List of countries by English-speaking population
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This is a list of countries of the world sorted by the total English-speaking population in that country. This includes both native speakers and second language speakers of English. Statistics on second language speakers are usually imprecise, in part because there is no widely agreed definition of second language speakers, so these figures should be treated with caution.
| Rank | Country | Total | First language | As an additional language | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | >= 350,000,000 | 178,598 | Figures include both English speakers and English users. Sources: Crystal (2005) [1] [2] and India Today Survey (August 18, 1997) [3]. Number with English as a mother tongue: 1991 Census of India | |
| 2 | United States | 251,388,301 | 215,423,557 | 35,964,744 | Source: US Census 2000: Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2000, Table 1. Figure for second language speakers are respondents who reported they do not speak English at home but know it "very well" or "well". Note: figures are for population age 5 and older |
| — | European Union | 229,850,000 | 61,850,000 | 168,000,000 | Native speakers: Crystal (2005), p. 109, UK and Ireland total.
Non-native speakers: 2006 Eurobarometer survey. Covered EU citizens aged 15 years or more. EU is not ranked as it is not a country. |
| 3 | China | 200,000,000– 350,000,000 |
200,000,000– 350,000,000 |
Figures are for English users, not speakers. Source: Jian Yang (April 2006). "Learners and users of English in China". English Today 22 (2): 3–10. Hong Kong contributes an additional 2.5 million speakers (1996 by-census[4]). | |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 59,600,000 | 58,100,000 | 1,500,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 5 | Philippines | 45,900,000 | 3,400,000 | 42,500,000 | Total speakers: Census 2000, text above Figure 7. 63.71% of the 66.7 million people aged 5 years or more could speak English. |
| 6 | Nigeria | 41,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 40,000,000 | "Faraclas (1996: 1) estimates that it is spoken by more than 40 million people as an L2 and more than 1 million as an L1" (refers to pidgin English).Wolf (2001). |
| 7 | Germany | 36,000,000 | 272,504 | 36,000,000 | Native speakers: Statistisches Bundesamt (cited here). Non-native speakers: 2006 Eurobarometer survey. |
| 8 | Canada | 25,246,220 | 20,014,645 | Source: 2001 Census.[5] The figure shown in the first language English speakers column is actually the number of English speakers who do not speak French. This does not include any of the 5 million people who spoke both English and French, some of whom would speak English as a first language, so it is probably too low. | |
| 9 | Australia | 17,357,833 | 15,013,965 | 2,343,868 | Source: 2001 Census.[6] The figure shown in the first language English speakers column is actually the number of Australian residents who speak English at home. The additional language column shows the number of other residents who claim to speak English "well" or "very well". Another 5% of residents did not state their home language or English proficiency. |
| 10 | Pakistan | 17,000,000 | 17,000,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. | |
| 11 | France | 16,000,000 | 16,000,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 12 | Italy | 14,000,000 | 14,000,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 13 | South Africa | 13,700,000 | 3,673,203 | 10,000,000 | Native speakers: 2001 Census: Census in Brief, page 15 (Table 2.5)
Non-native speakers: Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 14 | Netherlands | 12,000,000 | 12,000,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 15 | Spain | 10,000,000 | 10,000,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 16 | Poland | 9,200,000 | 9,200,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 17 | Turkey | 8,100,000 | 8,100,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 18 | Malaysia | 7,400,000 | 380,000 | 7,000,000 | Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 19 | Russia | 6,955,315 | 1,804 | 6,953,511 | Source: Basic Results, Tables 4.4 and 4.1, Russian Census (2002). The "total" figure is the number of residents who reported English as one of the language they knew. The "first language" figure is the number of residents who reported "American" or "English" as their nationality. The "additional languages" figure is the difference. |
| 20 | Sweden | 6,600,000 | 6,600,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 21 | Zimbabwe | 5,550,000 | 250,000 | 5,300,000 | Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 22 | Romania | 5,300,000 | 5,300,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 23 | Belgium | 5,100,000 | 5,100,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 24 | Greece | 4,200,000 | 4,200,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 25 | Tanzania | 4,000,000 | 4,000,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. | |
| 26 | Austria | 3,900,000 | 3,900,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 27 | Ireland | 3,850,000 | 3,750,000 | 100,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 28 | Denmark | 3,800,000 | 3,800,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 29 | New Zealand | 3,673,623 | >=3,008,058 | 2006 Census: Language spoken. Native language figure is actually those who spoke English only, so will probably be too low. Both figures exclude those 75,567 people who spoke no language, e.g. were too young to talk, and the 196,224 people who did not state what languages they spoke. | |
