Facts

Top 100 Most Spoken Language in the World

Posted on

Les Listes is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

You may wonder what is the most spoken language in the world. This can be a bit difficult to know. First, we need to consider whether we only include native speakers or non native speakers as well? Also, do we include dialects? With that in mind, check out the top 100 most spoken languages in the world based on number of native speakers.

#100 – 90. Most Spoken Language in the World

100. Konkani

Number of native speakers: 7.4 million

Percentage of world population: 0.11%

Spoken mostly in: India

99. Balochi

Number of native speakers: 7.6 million

Percentage of world population: 0.11%

Spoken mostly in: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan

98. Belarusian

Number of native speakers: 7.6 million

Percentage of world population: 0.11%

Spoken mostly in: Belarus and Russia

97. Xhosa

Number of native speakers: 7.6 million

Percentage of world population: 0.11%

Spoken mostly in: South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho

96. Mossi

Number of native speakers: 7.6 million

Percentage of world population: 0.11%

Spoken mostly in: Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, and Togo

95. Hiligaynon/Ilonggo (Visayan)

Number of native speakers: 8.2 million

Percentage of world population: 0.12%

Spoken mostly in: Philippines 

94. Uyghur

Number of native speakers: 8.2 million

Percentage of world population: 0.12%

Spoken mostly in: Xinjiang, China

93. Shona

Number of native speakers: 8.3 million

Percentage of world population: 0.13%

Spoken mostly in: Zimbabwe and Mozambique

92. Hmong

Number of native speakers: 8.4 million

Percentage of world population: 0.13%

Spoken mostly in: China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand

91. Swedish

Number of native speakers:  8.7 million

Percentage of world population: 0.13%

Spoken mostly in: Sweden, Finland, and Estonia 

90. Kirundi

Number of native speakers: 8.8 million

Percentage of world population: 0.13%

Spoken mostly in: Burundi

#89 – 80. Most Spoken Language in the World

89. Quechua

Number of native speakers: 8.9 million

Percentage of world population: 0.13%

Spoken mostly in: Central Andes Mountains region

88. Ilocano

Number of native speakers: 9.1 million

Percentage of world population: 0.14%

Spoken mostly in: Philippines 

87. Eastern Min (Fuzhounese)

Number of native speakers: 9.5 million

Percentage of world population: 0.14%

Spoken mostly in: Southern China and Taiwan 

86. Haitian Creole

Number of native speakers: 9.6 million

Percentage of world population: 0.15%

Spoken mostly in: Haiti 

85. Dhundhari

Number of native speakers: 9.6 million

Percentage of world population: 0.15%

Spoken mostly in: India 

84. Kinyarwanda

Number of native speakers: 9.8 million

Percentage of world population: 0.15%

Spoken mostly in: Rwanda and Uganda 

83. Czech

Number of native speakers: 10 million

Percentage of world population: 0.15%

Spoken mostly in: Czech Republic

82. Zulu

Number of native speakers: 10.4 million

Percentage of world population: 0.16%

Spoken mostly in: South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland

81. Sylheti

Number of native speakers: 10.7 million

Percentage of world population: 0.16%

Spoken mostly in: Bangladesh and India

80. Northern Min

Number of native speakers: 10.9 million

Percentage of world population: 0.16%

Spoken mostly in: China

#79 – 70. Most Spoken Language in the World

79. Kazakh

Number of native speakers: 11 million

Percentage of world population: 0.17%

Spoken mostly in: Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan

78. Akan

Number of native speakers: 11 million

Percentage of world population: 0.17%

Spoken mostly in: Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Benin

77. Deccan

Number of native speakers: 11 million

Percentage of world population: 0.17%

Spoken mostly in: South India

76. Chewa

Number of native speakers: 12 million

Percentage of world population: 0.17%

Spoken mostly in: Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe

75. Greek

Number of native speakers: 12 million

Percentage of world population: 0.18%

Spoken mostly in: Greece

74. Chhattisgarhi

Number of native speakers: 12 million

Percentage of world population: 0.19%

Spoken mostly in: India

73. Hungarian

Number of native speakers: 13 million

Percentage of world population: 0.19%

Spoken mostly in: Hungary 

72. Haryanvi

Number of native speakers: 14 million

Percentage of world population: 0.21%

Spoken mostly in: India

71. Magahi

Number of native speakers: 14 million

Percentage of world population: 0.21%

Spoken mostly in: India

70. Marwari

Number of native speakers: 14 million

Percentage of world population: 0.21%

Spoken mostly in: India

#69 – 60. Most Spoken Language in the World

69. Somali

Number of native speakers: 15 million

Percentage of world population: 0.22%

Spoken mostly in: Horn of Africa

68. Madurese

Number of native speakers: 15 million

Percentage of world population: 0.23%

Spoken mostly in: Island of Madura, Sapudi Islands, Java, and Malaysia

