Ranked: The World’s Most Spoken Languages in 2025

Ranked: The World’s Most Spoken Languages in 2025

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The world has never been more connected, and our linguistic map reflects that reality.

This visualization ranks the 25 languages with the largest total number of speakers in 2025, combining first and and second-language usage.

The data for this visualization comes from Ethnologue.

Ethnologue lists dialects separately instead of grouping them under a “macrolanguage.” This can lower totals for languages with many subdivisions (e.g., Chinese, Arabic, Punjabi, Swahili).

A “macrolanguage” is a group of closely related languages or dialects that are sometimes treated as a single language for certain purposes, like in library cataloging, while being treated as separate languages in other contexts, like in linguistic research.

English’s Global Reach Relies as a Second Language

English remains the undisputed lingua franca, but its lead is built on adoption rather than birth.

Rank	Language	Total Speakers (In millions)	First Language	Share of First Language	Second Language
1	English	1,528	390	25.52%	1,138
2	Mandarin	1,184	990	83.61%	194
3	Hindi	609	345	56.65%	264
4	Spanish	558	484	86.74%	74
5	Standard Arabic	335	0*	0%	335
6	French	312	74	23.72%	238
7	Bengali	284	242	85.21%	43
8	Portuguese	267	250	93.63%	17
9	Russian	253	145	57.31%	108
10	Indonesian	252	75	29.76%	177
11	Urdu	246	78	31.71%	168
12	German	134	76	56.72%	58
13	Japanese	126	124	98.41%	2
14	Nigerian Pidgin	121	5	4.13%	116
15	Egyptian Arabic	119	84	70.59%	35
16	Marathi	99	83	83.84%	16
17	Vietnamese	97	86	88.66%	11
18	Telugu	96	83	86.46%	13
19	Hausa	94	58	61.70%	36
20	Turkish	91	85	93.41%	6
21	Western Punjabi	90	Not reported	n/a	Not reported
22	Swahili	87	4	4.60%	83
23	Tagalog	87	33	37.93%	54
24	Tamil	86	79	91.86%	8
25	Yue Chinese	86	85	98.84%	1

Note: *Standard Arabic is taught in schools, after a child has learnt their local Arabic dialect.

Only one in four English speakers learn it as a first language. The remaining 1.14 billion learned it for business, education, or entertainment.

This 75% share of second-language speakers illustrates how institutional support—from universities to social media platforms—keeps expanding English’s footprint.

In short, proficiency in English unlocks global opportunities, so demand feeds on itself.

Mandarin and Spanish Dominate Language Lists

By contrast, Mandarin’s 990 million first-language speakers make up 84% of its total. This Reflects China’s enormous population and Mandarin’s comparatively limited diffusion abroad.

Spanish follows a similar pattern: 87% of its 558 million speakers learned it at home, concentrated across Latin America and Spain.

These figures underscore that large population bases, not international adoption, anchor Mandarin and Spanish near the top of the rankings.

The Rise of South Asian and African Languages

Also on the list of most spoken languages in 2025: Hindi (609 million speakers) and Bengali (284 million) highlight South Asia’s demographic boom, while Urdu’s 246 million users span Pakistan, India, and a far-flung diaspora.

Meanwhile, Swahili and Nigerian Pidgin showcase Africa’s linguistic dynamism. Each has fewer than 10 million first-language speakers, yet exceeds 80 million total thanks to regional trade and media.

As Swahili is a macrolanguage, this number is for Tanzanian Swahili speakers only.

As these economies grow, their languages may follow English’s path—moving from local bridge tongues to global assets.

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• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-worlds-most-spoken-languages-in-2025/