Which are the most spoken languages worldwide? And how does this number differ if we look exclusively at native speakers? We will provide clarification.

The following chart illustrates the top 5 most spoken
languages worldwide:

If we look at native speakers only, the following languages are among the top 5:

Mandarin Ranks First

The total number of Mandarin speakers is 1.12 billion and thus just slightly less than English. However, if we take a look at the total of native speakers, Mandarin is ranked first! 918 million people are native speakers of Mandarin, which is almost three times as much as English. Mandarin Chinese originated in North China and is a group of Sintic languages, the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Mandarin is the official language of the People’s Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan) and one of the four official languages of Singapore.

The Most Widely Spoken Language

With 1.27 billion speakers, no other language is spoken more widely around the world than English. Roughly 380 million people are native English speakers. The Indo-European language was first spoken in early medieval England and has developed over hundreds of years before becoming a global lingua franca. Today, most native English speakers live in the following five countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, there are more than 90 other countries and non-sovereign entities where English is also the or one of the official language(s).

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Sources:
Ethnologue (2019, 22rd edition)
Statista