List of countries by English-speaking population

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The following is a list of English-speaking population by country, including information on both native speakers and second-language speakers.

List

Country	English speakers (%)	As first language (%)	Eligible population	Total English speakers	As first language	As an additional language[1]	Comments
United States	95.81	80.6	316,823,000	251,388,301	225,505,953	42,938,196	Figures are from the year 2007 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. English speaker figures are for persons age 5 and older. Total population age 5 and older was 280,950,438 of which 267,444,149 stated that they spoke English "very well" or "well". Second language speakers are respondents age 5 and older who reported they do not speak English at home but know it "very well" or "well".[2]
India	12.18	0.02	1,028,737,436	125,344,736	226,449	125,118,287	2001 Census figures for population and first, second, and third languages. English as a first language is only spoken by 226,449 people, as a second language by 86,125,221, and as a third language by 38,993,066.[3][4]
Pakistan	<8		188,400,100	15,720,000		15,720,000	Official language; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries. 8% includes English and various other minorities languages of Pakistan. CIA estimate.[5]
Philippines	92.58	0.0037	100,437,852	89,800,800	36,935	89,000,000	Total population: Census 2010. Proportion of total speakers: Census 2000, text above Figure 7. 63.71% of the then 66.7 million people aged 5 years or more could speak English.[6] Proportion of native speakers: Census 1995, as quoted by Andrew Gonzalez in "The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines", Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 19 (5&6), 487–525, p. 492: .04% of the then 68.4 million people were native speakers of English. (1998).[7] "Six out of 10 people aged 5 and over can speak english (63.71%)."[8]
Nigeria	53.34		156,493,000	79,000,000		79,000,000	Euromonitor International report (2009)
United Kingdom	97.74	92.14	64,000,000	59,600,000	54,400,000	5,128,000	Source: Data from the 2011 census for England and Wales.[9] Additional English speaker figures are for usual residents aged 3 years and over with a main language other than English who can speak English "very well" or "well".
Germany	70	0.338	80,600,000	46,272,504	272,504	46,000,000	Native speakers: Statistisches Bundesamt (cited here). Non-native speakers: Eurobarometer report 2006 Does not include foreign military personnel based in Germany.
Canada	85.63	56.94	33,121,175	28,360,240	18,858,980	9,501,260	Source: , Population by knowledge of official languages and Population by mother tongue. The 2011 count reported that 22,564,665 people were able to conduct a conversation in English but not French, while 5,795,575 were able to converse in both English and French. The census also asked for the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual: 18,858,980 reported English as their sole mother tongue, 144,685 reported both English and French as mother tongues, 396,330 reported English and a non-official language as mother tongues, and 24,095 reported English, French and a non-official language as mother tongues.
France	39		65,350,000	23,000,000		23,000,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Australia	97	70.17	21,394,309	17,357,833	15,013,965	2,343,868	Source: 2001 Census.[10] The 2001 census data is subject to multiple interpretations. The data noted that 18,972,350 persons out of 21,394,309 total were speakers of a language, and excluded young children. However, more than a million of those 18,972,350 persons provided no information; 879,778 did not give information on proficiency, and 203,101 were "overseas visitors" who were not asked. Of the 17,889,671 persons for whom an inquiry was made 17,357,833 spoke English only, or "well" or "very well" as a second language; while 531,838 spoke "not well" or "not at all".
Italy	34		59,619,290	17,000,000		17,000,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Bangladesh	18		163,323,100	30,108,031	709,873	29,398,158	Source: Euromonitor International report 2009, Euromonitor Dec 2010 [11]
Egypt	35		83,289,500	28,101,325		28,101,325	Source: Euromonitor International Report 2011 [12]
Thailand	27.16		63,038,247	17,121,187		17,121,187	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Netherlands	90		16,770,000	15,030,000		15,030,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Nepal	46.49	0.067	29,890,686	13,896,720	20,000	876,720	Source: Census. (date not verified)
South Africa	31	9.3	52,981,991	16,424,417	4,930,510	11,493,907	Native speakers from 2011 Census: Census in Brief, page 23. Non-native speakers: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Poland	37		38,501,000	14,300,000	100,000	14,200,000	Source: Central Statistical Office,[13] Additional language speakers are people age 18–69, who reported English Language as their first of second best foreign language, Central Statistical Office [14] Native language counted as those who speak English at home.
Turkey	17		70,586,256	12,000,000		12,000,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2006
Iraq	35		31,700,000	11,095,000		11,000,000	Source: Euromonitor International report (2011)
Sri Lanka	47	0.2	22,480,000	10,565,600	37,061	9,680,000	English Proficiency Index [15]
Spain	22		47,190,000	10,400,000		10,400,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
China	<1		1,210,000,000	10,000,000		10,000,000	Figures are for English users in mainland China only (i.e. excluding Hong Kong where English is an official language and Macau). The often-cited figure of 300 million is for "learners."[16] [17]
Brazil	5	0.14	205,000,000	10,542,000	292,000	10,250,000	Source: British council (2012) and EF. Only 5% of Brazilians have a proficient grasp of English as a second or foreign additional language and an additional 6% have a very rudimentary knowledge. Brazil has 240 thousand British descendants and 180 thousand American ancestry citizens including the Confederados cultural sub-group, descendants of the Confederate colonies.
