THE 6 MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD

 

 

 Have you ever wondered what languages people mostly speak around the world? There are more than 7000 languages but half of the world’s population speak just 23 of them. Knowing that is essential if you’re planning to become an important business man and work globally.

This list was compiled between 2021 and 2023.

 

1. English

The total speakers are 1,452 millions (native speakers are 372.9 millions).

English has become the world's most common language. It is the default language in international business, tourism, technology, and much more.

Moreover, people who know English can have access to over 60% of everything published on the web.

The reason why English is so widely spoken is because of England’s great empire’s past.

 

2. Mandarin

Spoken by 1,118 million people (non-native speakers are “just” 1,1 million).

However, if we count only native speakers, due to China's significant population, Mandarin it's the most spoken language in the world.

Mandarin is not merely Chinese: it’s a collection of dialects of Chinese. However, they can still understand each other.

Although it's one of the most difficult languages because of its grammar and alphabets, still,  a lot of people learn it for tourist reasons.

 

3. Hindi

It’s one of the 22 official languages of India, spoken by 602 million people.

India is the second most inhabited country and its linguistic diversity (more than 121 languages coexist) explains the high rate of non-native speakers who use it as a lingua franca.

Not only in India:Hindi is spoken by over a quarter of the population of Nepal!

 

4. Spanish

Spoken by 548 million people, it is the second most spoken language globally in terms of native speakers (474.7 million people). It’s the third most used on the Internet.

Spain’s colonial expansion took its language not only to the Americas but also to Africa and Asia. Today, there are 21 Spanish-speaking countries in the world.

The United States is the second country with the largest number of Spanish speakers in the world.

 

5. French

Among the total 280 million speakers, only 79.9 million are first language speakers. 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.

 

6. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)

It’s spoken by 274 million speakers: 0 are native speakers!

MSA is the only language on this list without native speakers. In fact, Arabic is a large language with many different dialects, and all Arabic speakers grow up speaking a local dialect, like Egyptian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Mesopotamian Arabic or other local dialects.

That’s because MSA is commonly used in newspapers, TV shows and movies, but people don’t speak it with each other. It’s an academic language that you’ll find in literature and politics, but not in everyday life.

 MARIA D., 5scB