A Detailed Have a look at How Many Individuals Communicate English Globally
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Whenever you journey internationally, one of many first belongings you would possibly verify is what languages are spoken at your vacation spot. Extra particularly, you could surprise how many individuals converse English nicely sufficient to present you instructions or maintain a dialog. The excellent news is that English is likely one of the largest world languages on the earth, and also you’ll in all probability discover individuals who converse English in most main cities.
Breaking down the variety of English audio system all over the world is extra advanced than it first seems. So, we’ll offer you all of the numbers you want relating to complete audio system, individuals who converse it as a local language vs. a second language, what international locations dominate the English-speaking world, and extra. If somebody who needs so as to add themselves to these numbers, you’ll be able to even use these statistics to get them began on studying the way to converse English!
How many individuals converse English on the earth?
Worldwide, English has a complete of roughly 1.53 billion audio system (Ethnologue, 2025), which incorporates over 390 million native audio system. These numbers are unfold throughout the whole world on each continent (excluding Antarctica, which doesn’t have a everlasting inhabitants), with significantly excessive concentrations in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and components of Africa and Asia.
How many individuals converse English as a second language?
Should you contemplate the variety of native English audio system versus the whole quantity (Ethnologue, 2025), about 1.14 billion folks converse English as a second language worldwide. Which means virtually 75% of all English audio system realized it as a second language! Proficiency varies extensively inside that group, however it’s a powerful indicator of how many individuals see a have to be taught English.
Which international locations converse English as an official language?
English is the most typical official language on the earth. There are 52 unbiased international locations and 21 non-sovereign states or territories which have English as both a de jure (formally designated) or de facto (mostly spoken however not formally designated) language. Amongst English-speaking international locations, a number of embody English as considered one of a number of official languages.
Consequently, English can be one of many six official languages of the United Nations. Between Arabic, Chinese language, English, French, Russian, and Spanish, nearly all of the world’s inhabitants is ready to obtain official UN data in a language they converse.
Record of nations with essentially the most native English audio system
Whereas international locations like america and the UK are sometimes among the many first to spring to thoughts when enthusiastic about native English audio system, they’re removed from the one ones with a large native English-speaking inhabitants. This record contains the highest 10 international locations by variety of native English audio system, together with the proportion of the nation’s inhabitants that speaks English.
| Nation | Complete Native English Audio system | Share of Inhabitants |
| United States | 279 million | 82.1% |
| Pakistan | 116 million | 46.0% |
| United Kingdom | 67 million | 97.3% |
| India | 46 million | 3.2% |
| Nigeria | 35 million | 15.0% |
| Canada | 24 million | 58.7% |
| Australia | 21 million | 76.8% |
| Ghana | 7.9 million | 23.0% |
| Uganda | 6.1 million | 12.3% |
| South Africa | 6.1 million | 9.6% |
*Worlddata.information, “Unfold of the English Language”
A handful of different international locations and territories have majority native English-speaking populations (not less than two-thirds), however their complete populations put them decrease on the record of complete audio system. These international locations embody:
| Nation | Complete Native English Audio system | Share of Inhabitants |
| Eire | 5.3 million | 98.4% |
| New Zealand | 3.9 million | 72.6% |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1.3 million | 93.5% |
| Jersey | 98,000 | 94.5% |
| Virgin Islands | 78,000 | 74.7% |
| Cayman Islands | 67,000 | 90.6% |
| Bermuda | 65,000 | 100.0% |
| Gibraltar | 35,000 | 88.9% |
| Falkland Islands | 3,000 | 89.0% |
| Norfolk Island | 1,000 | 67.6% |
*Worlddata.information, “Unfold of the English Language”
Quantity of people that converse English by area
Every area of the world has English-speaking international locations and territories that contemplate English an official language, though the precise variety of audio system per area varies extensively. The international locations and territories on this record both record English as an official language, have an English-speaking inhabitants over 1,000,000, or have populations the place not less than a 3rd of the inhabitants speaks English.
The precise totals for any given nation’s inhabitants and variety of English audio system are at all times altering and should deviate barely from different sources (similar to Worlddata.information) attributable to differing strategies, however these estimates are roughly correct as of 2025 by taking a rustic’s inhabitants (datacommons.org) and the proportion of the inhabitants that speaks English (Ethnologue, 2025) under consideration.
How many individuals converse English in North America?
Roughly 350-360 million folks converse English within the international locations that talk English throughout North America.
- Bermuda: 62,400
- Canada: 32,148,000
- Mexico: 7,328,000
- United States: 318,990,000
Continental North America is essentially cut up into two English dialects: American English and Canadian English. They’re very comparable, with some distinct pronunciation variations.
How many individuals converse English in Europe?
Roughly 275 million folks converse English in Europe.
- Austria: 6,654,000
- Belgium: 4,513,000
- Bulgaria: 1,675,000
- Czechia: 2,938,000
- Croatia: 1,933,000
- Denmark: 5,050,000
- Finland: 3,946,000
- France: 26,927,000
- Germany: 46,766,000
- Greece: 5,506,000
- Hungary: 2,419,000
- Eire: 5,272,000
- Italy: 20,232,000
- Netherlands: 16,194,000
- Norway: 4,792,000
- Poland: 12,063,000
- Portugal: 2,953,000
- Romania: 5,911,000
- Russia: 5,024,000
- Spain: 11,177,000
- Sweden: 8,846,000
- Switzerland: 5,059,000
- Ukraine: 3,180,000
- United Kingdom: 65,072,000
English is likely one of the 24 EU official languages (added in 1973). Though British English is the primary number of English present in Europe, even it has subvarieties in Irish English and Welsh English.