Sweden	86		9,921,541	8,200,000		8,200,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Kenya	18.83		43,013,431	8,100,000		7,900,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Cameroon	38		19,740,000	7,500,000		7,500,000	Euromonitor International Report (2009)
Malaysia	62.57	1.4	27,170,000	15,580,000	380,000	15,200,000	EF English Proficiency Index[18]
Russia	5.48		138,312,535	7,574,303	2,522	7,571,787	Source: Composition by Nationality and Language Ability, Citizenship, Tables 4.5 and 4.1, Russian Census (2010). The "total" figure is the number of residents who reported English as one of the languages 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. More than 9 million schoolgoers studied English as a foreign language in 2008–2009.
Belgium	60		10,584,534	6,250,000		6,250,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2006 (the 2012 report seems to have a critical typo)
Israel	84.97	1.37	7,303,000	6,205,000	100,000	6,105,000	Source: Ethnologue (2005)[19] English is widely spoken, both by the Jewish majority and by minority ethnic groups.[20][21]
Austria	73		8,415,000	6,150,000		6,150,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Romania	31		19,043,767	5,900,000		5,900,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Zimbabwe	41.58	1.87	13,349,000	5,550,000	250,000	5,300,000	Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Greece	51		10,787,690	5,500,000		5,500,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Sierra Leone	83.53	8.52	5,866,000	4,900,000	500,000	4,400,000	Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Mexico	12.9		120,664,000	15,686,262		15,686,262	Consulta Mitofsky-Tracking Poll Roy Campos: Las Lenguas Extranjeras en México, January 2013;[22] and II Conteo de Población y Vivienda, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI).[23]
Denmark	86		5,543,000	4,770,000		4,770,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Switzerland	61.28	0.96	7,637,300	4,680,000	73,400	4,606,600	Figure for speakers of English as "main language", according to Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel 2008[24] Source for number of non-native English speakers is 1999 publication by Prof. François Grin cited here: http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/countries/uk/language.html
Morocco	14		32,770,900	4,587,926		4,587,926	Source: Euromonitor International report 2011
Norway	90		5,136,700	4,500,000		4,500,000	Source: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/03/norwegian-english-fusion-language/
Republic of Ireland	98.37	93.21	4,422,100	4,350,000	4,122,100	237,900	Source: Eurobarometer report 2006; Central Statistics Office ; Travbla [25]
Singapore	83.1	36.9	5,607,300	4,218,737	1,873,302	2,345,435	Source: 2015 Census. Second language speaker figure only includes those literate in English aged 15 or more and does not include third language proficiency. General Household Survey 2015 "Language Spoken at Home Among Residents Aged 5 Years and Over"
Ghana	66.67		27,000,000	18,000,000		18,000,000	Source: 2010 Ghanaian Census[26]
Tanzania	9.89		40,454,000	4,000,000		4,000,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
New Zealand	97.82	85.93	4,275,100	3,673,623	3,673,623		There were 4,027,947 responses to 2006 Census: Language spoken. 3,673,679 gave English as a response, 81,936 had no English but another language. The balance of 272,382 were; no language (too young) 75,195, no response 196,221, response unidentifiable 588, response outside scope 378. Hence it is most meaningful to express the English-speaking per cent without including the figures for these 272,382. This gives 97.8% English-speaking, 2.2% non-English-speaking (3,673,679 and 81,936 divided by 3,755,565) Crystal (2003), p. 109, gives figures of 3,700,000 native speakers and 150,000 second language speakers.
Finland	70		5,410,000	3,800,000		3,800,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Portugal	27		10,623,000	2,900,000		2,900,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Papua New Guinea	49.76	2.37	6,331,000	3,150,000	150,000	3,000,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Liberia	82.67	16	3,750,000	3,100,000	600,000	2,500,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Jordan	45		6,598,000	2,969,370		2,969,370	Source: Euromonitor International report (2011)
Jamaica	97.64	17.1	2,714,000	2,650,000	45,900	50,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Algeria	7		35,954,000	2,516,780		2,516,780	Source: Euromonitor International report (2011)
Uganda	8.09		30,884,000	2,500,000		2,500,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Hong Kong	46.07	3.5	6,808,433	3,136,784	238,288	2,898,496	According to 2011 population census, Hong Kong has approximately 3.1 million speakers, of whom 238,288 regard English as their "usual" language.[27]
Czech Republic	27		10,562,214	2,850,000		2,850,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Argentina	6.52		42,192,500	2,752,681			Source:.[28] Percentage of people who state to have a high level of English. Another 19.49% and 16.23% of people said they had an intermediate and low level, respectively, of English.
Yemen	9		24,800,000	2,232,000		2,232,000	Source: Euromonitor International report 2011
Croatia	49		4,555,000	2,200,000		2,200,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2006
Colombia	4.22		47,661,368	2,012,950	75,600	1,937,350	Total was estimated by multiplying projected population for 2014 (DANE) by percentage of Colombian population that speaks English 4.09%[29] then 63,600 was added to that figure which is the total of American and British residents. Figures for native speakers are as follows: 60,000 U.S. citizens that reside in Colombia[30] 12,000 are Colombian Raizal from San Andrés and Isla de Providencia where they speak San Andrés–Providencia Creole[31] 3,600 British expatriates[32]
