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What is the most spoken language in the world?
Some would say it’s English, while some would argue that it’s Mandarin Chinese.
What do you think is the answer?
Technically, both answers are correct.
But do you know why?
It is because both English and Mandarin Chinese are the most spoken language in the world. In fact, both of them rank number 1.
You might be feeling confused, but allow us to explain further.
The results of the rankings largely depend on where you base it from.
Generally, when identifying the most spoken languages in the world, there are two rankings: one is based on the total number of speakers (including both native and non-native) and the other one is based on the number of native speakers alone.
Interesting, right? So, let’s dive in and take a look at both versions.
The Most Spoken Languages In The World Based On The Total Number Of Speakers
If you’re reading this article, you either belong to the few 379 million native English speakers or to the many 753 million non-native English speakers.
When based on the total number of speakers, it is no surprise that English reigns.
After all, it is a widely-used language all over the world and it's also the second language of several multilingual countries including Singapore, India, and Philippines.
English is closely followed by Mandarin Chinese with a slight difference.
Its total number of speakers mainly consists of native speakers, with only 195 million of non-native speakers.
As seen in the list below, the Hindi, Spanish, French, Standard Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, and Indonesian languages filled the remaining positions in the rankings.
1. English (1.13 billion speakers)
Number of native speakers: 379 million
Number of non-native speakers: 753 million
Total number of speakers: 1.13 billion
Language origin: Germanic, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: German, Dutch, and Frisian.
Official language of: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, The British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Canada (except Quebec), Cayman Islands, Dominica, England, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Scotland, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, The Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Wales, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Name in the language itself: English
2. Mandarin Chinese (1.11 billion speakers)
Number of native speakers: 918 million
Number of non-native speakers: 192 million
Total number of speakers: 1.11 billion
Language origin: Sino-Tibetan
Related to: Cantonese, Tibetan, and Burmese.
Official language of: Mainland China and Taiwan.
Name in the language itself: 普通话 (Putonghua)
3. Hindi (615 million speakers)
Number of native speakers: 341 million
Number of non-native speakers: 274 million
Total number of speakers: 615 million
Language origin: Indo-Aryan, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Kashmiri, and Nepali.
Official language of: India
Name in the language itself: हिन्दुस्तानी or ہندوستانی
4. Spanish (534 million speakers)
Number of native speakers: 460 million
Number of non-native speakers: 74 million
Total number of speakers: 534 million
Language origin: Romance, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian.
Official language of: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Name in the language itself: español or castellano
5. French (280 million speakers)
Number of native speakers: 77 million
Number of non-native speakers: 203 million
Total number of speakers: 280 million
Language origin: Romance, a sub-branch of Indo-European.
Related to: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian.
Official language of: France, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu.
Name in the language itself: le français
6. Standard Arabic (274 million speakers)
Number of native speakers: 270 million
Number of non-native speakers: 4 million
Total number of speakers: 274 million speakers
Language origin: Semitic, a sub-family of Afro-Asiatic.
Related to: Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic.
Official language of: Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Name in the language itself: العَرَبِيَّة (al-ʻarabiyyah)
7. Bengali (265 million speakers)
Number of native speakers: 228 million
Number of non-native speakers: 37 million
Total number of speakers: 265 million
Language origin: Indo-Aryan, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: Hindustani, Punjabi, Marathi, Kashmiri, and Nepali.
Official language of: Bangladesh
Name in the language itself: বাংলা (Bangla)
8. Russian (258 million speakers)
Number of native speakers: 154 million
Number of non-native speakers: 124 million
Total number of speakers: 258 million
Language origin: East Slavic, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: Ukrainian and Belarusian.
Official language of: Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.
Name in the language itself: ру́сский язы́к, (rússkiy yazýk)
9. Portuguese (234 million speakers)
Number of native speakers: 221 million
Number of non-native speakers: 13 million
Total number of speakers: 234 million
Language origin: Romance, a sub-branch of Indo-European.
Related to: French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian.
Official language of: Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, São Tomé, and Príncipe.
Name in the language itself: português
10. Indonesian (199 million speakers)
Number of native speakers: 43 million
Number of non-native speakers: 156 million
Total number of speakers: 199 million
Language origin: Malayo-Polynesian, a sub-family of Austronesian.