67. Assamese

Number of native speakers: 15 million

Percentage of world population: 0.23%

Spoken mostly in: India

66. Turkmen

Number of native speakers: 16 million

Percentage of world population: 0.24%

Spoken mostly in: Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia

65. Khmer

Number of native speakers: 16 million

Percentage of world population: 0.24%

Spoken mostly in: Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand

64. Zhuang

Number of native speakers: 16 million

Percentage of world population: 0.24%

Spoken mostly in: China 

63. Chittagonian

Number of native speakers: 16 million

Percentage of world population: 0.24%

Spoken mostly in: Bangladesh 

62. Sinhalese

Number of native speakers: 16 million

Percentage of world population: 0.25%

Spoken mostly in: Sri Lanka 

61. Nepali

Number of native speakers: 17 million

Percentage of world population: 0.25%

Spoken mostly in: Nepal 

60. Saraiki

Number of native speakers: 17 million

Percentage of world population: 0.26%

Spoken mostly in: Pakistan 

#59 – 50. Most Spoken Language in the World

59. Malagasy

Number of native speakers: 18 million

Percentage of world population: 0.28%

Spoken mostly in: Madagascar 

58. Serbo-Croatian

Number of native speakers: 19 million

Percentage of world population: 0.28%

Spoken mostly in: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo

57. Kurdish

Number of native speakers: 21 million

Percentage of world population: 0.31%

Spoken mostly in: Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia

56. Dutch

Number of native speakers: 21 million

Percentage of world population: 0.32%

Spoken mostly in: Netherlands and Flanders 

55. Cebuano (Visayan)

Number of native speakers: 21 million

Percentage of world population: 0.32%

Spoken mostly in: Philippines 

54. Gan Chinese

Number of native speakers: 22 million

Percentage of world population: 0.33%

Spoken mostly in: China 

53. Awadhi

Number of native speakers: 22 million

Percentage of world population: 0.33%

Spoken mostly in: India, Nepal, and Fiji

52. Azerbaijani

Number of native speakers: 23 million

Percentage of world population: 0.34%

Spoken mostly in: Azerbaijan 

51. Igbo

Number of native speakers: 24 million

Percentage of world population: 0.36%

Spoken mostly in: Nigeria 

50. Oromo

Number of native speakers: 24 million

Percentage of world population: 0.36%

Spoken mostly in: Ethiopia and Kenya 

#49 – 40. Most Spoken Language in the World

49. Romanian

Number of native speakers: 24 million

Percentage of world population: 0.37%

Spoken mostly in: Romania and Moldova

48. Fula

Number of native speakers: 24 million

Percentage of world population: 0.37%

Spoken mostly in: Western Africa 

47. Amharic

Number of native speakers: 25 million

Percentage of world population: 0.37%

Spoken mostly in: Ethiopia 

46. Sindhi

Number of native speakers: 26 million

Percentage of world population: 0.39%

Spoken mostly in: South Asia 

45. Uzbek

Number of native speakers: 26 million

Percentage of world population: 0.39%

Spoken mostly in:  Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, and China

44. Maithili

Number of native speakers: 27 million

Percentage of world population: 0.41%

Spoken mostly in: India and Nepal 

43. Yoruba

Number of native speakers: 28 million

Percentage of world population: 0.42%

Spoken mostly in: Nigeria, Benin, and Togo

42. Tagalog (Filipino)

Number of native speakers: 28 million

Percentage of world population: 0.42%

Spoken mostly in: Manila 

41. Bhojpuri

Number of native speakers: 29 million

Percentage of world population: 0.43%

Spoken mostly in: India and Napal 

40. Ukrainian

Number of native speakers: 30 million

Percentage of world population: 0.46%

Spoken mostly in: Ukraine 

#39 – 30. Most Spoken Language in the World

39. Hakka

Number of native speakers: 31 million

Percentage of world population: 0.46%

Spoken mostly in: China and Taiwan 

38. Burmese

Number of native speakers: 33 million

Percentage of world population: 0.5%

Spoken mostly in: Myanmar 

37. Odia (Oriya)

Number of native speakers: 33 million

Percentage of world population: 0.5%

Spoken mostly in: India

36. Hausa

Number of native speakers: 34 million

Percentage of world population: 0.52%

Spoken mostly in: Niger and Nigeria 

35. Sundanese

Number of native speakers: 38 million

Percentage of world population: 0.57%

Spoken mostly in: Java, Banten, and Jakarta

34. Malayalam

Number of native speakers: 38 million

Percentage of world population: 0.57%

Spoken mostly in: India

33. Xiang (Hunanese)

Number of native speakers: 38 million

Percentage of world population: 0.58%

Spoken mostly in: China

32. Kannada

Number of native speakers: 38 million

Percentage of world population:  0.58%

Spoken mostly in: India

31. Pashto

Number of native speakers: 39 million

Percentage of world population: 0.58%

Spoken mostly in: Afghanistan and Pakistan 

30. Polish

Number of native speakers: 40 million

Percentage of world population: 0.61%

Spoken mostly in: Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, and central-western Lithuania