Hungary	20		9,982,000	2,000,000		2,000,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Puerto Rico	48.61		3,991,000	1,940,000	100,000	1,840,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Zambia	16.02		11,922,000	1,910,000	110,000	1,800,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Bulgaria	25		7,640,238	1,900,000	2,605	1,902,605	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012 and 2011 Census[33]
Kazakhstan	15.4		12,156,705	1,874,583	602	1,873,981	Number of those who understand spoken English, from these 1.9 million: 311,435 (2.6%/16.6%) can only read, 931,444 (7.7%/49.6%) can read and write in English. The number of native speakers is the sum of Americans and Englishmen "by nationality". (Census 2009)
Lebanon	40		4,265,600	1,706,000		1,706,000	Source: Euromonitor International report (2011)
Chile	9.53		16,634,603	1,585,027			Source: 2012 Census.[34]
Rwanda	15		10,137,400	1,520,610		1,520,610	Source: Euromonitor International report 2009
Slovakia	26		5,397,036	1,400,000		1,400,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Trinidad and Tobago	87.74		1,305,000	1,145,000	1,145,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Slovenia	59		2,050,000	1,210,000		1,210,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Lithuania	38		3,053,800	1,160,000		1,160,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Latvia	46		2,070,371	950,000		950,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Guyana	90.55		751,000	680,000	650,000	30,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Botswana	38.42		1,639,833	630,000		630,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Estonia	50		1,294,236	650,000		650,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Cyprus	73		839,000	610,000		610,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Malawi	3.88		13,931,831	540,209	209	540,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109 and Kayambizinthu.[35]
Lesotho	27.86		1,795,000	500,000		500,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Suriname	87.09		470,784	410,000	260,000	150,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Malta	89		453,000	400,000	unknown	352,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Namibia	17.24		1,820,916	314,000	14,000	300,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Luxembourg	56		509,000	290,000		290,000	Source: Eurobarometer report 2012
Bahamas	87.13		330,549	288,000	260,000	28,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Barbados	98.57		279,000	275,000	262,000	13,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Belize	81.65		301,270	246,000	190,000	56,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Madagascar	18		23,042,300	4,147,614		4,147,614	The main languages are French and Malagasy.
Mauritius	15.97		1,264,866	202,000	2,000	200,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Vanuatu	83.55		215,446	180,000	60,000	120,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Fiji	20.62		853,445	176,000	6,000	170,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Solomon Islands	31.68		552,438	175,000	10,000	165,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Guam	91.09		173,456	158,000	58,000	100,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Brunei	39.07		381,371	144,000	10,000	134,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	95		120,000	114,000	114,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
U.S. Virgin Islands	95.97		108,448	113,000	98,000	15,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Grenada	90.91		110,000	100,000	100,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Samoa	49.86		188,540	94,000	1,000	93,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Isle of Man	99.93		80,058	80,000	80,000
Bhutan	11.4		658,000	75,000		75,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Saint Lucia	43.03		165,000	71,000	31,000	40,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Northern Mariana Islands	83.33		84,000	70,000	5,000	65,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Antigua and Barbuda	80		85,000	68,000	66,000	2,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
American Samoa	80.1		57,345	45,933	1,791	44,142	Source: The World Factbook – American Samoa
Federated States of Micronesia	57.66		111,000	64,000	4,000	60,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Bermuda	96.92		65,000	63,000	63,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Dominica	94.03		67,000	63,000	3,000	60,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Marshall Islands	98.33		59,000	60,000		60,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Swaziland	4.38		1,141,000	50,000		50,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Aruba	42.31		104,000	44,000	9,000	35,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
The Gambia	2.34		1,709,000	40,000		40,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Saint Kitts and Nevis	78		50,000	39,000	39,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Cayman Islands	76.6		47,000	36,000	36,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Seychelles	37.93		87,000	33,000	3,000	30,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Gibraltar	100		28,875	28,875	28,000	875	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Tonga	30		100,000	30,000		30,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Kiribati	24.21		95,000	23,000		23,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
British Virgin Islands	86.96		23,000	20,000	20,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
Palau	92.5		20,000	18,500	500	18,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Andorra	22		81,222	17,869		17,869	Source Census: Linguistic knowledge 2004.
Anguilla	92.31		13,000	12,000	12,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Nauru	96.26		10,300	800	9,500	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. English is spoken as the language of government and commerce.
Cook Islands	19.8		20,200	4,000	1,000	3,000	Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109.
Montserrat	67.8		5,900	4,000	4,000		Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.