How many individuals converse English in Central and South America?
In comparison with North America, the English-speaking inhabitants of Central and South America is small: Solely about 23-24 million folks converse English.
- Argentina: 6,854,000
- Belize: 238,000
- Brazil: 10,636,000
- Cayman Islands: 63,000
- Chile: 1,957,000
- Colombia: 2,062,000
- Dominica: 62,000
- Guyana: 108,000
- Trinidad and Tobago: 1,259,000
Most international locations in Central and South America (Latin America) predominantly converse Spanish or Portuguese, however Guyana is an attention-grabbing exception. Guyana is the one nation in South America to have English as its solely official language, and it has its personal Guyanese English dialect as nicely. Caribbean English can be a dialect spoken as an official language in 19 Caribbean territories.
How many individuals converse English in Africa?
About 245-250 million folks converse English in Africa.
- Algeria: 2,621,000
- Botswana: 958,000
- Cameroon: 9,900,000
- Egypt: 37,292,000
- Ghana: 14,115,000
- Kenya: 45,145,000
- Morocco: 4,950,000
- Nigeria: 62,358,000
- Rwanda: 1,953,000
- South Africa: 20,930,000
- Tanzania: 6,650,000
- Tunisia: 1,166,000
- Uganda: 29,009,000
- Zambia: 3,623,000
- Zimbabwe: 4,990,000
What stands out about English in Africa is that, whereas it’s an official language in 23 African international locations, English isn’t the commonest language within the majority of these international locations. Probably the most distinguished dialects of English present in Africa is the South African English (SAE) dialect (spoken in South Africa), and there are roughly 3 million first-language SAE audio system.
How many individuals converse English in Asia?
In complete, Asia has upwards of 595 million English audio system.
- Afghanistan: 2,431,000
- Bangladesh: 29,505,000
- Cambodia: 4,498,000
- China: 15,640,000
- India: 275,678,000
- Iraq: 14,275,000
- Israel: 6,752,000
- Japan: 11,158,000
- Jordan: 4,713,000
- Kazakhstan: 1,956,000
- Lebanon: 2,322,000
- Malaysia: 10,881,000
- Pakistan: 112,317,000
- Philippines: 52,824,000
- Singapore: 3,079,000
- South Korea: 11,540,000
- Sri Lanka: 5,260,000
- Thailand: 18,920,000
- United Arab Emirates: 8,049,000
- Yemen: 3,125,000
Nations in South Asia have a very distinctive dialect of English generally known as South Asian English (alternatively Indian English). It primarily contains the English spoken in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives.
How many individuals converse English in Oceania?
The inhabitants measurement of nations and territories in Oceania ranges from the massive (Australia at over 27 million) to the small (a number of with lower than 50,000), however the complete variety of English audio system is round 38-40 million.
- Australia: 24,750,000
- New Zealand: 4,750,000
- Papua New Guinea: 8,460,000
Two of essentially the most distinct English dialects may also be discovered on this area: Australian English and New Zealand English.
Record of nations with the best English proficiency
The Training First English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) is an annual report of the English proficiency of nations all over the world the place English isn’t the native language. This implies international locations like america and Australia are excluded from the report. This information offered by the EF exhibits the place English utilization and schooling are strongest whereas additionally demonstrating its function as one of many world’s lingua francas (a typical language spoken amongst individuals who converse different languages).
The highest 10 international locations within the 2025 EF EPI which have essentially the most proficient audio system of English as a second language are all situated in Europe. These international locations have “very excessive proficiency” based on the EF EPI, which means most audio system can wield English in each social and enterprise conditions with relative ease.
- Netherlands
- Croatia
- Austria
- Germany
- Norway
- Portugal
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Belgium
- Slovakia
Steadily requested questions on how many individuals converse English
English’s affect on the world’s linguistic panorama ends in innumerable methods to interrupt down the query of how many individuals converse English worldwide. Should you’re nonetheless interested by how English measures up among the many world’s languages, try these incessantly requested questions from different folks with the identical curiosity.
1. What’s the #1 used language on the earth?
English is the most spoken language on the earth. Roughly 1.53 billion folks worldwide converse English (Ethnologue, 2025) both as a local or second language. The second-most used language on the earth is Mandarin Chinese language, with roughly 1.18 billion (Ethnologue, 2025), which additionally has essentially the most native audio system (roughly 990 million audio system). English can be the most typical language on the web, with 49.2% of internet sites utilizing English. Spanish is a distant second at 6%, swiftly adopted by German at 5.9%.
2. What’s the #1 most used language household?
Out of the 143 language households worldwide, essentially the most used and largest household is Indo-European. Roughly 3.39 billion folks converse a language from the Indo-European language household as of 2025, which incorporates extensively spoken languages like English, Spanish, and Hindi. The Sino-Tibetan language household is available in second with roughly 1.47 billion audio system between languages similar to Chinese language, Burmese, and Tibetan.
3. What proportion of the world is English-speaking?
Simply over 18.5% of the world speaks English (1.53 billion audio system out of the world 8.23 billion inhabitants). That is unfold throughout each continent (besides Antarctica) and contains international locations the place English is the official language, in addition to international locations that produce other official languages.
