The following is a list of English-speaking population by country, including information on both native speakers and second-language speakers.
List
Country | Eligible population | Total English speakers | As first language | As an additional language[1] | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |||
United States | 331,002,651 | 316,107,532 | 95.5 | 258,513,070 | 78.1 | 57,594,462 | 17.4 | Figures are from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-year estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau for persons age 5 and older. Total English speakers are those who either spoke English at home (i.e. as first language), or reported speaking another language at home but could speak English "very well" or "well" (i.e. as an additional language).[2] |
India | 1,350,000,000 | 128,539,090 | 10.5 | 259,678 | 0.02 | 128,279,412 | 10.59 | 2011 Census figures for population and first, second, and third languages. English as a first language is only spoken by 259,678 people, as a second language by 82,717,239 and as a third language by 45,562,173.[3][4] |
Pakistan | 220,892,331 | 108,044,691 | 49~58 | 8,642 | 0.0035 | 108,036,049 | 49~58 | English is one of the official languages under the constitution and is commonly used in education and administration.[5][6][7] According to statistics from various sources, the English-speaking population ranges from 88.69 million[8] to 108 million,[9][10] accounting for 49% to 58% of the total population.[11][12] |
Nigeria | 206,200,000 | 125,039,680 | 53~60.64 | 37,157,240 | 18.02 | 103,198,040 | 68.4 | English is the most widespread language in the country due to the many different languages spoken, with 60 million speakers.[13] This includes speakers of an English creole, accounting for 53% to 60% of the total population.[13][14] |
Philippines | 110,000,000 | 64,025,890 | 58.2 | 36,935 | 0.04 | 63,988,955 | 63.72 | Over 60 million people aged 5 years or more can speak English.[15][16][17] "Six out of 10 people aged 5 and over can speak English (63.71%)."[18] |
United Kingdom | 64,000,000 | 62,912,000 | 98.3 | 59,072,000 | 92.3 | 3,840,000 | 6 | Source: Data from the 2011 census for England and Wales.[19] 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". |
Uganda | 44,270,000 | 39,800,000 | 89.9 | 39,800,000 | 89.9 | Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2016) | ||
Canada | 37,138,500 | 30,480,750 | 83.06 | 20,193,335 | 54.37 | 10,287,415 | 28.69 | The 2016 count reported that 23,757,525 people were able to conduct a conversation in English only, while 6,216,065 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: 52% or 19,460,850 reported English as their only mother tongue, 165,320 reported both English and French as mother tongues, 533,265 reported English and a non-official language as mother tongues, and 33,900 reported English, French and a non-official language as mother tongues. The data also show that 26,007,500 Canadians report English as their first official language spoken.[20] |
Australia | 23,401,892 | 21,715,910 | 92.80 | 17,020,421 | 72.74 | 4,695,489 | 20.06 | Source: 2016 census.[21] The 2016 census data is subject to multiple interpretations. The data noted that 17,020,421 persons out of 23,401,892 total only spoke English, and a further 4,695,489 spoke English either "Very Well", "Well" or "Not Well". A further 193,036 persons were listed as speaking English "Not At All". However, 1,492,941 persons provided incomplete information; 1,440,493 provided no language or proficiency details and 52,448 gave no information on proficiency. |
Bangladesh | 165,323,100 | 19,838,772 | 12 | 709,873 | 0.43 | 16,398,158 | 9.90 | [22] |
Ghana | 27,000,000 | 18,000,000 | 66.67 | 18,000,000 | 66.67 | Source: 2010 Ghanaian Census[23] | ||
South Africa | 52,981,991 | 16,424,417 | 31 | 4,930,510 | 9.31 | 11,493,907 | 22 | Native speakers from 2011 Census.[24] Non-native speakers: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Malaysia | 27,170,000 | 15,580,000 | 62.57 | 380,000 | 1.4 | 15,200,000 | 61.1 | EF English Proficiency Index[25] |
Zimbabwe | 14,439,000 | 11,850,710 | 82.07 | 505,365 | 3.52 | 11,530,710 | 79.86 | [26][27][28] |
Kenya | 43,013,431 | 8,100,000 | 18.83 | 7,900,000 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | |||
Cameroon | 19,740,000 | 7,500,000 | 38 | 7,500,000 | 38 | Euromonitor International Report (2009) | ||
