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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.
Table of Contents
#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, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, 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
| ↑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 languages. |