| 30 | Bangladesh | 3,500,000 | 3,500,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. | |
| 31/32 | Finland | 2,700,000 | 2,700,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 31/32 | Kenya | 2,700,000 | 2,700,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. | |
| 33 | Portugal | 2,600,000 | 2,600,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 34 | Uganda | 2,500,000 | 2,500,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. | |
| 35 | Czech Republic | 2,100,000 | 2,100,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 36 | Hungary | 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 37 | Puerto Rico | 1,940,000 | 100,000 | 1,840,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 38= | Sri Lanka | 1,900,000 | 10,000 | 1,900,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 39= | Zambia | 1,900,000 | 110,000 | 1,800,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 40 | Croatia | 1,800,000 | 1,800,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 41 | Singapore | 1,793,245 | 665,087 | 1,128,158 | Source: 2000 Census. Second language speaker figure only includes those literate in English aged 15 or more. Native speakers aged 5 or more, literate population, aged 15 or more, and percentage of literate population literate in English. |
| 42 | Bulgaria | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 43 | Slovakia | 1,400,000 | 1,400,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 44 | Ghana | 1,400,000 | 1,400,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole. | |
| 45 | Slovenia | 950,000 | 950,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 46 | Lithuania | 900,000 | 900,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 47 | Estonia | 590,000 | 590,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 48 | Latvia | 540,000 | 540,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 49 | Cyprus | 420,000 | 420,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 50 | Malta | 280,000 | 280,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 51 | Luxembourg | 220,000 | 220,000 | 2006 Eurobarometer survey. | |
| 52 | Ethiopia | 171,712 | 1,986 | 169,726 | |
| 53 | Israel | 100,000 | 100,000 | ||
| 54 | Liberia | 69,000 | 69,000 | ||
| 55 | Bermuda | 58,800 | 58,800 | ||
| 56 | Belize | 55,998 | 55,998 | ||
| 57 | Papua New Guinea | 50,000 | 50,000 | ||
| 58 | Bahamas | 49,331 | 49,331 | ||
| 59 | Honduras | 31,500 | 31,500 | ||
| 60 | Guam | 28,800 | 28,800 | ||
| 61 | Cayman Islands | 20,000 | 20,000 | ||
| 62 | Fiji | 19,857 | 4,929 | 14,928 | |
| 63 | American Samoa | 16,298 | 1,248 | 15,050 | |
| 64 | Malawi | 16,000 | 16,000 | ||
| 65 | Barbados | 13,000 | 13,000 | ||
| 66 | Namibia | 10,941 | 10,941 | ||
| 67 | Dominica | 10,000 | 10,000 | ||
| 68 | U.S. Virgin Islands | 8,414 | 8,414 | ||
| 69 | Brunei | 8,000 | 8,000 | ||
| 70 | Dominican Republic | 8,000 | 8,000 | ||
| 71 | Nauru | 7,254 | 714 | 6,540 | |
| 72 | Saint Helena | 5,400 | 5,400 | ||
| 73 | Micronesia | 5,341 | 5,341 | ||
| 74 | Cook Islands | 4,000 | 1,000 | 3,000 | Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 75 | British Indian Ocean Territory | 3,500 | 3,500 | ||
| 76 | Gibraltar | 3,300 | 3,300 | ||
| 77 | Lebanon | 3,300 | 3,300 | ||
| 78 | Aruba | 3,000 | 3,000 | ||
| 79 | Mauritius | 3,000 | 3,000 | ||
| 80 | Trinidad and Tobago | 2,600 | 2,600 | ||
| 81 | Niue | 2,160 | 78 | 2,082 | |
| 82 | British Virgin Islands | 2,000 | 2,000 | ||
| 83 | Falkland Islands | 1,991 | 1,991 | ||
| 84 | Vanuatu | 1,900 | 1,900 | ||
| 85 | Netherlands Antilles | 1,800 | 1,800 | ||
| 86 | Norfolk Island | 1,678 | 1,678 | ||
| 87 | Seychelles | 1,601 | 1,601 | ||
| 88 | Saint Lucia | 1,600 | 1,600 | ||
| 89 | Gambia | 1,000 | 1,000 | ||
| 90 | Anguilla | 946 | 946 | ||
| 91 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 920 | 920 | ||
| 92 | Grenada | 750 | 750 | ||
| 93 | Kiribati | 492 | 492 | ||
| 94 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 400 | 400 | ||
| 95 | Rwanda | 300 | 300 | ||
| 96 | Guadeloupe | 200 | 200 | ||
| 97 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 200 | 200 | ||
| 98 | Samoa | 200 | 200 | ||
| 99 | Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 188 | 188 | ||
| 100 | Montserrat | 100 | 100 | ||
| 101 | Pitcairn | 46 | 46 | ||
| 102 | Tokelau | 40 | 40 | ||
| Cambodia | Replacing French as second language, especially in Phnom Penh. Also used for mobile phone texting | ||||
| Antigua and Barbuda | |||||
| Botswana | |||||
| Cameroon | |||||
| Christmas Island | |||||
| Eritrea | |||||
| Guernsey | |||||
| Guyana | |||||
| Hong Kong | |||||
| Indonesia | |||||
| Jamaica | |||||
| Japan | 93,500 | Native speaker figure is the number of foreign residents from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.[7] | |||
| Jersey | |||||
| Korea | |||||
| Lesotho | |||||
| Man, Isle of | |||||
| Marshall Islands | |||||
| Northern Mariana Islands | |||||
| Palau | |||||
| Sierra Leone | |||||
| Solomon Islands | |||||
| Somalia | |||||
| Swaziland | |||||
| Taiwan | |||||
| Thailand | |||||
| Tonga |
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
[edit] Sources
- (2005) "English", in Raymond G. Gordon, Jr. (ed.): Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition, Dallas, Texas: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671-159-X. Retrieved on March 17, 2006.
- Europeans and their languages - Eurobarometer report, February 2006 (pdf). Only includes EU citizens aged 15 or more.
- Crystal, David [1995] (2003-08-03). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, Second Edition, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 109. ISBN 0-521-53033-4. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.
