How Many People Speak English

Starting in England and now popular all over the world, English has become main the language of choice for language learners due to the opportunities it can bring in addition to other factors. In this WordsRated article, we examine the total number of English speakers, countries where it is listed as an official language, and even the English proficiency index.

• As of 2023, an estimated 1.46 billion people speak English around the World.
• Incredibly, this amounts to 18.07% of the global population, almost 1 in 5 people.
• More people speak English than any other language. 
• The total number of English speakers is estimated to be around 28% higher than Mandarin Chinese, which is the second-most popular language.
• 26% of English speakers speak it as a first-language and 74% of English speakers speak it as a second-language.
• English is taught as a foreign language more frequently than any other language.
• By 2050, the total number of English speakers is anticipated to grow to 2 billion people.
• “The Anglosphere” is a term used to describe regions with a cultural connection to England, where English is often spoken by many in the population.
• The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are known as the “Core Anglosphere”, where English is the official language.
• In addition to its popularity in many regions, the English language is also used for professional contexts, across the fields of science, navigation and law. 
• People who speak English are sometimes referred to as “Anglophones”.

Number of English speakers over time

English is the fastest growing language in the world, with a significant number of people prioritizing it as a foreign language due to the importance it can hold in a professional setting.

• The total number of English speakers increased annually from 1.13 billion in 2019 to 1.46 billion in 2023.
• Over the given 5-year period, the total number of English speakers increased by 29.20%.
• As of 2023, the number of English native speakers is 0.38 billion, equalling that of 2019.
• The number of English second-language speakers showed several increases over the period, rising from 0.75 billion in 2019 to 1.08 billion in 2023.
• In terms of change, English second-language speakers increased by 44.00% over the given period.

Year	Native speakers	Second-language speakers	Total speakers	Total change
2023	0.38 billion	1.08 billion	1.46 billion	+ 0.69%
2022	0.37 billion	1.08 billion	1.45 billion	+ 7.41%
2021	0.37 billion	0.98 billion	1.35 billion	+ 6.30%
2020	0.37 billion	0.90 billion	1.27 billion	+ 12.39%
2019	0.38 billion	0.75 billion	1.13 billion

A graph is given below to show the number of English speakers over time:

Countries where English is an official language

English is listed as an official language across 67 different countries, either as a predominant language, de jure official language, or a de facto working language.

Predominant language

• 4 countries list English as a predominant language.
• The total population of these countries is around 439 million people.
• The United States represents around 77% of the population of English predominant language countries alone, with its population of approximately 340 million people.
• For each of the listed countries, English is spoken by:
  • Around 265 million people in the United States (78%).
  • Around 66 million people in the United Kingdom (98%).
  • Around 19 million people in Australia (72%).
  • Around 5 million people in New Zealand (95%).

#	Country	Population (2023)
1	United States	339,996,563
2	United Kingdom	67,736,802
3	Australia	26,439,111
4	New Zealand	5,228,100

De jure official language

• 53 countries list English as a de jure official language (according to law).
• The total population of these countries is 2.55 billion people.
• India represents around 56% of the population of English de jure official language countries alone, with its population of approximately 1.43 billion people.
• There are approximately 143 million English speakers in India, around 10% of its population.
• Nigeria’s English speaking population is estimated at around 60%, which makes for over 134 million people.
• In Pakistan, around 50% of the population can speak English, which amounts to over 120 million people.

