number of non-native speakers. It’s also extremely helpful for diplomacy and public governance, as it’s one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, and many organizations like UNESCO, WHO, NATO, and more.
Related: A complete guide to learning French numbers from 1-100