Sierra Leone | 5,866,000 | 4,900,000 | 83.53 | 500,000 | 8.52 | 4,400,000 | 75 | Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Papua New Guinea | 6,331,000 | 4,459,191 | 48.9 | Source: 2011 Census Note: This statistic is people who are literate in Standard English, not including Tok Pisin. | ||||
Ireland | 4,422,100 | 4,350,000 | 98.37 | 4,112,100 | 93.22 | 237,900 | 5.38 | Source: Eurobarometer report 2006; Central Statistics Office; Travbla[29] |
New Zealand | 4,275,100 | 4,181,902 | 97.82 | 3,673,623 | 85.93 | 508,279 | 11.89 | 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. |
Madagascar | 23,042,300 | 4,147,614 | 18 | 4,147,614 | 18 | The main languages are French and Malagasy. [citation needed] | ||
Tanzania | 40,454,000 | 4,000,000 | 9.89 | 4,000,000 | 9.89 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||
Sri Lanka | 21,803,000 | 3,994,174 | 18.32 | 10,000 | 0.05 | 3,994,174 | 18.32 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109; Department of Census and Statistics, 2012. 23.8% of the population aged over 10 could speak English.[30] |
Singapore | 4,044,200 | 3,900,000 | 96.43 | 1,953,348 | 48.3 | Figures indicate Singaporean residents (citizen and permanent resident population).
Source: Census 2020 "Language Spoken at Home Among Residents Aged 5 Years and Over" | ||
Cambodia | 15,766,292 | 3,500,000 | 22.2 | 3,500,000 | 22.2 | Source: Quote of a Ministry of Education spokesman[31] | ||
Hong Kong | 6,808,433 | 3,136,784 | 46.07 | 238,288 | 3.5 | 2,898,496 | 42.57 | According to 2011 population census, Hong Kong has approximately 3.1 million speakers, of whom 238,288 regard English as their "usual" language.[32] |
Liberia | 3,750,000 | 3,100,000 | 82.67 | 600,000 | 16 | 2,500,000 | 66.67 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Jamaica | 2,714,000 | 2,650,000 | 97.64 | 45,900 | 1.69 | 2,604,100 | 95.95 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Myanmar | 53,900,000 | 2,400,000 | 4.45 | 2,400,000 | 4.45 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||
Puerto Rico | 3,991,000 | 1,940,000 | 48.61 | 100,000 | 2.51 | 1,840,000 | 46.1 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Zambia | 11,922,000 | 1,910,000 | 16.02 | 110,000 | 0.92 | 1,800,000 | 15.1 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Rwanda | 10,137,400 | 1,520,610 | 15 | 1,520,610 | 15 | Source: Euromonitor International report 2009 | ||
Trinidad and Tobago | 1,305,000 | 1,145,000 | 87.74 | 1,145,000 | 87.74 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||
Guyana | 751,000 | 680,000 | 90.55 | 680,000 | 90.55 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||
Botswana | 1,639,833 | 630,000 | 38.42 | 630,000 | 38.42 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||
Eswatini | 1,141,000 | 550,000 | 48.2 | 550,000 | 4.38 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. Official language, business conducted in English; primary school language. | ||
Malawi | 13,931,831 | 540,209 | 3.88 | 209 | <0.1 | 540,000 | 3.87 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109 and Kayambizinthu.[33] |
Lesotho | 1,795,000 | 500,000 | 27.86 | 500,000 | 27.86 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||
Suriname | 470,784 | 410,000 | 87.09 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||||
Namibia | 1,820,916 | 314,000 | 17.24 | 14,000 | 0.77 | 300,000 | 16.48 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Bahamas | 330,549 | 288,000 | 87.13 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||||
Barbados | 296,000 | 296,000 | 100 | 10,000 | 3.38 | 286,000 | 96.62 | This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Belize | 301,270 | 246,000 | 81.65 | 16,870 | 5.6 | 229,130 | 81.65 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Mauritius | 1,264,866 | 202,000 | 15.97 | 2,000 | 0.16 | 200,000 | 15.81 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Vanuatu | 215,446 | 180,000 | 83.55 | 60,000 | 27.85 | 120,000 | 55.7 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Fiji | 853,445 | 176,000 | 20.62 | 6,000 | 0.7 | 170,000 | 19.92 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Solomon Islands | 552,438 | 175,000 | 31.68 | 10,000 | 1.81 | 165,000 | 29.87 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Guam | 173,456 | 158,000 | 91.09 | 58,000 | 33.44 | 100,000 | 57.65 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Brunei | 381,371 | 144,000 | 39.07 | 10,000 | 2.62 | 134,000 | 35.14 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 120,000 | 114,000 | 95 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||||