#	Country	Population (2023)
1	India	1,428,627,663
2	Pakistan	240,485,658
3	Nigeria	223,804,632
4	Philippines	117,337,368
5	Tanzania	67,438,106
6	South Africa	60,414,495
7	Kenya	55,100,586
8	Uganda	48,582,334
9	Sudan	48,109,006
10	Canada	38,781,291
11	Ghana	34,121,985
12	Cameroon	28,647,293
13	Malawi	20,931,751
14	Zambia	20,569,737
15	Zimbabwe	16,665,409
16	Rwanda	14,094,683
17	Burundi	13,238,559
18	South Sudan	11,088,796
19	Papua New Guinea	10,329,931
20	Sierra Leone	8,791,092
21	Singapore	6,014,723
22	Liberia	5,418,377
23	Ireland	5,056,935
24	Jamaica	2,825,544
25	The Gambia	2,773,168
26	Botswana	2,675,352
27	Namibia	2,604,172
28	Lesotho	2,330,318
29	Trinidad and Tobago	1,534,937
30	Eswatini	1,210,822
31	Fiji	936,375
32	Guyana	813,834
33	Solomon Islands	740,424
34	Micronesia	544,321
35	Malta	535,064
36	The Bahamas	412,623
37	Belize	410,825
38	Vanuatu	334,506
39	Barbados	281,995
40	Samoa	225,681
41	Saint Lucia	180,251
42	Kiribati	133,515
43	Grenada	126,183
44	Tonga	107,773
45	Seychelles	107,660
46	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	103,698
47	Antigua and Barbuda	94,298
48	Dominica	73,040
49	Saint Kitts and Nevis	47,755
50	Marshall Islands	41,996
51	Palau	18,058
52	Nauru	12,780
53	Tuvalu	11,396

De facto working language

• 10 countries list English as a de facto working language (used for official purposes but not by law).
• The total population of these countries is around 254 million people.
• Bangladesh represents around 68% of the population of English de facto working language countries alone, with its population of approximately 173 million people.
• An estimated 12% of Bangladesh’s population can speak English, around 21 million people.

#	Country	Population (2023)
1	Bangladesh	172,954,319
2	Malaysia	34,308,525
3	Sri Lanka	21,893,579
4	United Arab Emirates	9,516,871
5	Israel	9,174,520
6	Qatar	2,716,391
7	Timor-Leste	1,360,596
8	Mauritius	1,300,557
9	Bhutan	787,424
10	Brunei	452,524

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English proficiency index

The English proficiency index is a method of ranking countries according to their overall English language skills. Each country present in the list must have at least 400 adults test takers in order for their scores to be analyzed and compared.

• As of 2023, the English proficiency index shows that The Netherlands has the highest proficiency scores of the countries analyzed.
• Comparing countries by their proficiency level:
  • 12 countries scored very high proficiency levels (10.62%). 
  • 18 countries scored high proficiency levels (15.93%).
  • 33 countries scored moderate proficiency levels (29.20%).
  • 28 countries scored low proficiency levels (24.78%).
  • 22 countries scored very low proficiency levels (19.47%).
• Comparing average scores by continent:
  • Europe ranks first with an average score of 570.
  • Latin America ranks second with an average score of 508.
  • Asia ranks third with an average score of 486.
  • Africa ranks fourth with an average score of 469.
  • The Middle East ranks fifth with an average score of 455.