• The European Union is a supranational union composed of 28 member states. The combined total English-speaking population (2012) is 256,876,220^[36] (out of a total population of 500,000,000,^[37] i.e. 51%) including 65,478,252 native speakers and 191,397,968 non-native speakers, and would be ranked 2nd if it were included. English native speakers amount to 13% of the whole Union population, while the percentage of people that speak English "well enough in order to be able to have a conversation", either as first (32%), second (11%) or third (3%) foreign language, was 38%.
• When taken from this list and added together, the total number of English speakers in the world adds up to around 1,200,000,000. Likewise, the total number of native English speakers adds up to around 350,000,000. This implies that there are approximately 850,000,000 people who speak English as an additional language.

See also

• EF English Proficiency Index
• English medium education
• English-speaking world
• List of countries where English is an official language
• World Englishes

Non-English speaking populations:

• Arabophone
• Francophone
• Hispanophone
• Iberophone
• Indosphere
• Lusophone
• Russophone
• Sinophone

Notes

References

• Teachingenglish.org.uk
• Teachingenglish.org.uk
• Raymond G. Gordon, Jr. (ed.), ed. (2005). "English". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Fifteenth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671-159-X. Retrieved 2006-03-17. CS1 maint: Extra text: editors list (link)
• Eurobarometer report – Europeans and their languages, February 2006 (pdf). Only includes EU citizens aged 15 and above.
• Eurobarometer report – Europeans and their languages, June 2012 (pdf). Only includes EU citizens aged 15 and above.
• Crystal, David (2003). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (Second ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-521-53033-4.