In this article, we will be covering the 20 most spoken languages in the world. If you want to read more about the most spoken languages, you can take a look at the 50 Most Spoken Languages in the World.
20. Yue Chinese
Total Number of Speakers: 86.6 million
Yue Chinese has 86.6 million users and is the 20th most-spoken language in the world. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family.
19. Tamil
Total Number of Speakers: 86.6 million
With 86.6 million speakers, mostly located in India, Tamil is one of the most spoken languages in the world.
18. Turkish
Total Number of Speakers: 90 million
Belonging to the Turkik language family, Turkish is used as the language of instruction for education in Turkey. It has 90 million speakers worldwide.
17. Telugu
Total Number of Speakers: 96 million
Telugu belongs to the Dravidian language family and has 96 million users worldwide, most of which are in India.
16. Marathi
Total Number of Speakers: 99.2 million
Marathi is an official language in parts of India and is spoken by 99.2 million people worldwide.
15. Egyptian Spoken Arabic
Total Number of Speakers: 120.4 million
Egyptian Spoken Arabic is used by 120.4 million people globally and belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family. It is widely used as a means of communication in Egypt.
14. Nigerian Pidgin
Total Number of Speakers: 120.7 million
Belonging to the Creole language family, a subgroup of 92 languages, Nigerian Pidgin is spoken by 120.7 million people worldwide. It is not known to be taught in schools.
13. Japanese
Total Number of Speakers: 123.4 million
Japanese belongs to the Japonic language family and is spoken by 123.4 million people in the world.
12. Standard German
Total Number of Speakers: 133.2 million
The official national language of Germany, Standard German has 133.2 million users.
11. Indonesian
Total Number of Speakers: 199.1 million
Indonesian is spoken by 199.1 million people in the world and belongs to the Austronesian language family. It is the official national language of Indonesia.
10. Urdu
Total Number of Speakers: 231.7 million
Urdu is spoken by 231.7 million people worldwide and is the official national language of Pakistan. It belongs to the Indo-European language family.
9. Russian
Total Number of Speakers: 255 million
Spoken by 255 million people, Russian ranks 9th among the 50 most spoken languages in the world. Its original homeland was the Russian Federation.
8. Portuguese
Total Number of Speakers: 263.6 million
Belonging to the Indo-European family, Portuguese has 263.6 million users in the world. It is the official national language of Portugal.
7. Bengali
Total Number of Speakers: 272 million
Bengali is used by 272 million people worldwide to communicate and is the official language of Bangladesh. It belongs to the Indo-European language family.
6. Standard Arabic
Total Number of Speakers: 274 million
With 274 million speakers, Standard Arabic is the 6th most spoken language globally. It belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family and originated in present-day Saudi Arabia.
5. French
Total Number of Speakers: 309.8 million
Spoken by 309.8 million people in the world, French is a thriving institutional language.
4. Spanish
Total Number of Speakers: 550.1 million
Spanish is spoken by 559.1 million people globally and ranks 4th on the list of 50 most spoken languages in the world. It also belongs to the Indo-European language family.
3. Hindi
Total Number of Speakers: 609.5 million
Hindi is spoken by 609.5 million people in the world and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is also the official language of India.
2. Mandarin Chinese
Total Number of Speakers: 1.1 billion
Mandarin Chinese is spoken by 1.1 billion people worldwide. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family and originated in China. It has developed so much that it is also an institutional language beyond its home country and community.
1. English
Total Number of Speakers: 1.5 billion
Spoken by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, English belongs to the Indo-European language family originating from the United Kingdom. English has gained institutional status and has thriving digital support. English takes the first spot on the list of most spoken languages in the world. According to the 2022 language report published by Duolingo, learners from 119 countries chose to learn English.
You can also take a look at 30 Happiest Countries in the World and 20 Most Feminist Countries in the World.