U.S. Virgin Islands | 107,000 | 86,000 | 80.37 | 86,000 | 80.37 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||
Grenada | 110,000 | 100,000 | 90.91 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||||
Samoa | 188,540 | 94,000 | 49.86 | 1,000 | 0.53 | 93,000 | 49.33 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Isle of Man | 80,058 | 80,000 | 99.93 | 80,000 | 99.93 | |||
Saint Lucia | 165,000 | 71,000 | 43.03 | 31,000 | 18.79 | 40,000 | 24.24 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Northern Mariana Islands | 84,000 | 70,000 | 83.33 | 5,000 | 5.95 | 65,000 | 77.38 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Antigua and Barbuda | 85,000 | 68,000 | 80 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||||
Federated States of Micronesia | 111,000 | 64,000 | 57.66 | 4,000 | 3.6 | 60,000 | 54.05 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Bermuda | 65,000 | 63,000 | 96.92 | 63,000 | 96.92 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||
Dominica | 67,000 | 63,000 | 94.03 | 3,000 | 4.48 | 60,000 | 89.55 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. |
Marshall Islands | 59,000 | 58,000 | 98.33 | 500 | <1 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||
American Samoa | 57,345 | 45,933 | 80.1 | 1,791 | 3.12 | 44,142 | 76.98 | Source: The World Factbook – American Samoa |
Aruba | 104,000 | 44,000 | 42.31 | 9,000 | 8.65 | 35,000 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | |
The Gambia | 1,709,000 | 40,000 | 2.34 | 40,000 | 2.34 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 50,000 | 39,000 | 78 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||||
Cayman Islands | 47,000 | 36,000 | 76.6 | 36,000 | 76.6 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||
Seychelles | 87,000 | 33,000 | 37.93 | 3,000 | 3.45 | 30,000 | 34.48 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Tonga | 100,000 | 30,000 | 30 | 30,000 | 30 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||
Gibraltar | 28,875 | 28,875 | 100 | 28,000 | 96.97 | 875 | 3.03 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Kiribati | 95,000 | 23,000 | 24.21 | 23,000 | 24.21 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||
British Virgin Islands | 23,000 | 20,000 | 86.96 | 20,000 | 86.96 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||
Palau | 20,000 | 18,500 | 92.5 | 500 | 2.5 | 18,000 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | |
Anguilla | 13,000 | 12,000 | 92.31 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. | ||||
Nauru | 12,000 | 11,600 | 96.67 | 900 | 7.5 | 10,700 | 89.17 | English is spoken as the language of government and commerce. |
Cook Islands | 20,200 | 4,000 | 19.8 | 1,000 | 4.95 | 3,000 | 14.85 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. |
Montserrat | 5,900 | 4,000 | 67.8 | 4,000 | 67.8 | Source: Crystal (2003), p. 109. This includes speakers of an English creole. | ||
World | 7,794,798,739 | 1,179,874,130 | 15.14 | 419,070,540 | 5.38 | 838,676,510 | 10.76 |
- The European Union is a supranational union composed of 27 member states. The total English-speaking population of the European Union and the United Kingdom combined (2012) is 256,876,220[34] (out of a total population of 500,000,000,[35] 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 population of the EU and the UK, 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:
Notes
- ^ Statistics on second language speakers are inevitably not precise; partly because there is no widely agreed definition of second language speakers – there is no differentiation between countries where English is the lingua franca and those where it is not.
- ^ "Age by Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and over: 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ "How languages intersect in India". Hindustan Times. 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "How many Indians can you talk to?". www.hindustantimes.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "A Bill further to amend the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan" (PDF). na.gov.pk.