#29 – 20. Most Spoken Language in the World

29. Persian

Number of native speakers: 45 million

Percentage of world population: 0.68%

Spoken mostly in: Iran, AfghanistanTajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Russia, and Azerbaijan

28. Southern Min

Number of native speakers: 47 million

Percentage of world population: 0.71%

Spoken mostly in:  China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar 

27. Jin

Number of native speakers: 48 million

Percentage of world population: 0.72%

Spoken mostly in: China and Inner Mongolia 

26. Gujarati

Number of native speakers: 49 million

Percentage of world population: 0.74%

Spoken mostly in: India

25. Thai

Number of native speakers: 56 million

Percentage of world population: 0.85%

Spoken mostly in: Shanghai

24. Yue (Cantonese)

Number of native speakers: 59 million

Percentage of world population: 0.89%

Spoken mostly in: Liangguang, western Hainan, Hong Kong and Macau

23. Italian

Number of native speakers: 59 million

Percentage of world population: 0.9%

Spoken mostly in: Italy

22. Turkish

Number of native speakers: 63 million

Percentage of world population: 0.95%

Spoken mostly in: Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Romania, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Syria

21. Urdu

Number of native speakers: 66 million

Percentage of world population: 0.99%

Spoken mostly in: South Asia

20. Tamil

Number of native speakers: 70 million

Percentage of world population: 1.06%

Spoken mostly in: India and Sri Lanka 

#19 – 10. Most Spoken Language in the World

19. Marathi

Number of native speakers: 73 million

Percentage of world population: 1.1%

Spoken mostly in: India

18. French

Number of native speakers: 75 million

Percentage of world population: 1.12%

Spoken mostly in: France, North Africa, West Africa, and Canada

17. Korean

Number of native speakers: 76 million

Percentage of world population: 1.14%

Spoken mostly in: Korea

16. Vietnamese

Number of native speakers: 76 million

Percentage of world population: 1.14%

Spoken mostly in: Vietnam

15. Telugu

Number of native speakers: 76 million

Percentage of world population: 1.15%

Spoken mostly in: India

14. Malay

Number of native speakers: 77 million

Percentage of world population: 1.16%

Spoken mostly in: Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Brunei, Singapore, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands

13. Wu (Shanghainese)

Number of native speakers: 80 million

Percentage of world population: 1.2%

Spoken mostly in: Shanghai

12. Javanese

Number of native speakers: 82 million

Percentage of world population: 1.25%

Spoken mostly in: Indonesia 

11. German

Number of native speakers: 95 million

Percentage of world population: 1.39%

Spoken mostly in: Germany

10. Punjabi

Number of native speakers: 100 million

Percentage of world population: 1.44%

Spoken mostly in: India and Pakistan 

#9 – 1. Most Spoken Language in the World

9. Japanese

Number of native speakers: 125 million

Percentage of world population: 1.92%

Spoken mostly in: Japan

8. Russian

Number of native speakers: 155 million

Percentage of world population: 2.42%

Spoken mostly in: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other post-Soviet countries

7. Bengali

Number of native speakers: 205 million

Percentage of world population: 3.05%

Spoken mostly in: Bangladesh and India

6. Portuguese

Number of native speakers: 215 million

Percentage of world population: 3.08%

Spoken mostly in: Portugal and Brazil 

5. Arabic

Number of native speakers: 295 million

Percentage of world population: 4.23%

Spoken mostly in: Countries of the Arab League, parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe

4. Hindi[a]

Number of native speakers: 310 million

Percentage of world population: 4.46%

Spoken mostly in: Northern India

3. English

Number of native speakers: 360 million

Percentage of world population: 5.52%

Spoken mostly in: United States, England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand

2. Spanish

Number of native speakers: 405 million

Percentage of world population: 5.85%

Spoken mostly in: Spain, Hispanic America, and Equatorial Guinea

1. Mandarin

Number of native speakers: 955 million

Percentage of world population: 14.1%

Spoken mostly in: Northern and southwestern China

Ideas for the top 100 most spoken language in the world were taken from the following sources.[1]Fluent in 3 Months – What are the Most Spoken Languages in the World?[2]Babbel – The 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World[3]Mikael Parkvall, “Världens 100 största språk 2007” (The World’s 100 Largest Languages in 2007), in Nationalencyklopedin. Asterisks mark the 2010 estimates for the top dozen … Continue reading

References[+]