The 12 Most Spoken Languages in the World

Around 7,000 languages are spoken on Earth, but just a dozen of them account for roughly half of humanity's conversations. Here are the world's most spoken languages by total speakers (native plus second-language), and where the random country spinner is most likely to land you within earshot of each.

1. English — roughly 1.5 billion speakers

The world's lingua franca. Native to countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and New Zealand, English is an official or major language in more than 60 countries and territories — from Nigeria and India to Singapore and Jamaica. Most of its speakers learned it as a second language, which is precisely what makes it so useful.

2. Mandarin Chinese — roughly 1.1 billion speakers

The language with the most native speakers by a wide margin. Mandarin dominates China and Taiwan and is one of the four official languages of Singapore. Its writing system connects speakers of otherwise different Chinese varieties.

3. Hindi — roughly 600 million speakers

The most widely spoken language of India, concentrated across the northern "Hindi Belt". Together with English, it serves as a bridge language in a country with hundreds of tongues.

4. Spanish — roughly 560 million speakers

The official language of 20 countries across Europe and the Americas — spin Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru or Spain and you have landed in the Spanish-speaking world. It has more native speakers than English.

5. Arabic — roughly 400 million speakers

Stretching from Morocco to Oman, Arabic is official in about 25 countries. Spoken dialects vary enormously — a Moroccan and an Iraqi may struggle to understand each other's dialect — but Modern Standard Arabic unites media and literature.

6. French — roughly 320 million speakers

Thanks to history, French is official in 29 countries, more than any language except English. The majority of French speakers today live in Africa — the Democratic Republic of the Congo has more French speakers than France.

7. Bengali — roughly 280 million speakers

The language of Bangladesh and India's West Bengal, with one of the world's richest poetic traditions. Language pride runs deep: International Mother Language Day commemorates Bengali language martyrs.

8. Portuguese — roughly 260 million speakers

Most Portuguese speakers are not in Portugal — Brazil dwarfs the motherland, and Angola and Mozambique add tens of millions more.

9. Russian — roughly 255 million speakers

The most widespread language of Eurasia, official in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and understood far beyond.

10. Urdu — roughly 230 million speakers

The national language of Pakistan and a major language of India. Spoken Urdu and Hindi are largely mutually intelligible; they diverge in script and formal vocabulary.

11. Indonesian — roughly 200 million speakers

A standardised form of Malay that unites more than 17,000 islands and hundreds of ethnic groups in the world's fourth most populous country.

12. German — roughly 135 million speakers

Europe's most spoken native language, official in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.

The long tail matters too

The other half of humanity speaks the remaining thousands of languages — from Quechua in the Andes to Wolof in Senegal. Every country page on spinacountry.com lists the languages spoken there, and it is often the quickest window into a country's history: colonial past, migration, trade routes and borders are all written in its languages.