#	Country	Region	Proficiency Level	Score
1	Netherlands	Europe	Very high proficiency	647
2	Singapore	Asia	Very high proficiency	631
3	Austria	Europe	Very high proficiency	616
4	Denmark	Europe	Very high proficiency	615
5	Norway	Europe	Very high proficiency	614
6	Sweden	Europe	Very high proficiency	609
7	Belgium	Europe	Very high proficiency	608
8	Portugal	Europe	Very high proficiency	607
9	South Africa	Africa	Very high proficiency	605
10	Germany	Europe	Very high proficiency	604
11	Croatia	Europe	Very high proficiency	603
12	Greece	Europe	Very high proficiency	602
13	Poland	Europe	High proficiency	598
14	Finland	Europe	High proficiency	597
15	Romania	Europe	High proficiency	596
16	Bulgaria	Europe	High proficiency	589
17	Hungary	Europe	High proficiency	588
18	Slovakia	Europe	High proficiency	587
19	Kenya	Africa	High proficiency	584
20	Philippines	Asia	High proficiency	578
21	Lithuania	Europe	High proficiency	576
22	Luxembourg	Europe	High proficiency	575
23	Estonia	Europe	High proficiency	570
24	Serbia	Europe	High proficiency	569
25	Malaysia	Asia	High proficiency	568
26	Czech Republic	Europe	High proficiency	565
27	Nigeria	Africa	High proficiency	562
28	Argentina	Latin America	High proficiency	560
29	Hong Kong	Asia	High proficiency	558
30	Switzerland	Europe	High proficiency	553
31	Honduras	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	544
32	Georgia	Europe	Moderate proficiency	541
33	Belarus	Europe	Moderate proficiency	539
34	Ghana	Africa	Moderate proficiency	537
35	Spain	Europe	Moderate proficiency	535
	Italy	Europe	Moderate proficiency	535
	Moldova	Europe	Moderate proficiency	535
38	Costa Rica	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	534
39	Albania	Europe	Moderate proficiency	533
	Uruguay	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	533
41	Bolivia	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	532
	Russia	Europe	Moderate proficiency	532
43	Cuba	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	531
	France	Europe	Moderate proficiency	531
45	Ukraine	Europe	Moderate proficiency	530
	Paraguay	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	530
47	Uganda	Africa	Moderate proficiency	529
48	Armenia	Europe	Moderate proficiency	528
49	South Korea	Asia	Moderate proficiency	525
50	El Salvador	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	524
51	Peru	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	521
52	Chile	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	518
53	Guatemala	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	515
54	Israel	Middle East	Moderate proficiency	514
55	Dominican Republic	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	512
56	Venezuela	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	508
57	Nepal	Asia	Moderate proficiency	507
58	Iran	Middle East	Moderate proficiency	505
	Vietnam	Asia	Moderate proficiency	505
60	Bangladesh	Asia	Moderate proficiency	504
	India	Asia	Moderate proficiency	504
62	Nicaragua	Latin America	Moderate proficiency	503
63	Tunisia	Africa	Moderate proficiency	502
64	Pakistan	Asia	Low proficiency	497
65	Lebanon	Middle East	Low proficiency	496
66	Turkey	Europe	Low proficiency	493
67	Sri Lanka	Asia	Low proficiency	491
	Tanzania	Africa	Low proficiency	491
69	Ethiopia	Africa	Low proficiency	490
70	Brazil	Latin America	Low proficiency	487
71	United Arab Emirates	Middle East	Low proficiency	486
	Panama	Latin America	Low proficiency	486
73	Mongolia	Asia	Low proficiency	482
	Qatar	Middle East	Low proficiency	482
75	Colombia	Latin America	Low proficiency	480
76	Morocco	Africa	Low proficiency	478
77	Algeria	Africa	Low proficiency	475
78	Madagascar	Africa	Low proficiency	474
79	Indonesia	Asia	Low proficiency	473
80	Ecuador	Latin America	Low proficiency	467
	Syria	Middle East	Low proficiency	467
82	China	Asia	Low proficiency	464
83	Azerbaijan	Europe	Low proficiency	463
	Egypt	Africa	Low proficiency	463
85	Kuwait	Middle East	Low proficiency	461
86	Malawi	Africa	Low proficiency	460
87	Japan	Asia	Low proficiency	457
88	Afghanistan	Asia	Low proficiency	456
89	Mexico	Latin America	Low proficiency	451
90	Myanmar	Asia	Low proficiency	450
	Kyrgyzstan	Asia	Low proficiency	450
92	Palestine	Middle East	Very low proficiency	445
93	Uzbekistan	Asia	Very low proficiency	442
94	Cameroon	Africa	Very low proficiency	438
	Senegal	Africa	Very low proficiency	438
96	Jordan	Middle East	Very low proficiency	431
97	Sudan	Africa	Very low proficiency	430
98	Cambodia	Asia	Very low proficiency	421
	Haiti	Latin America	Very low proficiency	421
100	Oman	Middle East	Very low proficiency	418
101	Angola	Africa	Very low proficiency	416
	Thailand	Asia	Very low proficiency	416
	Benin	Africa	Very low proficiency	416
104	Kazakhstan	Asia	Very low proficiency	415
105	Somalia	Africa	Very low proficiency	411
106	Iraq	Middle East	Very low proficiency	410
107	Côte d’Ivoire	Africa	Very low proficiency	409
108	Saudi Arabia	Middle East	Very low proficiency	408
109	Rwanda	Africa	Very low proficiency	405
110	Libya	Africa	Very low proficiency	392
	Yemen	Middle East	Very low proficiency	392
112	Tajikistan	Asia	Very low proficiency	388
113	DR Congo	Africa	Very low proficiency	385