- ^ "The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Leitner, Gerhard; Hashim, Azirah; Wolf, Hans-Georg (11 January 2016). Communicating with Asia: The Future of English as a Global Language. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107062610.
- ^ "English — more than a subject". Dawn. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
The report said English was deeply penetrated into the Pakistani society as it had one of the largest English-speaking populations of the world and claimed that 49pc population (88.69 million people) could speak English.
- ^ "Mapped: The world by English-speaking population". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ "English Speakers By Country". worldatlas.com. 14 May 2018. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
Pakistan has the third largest number of English speakers in the world at 108,036,049 speakers.
- ^ "Here's how Pakistan ranks among world's English speaking countries". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
- ^ "Which Countries Have the Most English Speakers? – K International". www.k-international.com. 27 February 2017. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Languages in Nigeria 2021, by number of speakers". Statista. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ "Nigerian English". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Total population: Census 2010. Proportion of total speakers: Census 2000,"The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines". text above Figure 7
- ^ Proportion of native speakers: Census 1995, as quoted by Andrew Gonzalez in 1625 "The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines" Archived 16 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 19 (5&6), 487–525, p. 492: 67.04% of the then 68.4 million people were native speakers of English. 1998.
- ^ From mid-2009 to late 2013 this entry overstated the number of native speakers by roughly 100fold, and inflated the number of total speakers, on the alleged basis of material in "Philippines". Ethnologue. 19 February 1999. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.. In fact, Ethnologue Archived 10 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine as of 24 December 2013 simply repeats the number of native speakers, 20,000, reported in Crystal 2003, on the basis of an old (pre-1995) census, and does not address total speakers at all. This attempt to correct these errors in turn perpetrates both error and original research, by applying the old percentages listed above, 63.71% of people over 5 as total speakers in 2000, and .04% of people as native speakers in 1995, to the 2010 totals from Philippines in Figures, 2013, Chapter 5, Demography Archived 26 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, tables 5.1 and 5.6. Andrew Gonzalez died in 2006; someone else's attention to the 2010 census figures, which appear not to be online and may not have been printed yet in adequate detail, is needed to produce reliable, more or less current, numbers.
- ^ "Educational Characteristics of the Filipinos". 2000 Census of population and Housing. 18 March 2005. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ "2011 Census: Quick Statistics for England and Wales, March 2011". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
- ^ "Census Profile, 2016 Census". www.statcan.gc.ca. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Census 2016, Proficiency in Spoken English/Language by Age by Sex". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
- ^ Md Khaled Bin Chowdhury (9 March 2018). "Bangla Rules in All Domains of National Life". Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019.
- ^ "2010 Population & Housing Census" (PDF). Statsghana.gov.gh. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- ^ Census 2011: Census in brief (PDF). Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. 2012. p. 30. ISBN 9780621413885. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2015.
- ^ "EF English Proficiency Index – A comprehensive ranking of countries by English skills". Ef.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- ^ "Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) – Zimbabwe | Data". data.worldbank.org. Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ "Zimbabwe, Demographic and Health Survey 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
- ^ Kadenge, Maxwell (2010). "Zimbabwean English: A sociophonological exploration". South African Journal of African Languages. 30: 35–51. doi:10.1080/02572117.2010.10587334. S2CID 153066779. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
- ^ "The most complete list of English schools and courses in Ireland". Travbla.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- ^ "Proportion of population aged 10 years and over, by ability to speak, ability to read and write main languages sex and sector" (PDF). statistics.gov.lk. Department of Census and Statistics. 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ Bopha, Phorn (2016). "Bilingual Cambodians See Pathways to Progress". VOA Cambodia. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
- ^ "Population Aged 5 and Over by Place of Birth, Usual Language and Ability to Speak Other Language/Dialect, 2011 (A123)". Census2011.gov.hk. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- ^ Edrinnie Kayambizinthu (1998). "The Language Planning Situation in Malawi" (PDF). Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 19 (5&6): 369. doi:10.1080/01434639808666363. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008.
- ^ "European and their languages 2012" (PDF). Eurobarometer. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ "Population at 1 January". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
References
- WizMantra Online
- Teachingenglish.org.uk
- Raymond G. Gordon, Jr., ed. (2005). "English". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Fifteenth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671-159-X. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- 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.