Related to: Javanese, Sundanese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
Official language of: Indonesia
Name in the language itself: bahasa Indonesia
The Top 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World Based On The Number Of Native Speakers
The metrics based on the number of native speakers tell a different story.
In this list, Mandarin Chinese reigns the rankings, followed by Spanish, which is unsurprising considering it’s widely-used across Latin America.
English is at third place while Hindi is at fourth.
Similar to the first version of rankings above, Bengali, Portuguese, and Russian are present here too.
Interestingly, the Japanese, Western Punjabi, and Marathi languages made it to the bottom of the rankings.
1. Mandarin Chinese (918 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 918 million
Number of non-native speakers: 192 million
Total number of speakers: 1.11 billion
Language origin: Sino-Tibetan
Related to: Cantonese, Tibetan, and Burmese.
Official language of: Mainland China and Taiwan.
Name in the language itself: 普通话 (Putonghua)
2. Spanish (460 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 460 million
Number of non-native speakers: 74 million
Total number of speakers: 534 million
Language origin: Romance, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian.
Official language of: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Name in the language itself: español or castellano
3. English (379 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 379 million
Number of non-native speakers: 753 million
Total number of speakers: 1.13 billion
Language origin: Germanic, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: German, Dutch, and Frisian.
Official language of: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, The British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Canada (except Quebec), Cayman Islands, Dominica, England, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Scotland, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, The Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Wales, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Name in the language itself: English
4. Hindi (341 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 341 million
Number of non-native speakers: 274 million
Total number of speakers: 615 million
Language origin: Indo-Aryan, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Kashmiri, and Nepali.
Official language of: India
Name in the language itself: हिन्दुस्तानी or ہندوستانی
5. Bengali (228 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 228 million
Number of non-native speakers: 37 million
Total number of speakers: 265 million
Language origin: Indo-Aryan, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: Hindustani, Punjabi, Marathi, Kashmiri, and Nepali.
Official language of: Bangladesh
Name in the language itself: বাংলা (Bangla)
6. Portuguese (221 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 221 million
Number of non-native speakers: 13 million
Total number of speakers: 234 million
Language origin: Romance, a sub-branch of Indo-European.
Related to: French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian.
Official language of: Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, São Tomé, and Príncipe.
Name in the language itself: português
7. Russian (154 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 154 million
Number of non-native speakers: 104 million
Total number of speakers: 258 million
Language origin: East Slavic, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: Ukrainian and Belarusian.
Official language of: Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.
Name in the language itself: ру́сский язы́к, (rússkiy yazýk)
8. Japanese (128 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 128.22 million
Number of non-native speakers: 121 thousand
Total number of speakers: 128.35 million
Language origin: Japanic
Related to: None
Official language of: Japan
Name in the language itself: 日本語 (Nihongo)
9. Western Punjabi (93 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 93 million
Number of non-native speakers: 0
Total number of speakers: 93 million
Language origin: Indo-Iranian, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: Sinhala, Sindhi, and Gujarati.
Official language of: Pakistan
Name in the language itself: Lahnda
10. Marathi (83 million native speakers)
Number of native speakers: 83 million
Number of non-native speakers: 12 million
Total number of speakers: 95 million
Language origin: Indo-Iranian, a sub-family of Indo-European.
Related to: Sinhala
Official language of: India
Name in the language itself: मराठी (Marāṭhī)
Final thoughts
The primary reason these languages remain popular is because they are being actively and consistently used up to this day.
There are approximately 6,500 languages that exist in the world today.
Sadly, about 3,500 (more than 50%) of all languages are either at risk of being lost or already in the process of being forgotten… forever.
Let’s take a look at a video that explains exactly why and how languages die.
Fortunately, there are many things people like me and you can do to help preserve our languages.
We can start by showing unwavering support to our own beloved language by actively using it to communicate.
We can also help prevent other languages from dying out by simply learning more beautiful languages.
The more languages we know, the more we can continue to foster these languages and pass our knowledge to the future generations.
Unsure which language you should study? Check out this video where you can discover the top 10 most useful languages to learn.
If you want to learn new languages, Justlearn’s tutors can help you become fluent in no time.
With over 75 languages to choose from, whether you want to learn Spanish, French, or Chinese, there’s a tutor that is a right fit for you at Justlearn.
