In 2025, there were around 1.53 billion people worldwide who spoke English either natively or as a second language, slightly more than the 1.18 billion Mandarin Chinese speakers at the time of survey. Hindi and Spanish accounted for the third and fourth most widespread languages that year. Languages in the United States The United States does not have an official language, but the country uses English, specifically American English, for legislation, regulation, and other official pronouncements. The United States is a land of immigration, and the languages spoken in the United States vary as a result of the multicultural population. The second most common language spoken in the United States is Spanish or Spanish Creole, which over than 43 million people spoke at home in 2023. There were also 3.5 million Chinese speakers (including both Mandarin and Cantonese),1.8 million Tagalog speakers, and 1.57 million Vietnamese speakers counted in the United States that year. Different languages at home The percentage of people in the United States speaking a language other than English at home varies from state to state. The state with the highest percentage of population speaking a language other than English is California. About 45 percent of its population was speaking a language other than English at home in 2023.

First official language spoken by immigrant status and period of immigration for the population of Canada and Canada outside Quebec, and of all provinces and territories, for Census years 1971 to 2021.

Mexico is the country with the largest number of native Spanish speakers in the world. As of 2024, 132.5 million people in Mexico spoke Spanish with a native command of the language. Colombia was the nation with the second-highest number of native Spanish speakers, at around 52.7 million. Spain came in third, with 48 million, and Argentina fourth, with 46 million. Spanish, a world language As of 2023, Spanish ranked as the fourth most spoken language in the world, only behind English, Chinese, and Hindi, with over half a billion speakers. Spanish is the official language of over 20 countries, the majority on the American continent, nonetheless, it's also one of the official languages of Equatorial Guinea in Africa. Other countries have a strong influence, like the United States, Morocco, or Brazil, countries included in the list of non-Hispanic countries with the highest number of Spanish speakers. The second most spoken language in the U.S. In the most recent data, Spanish ranked as the language, other than English, with the highest number of speakers, with 12 times more speakers as the second place. Which comes to no surprise following the long history of migrations from Latin American countries to the Northern country. Moreover, only during the fiscal year 2022. 5 out of the top 10 countries of origin of naturalized people in the U.S. came from Spanish-speaking countries.

Data on the language spoken most often at home by the population of Canada and Canada outside Quebec, and of all provinces and territories, for Census years 1971 to 2021.

As of February 2025, English was the most popular language for web content, with over 49.4 percent of websites using it. Spanish ranked second, with six percent of web content, while the content in the German language followed, with 5.6 percent. English as the leading online language United States and India, the countries with the most internet users after China, are also the world's biggest English-speaking markets. The internet user base in both countries combined, as of January 2023, was over a billion individuals. This has led to most of the online information being created in English. Consequently, even those who are not native speakers may use it for convenience. Global internet usage by regions As of October 2024, the number of internet users worldwide was 5.52 billion. In the same period, Northern Europe and North America were leading in terms of internet penetration rates worldwide, with around 97 percent of its populations accessing the internet.

In 2023, around 43.37 million people in the United States spoke Spanish at home. In comparison, approximately 998,179 people were speaking Russian at home during the same year. The distribution of the U.S. population by ethnicity can be accessed here. A ranking of the most spoken languages across the world can be accessed here.

This table is part of a series of tables that present a portrait of Canada based on the various census topics. The tables range in complexity and levels of geography. Content varies from a simple overview of the country to complex cross-tabulations; the tables may also cover several censuses.

Data on first official language spoken, language spoken most often at home, age and gender for the population excluding institutional residents for census metropolitan areas, tracted census agglomerations and census tracts.

This table is part of a series of tables that present a portrait of Canada based on the various census topics. The tables range in complexity and levels of geography. Content varies from a simple overview of the country to complex cross-tabulations; the tables may also cover several censuses.

Data on language spoken most often at home by age for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories.

This table is part of a series of tables that present a portrait of Canada based on the various census topics. The tables range in complexity and levels of geography. Content varies from a simple overview of the country to complex cross-tabulations; the tables may also cover several censuses. Geographies: Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Divisions and Census Subdivisions, 2016 Census; Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census; Datasets available for download

Data on mother tongue, first official language spoken, language spoken most often at home and other language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents.

Data on mother tongue, knowledge of official languages, language spoken most often at home and other language(s) spoken regularly at home and age for the population excluding institutional residents.

As of 2021, Akan was the most spoken local language in Ghana, encompassing Twi dialects such as Fante, Akuapem, Akyem, Ahafo, and Asante. Akan was spoken by over nine million people in country. Following this were the Ewe, Abron, and Dagbani languages, with users reaching approximately 3.8 million, 1.2 million, and 1.2 million, respectively. English is the official language of Ghana, with nearly ten million speakers.

Data on language spoken most often at home, other language(s) spoken regularly at home and age for the population excluding institutional residents for Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations.

All Indigenous languages spoken at home by single and multiple responses of language spoken at home, Indigenous identity, Indigenous language spoken at home and age for the population in private households.

Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse country in the world. As of 2025, it was home to 840 different languages. Indonesia ranked second with 709 languages spoken. In the United States, 335 languages were spoken in that same year.

The statistic reflects the distribution of languages in Canada in 2022. In 2022, 87.1 percent of the total population in Canada spoke English as their native tongue.

This table is part of a series of tables that present a portrait of Canada based on the various census topics. The tables range in complexity and levels of geography. Content varies from a simple overview of the country to complex cross-tabulations; the tables may also cover several censuses.

Data on generation status by mother tongue, languages spoken at home, age and gender for the population in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and parts.