fbpx
Travel Insights > The Ten Most Spoken Languages In The World

The Ten Most Spoken Languages In The World

The world is full of diverse and fascinating languages. With over 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, it's no surprise that some are more commonly used than others.

The world is full of diverse and fascinating languages. With over 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, it’s no surprise that some are more commonly used than others. In this article, we’ll explore the top ten most spoken languages in the world, their origins, and where they’re spoken. 

1. Mandarin Chinese  

Mandarin Chinese is by far the most widely spoken language on the planet with over 1.2 billion speakers worldwide. It is the official language of China and Taiwan and is also spoken in Malaysia, Indonesia, and various other countries.

Photo by .M.Q Huang

2. Spanish  

With around 550 million speakers, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world. It is the official language of 21 countries, including Mexico, Spain, and most of Central and South America.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

3. English 

As the official language of over 50 countries, English is the third most spoken language in the world, with around 540 million speakers. It is also the dominant language of international business, science, technology, and the internet.

4. Hindi 

With around 500 million speakers, Hindi is the fourth most spoken language in the world. It is the official language of India and Fiji, and is also spoken in Nepal, Pakistan, and several other countries.

Photo by Stijn Dijkstra

5. Arabic  

Arabic is the fifth most spoken language in the world with around 420 million speakers worldwide. It is the official language of 26 countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

6. Bengali  

With around 300 million speakers, Bengali is the sixth most spoken language in the world. It is the official language of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.

Image by Suvam Roy

7. Portuguese 

With around 220 million speakers worldwide, Portuguese is the seventh most spoken language globally. It is the official language of Portugal, Brazil, Angola, and several other countries.

Photo by Miguel A. Ferreira

8. Russian 

With around 160 million speakers worldwide, Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world. It is the official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Photo by cottonbro studio

9. Japanese 

With around 130 million speakers worldwide, Japanese is the ninth most spoken language in the world. It is the official language of Japan and is also spoken in several other countries, including Brazil and the United States.

Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric

10. Punjabi 

With around 100 million speakers worldwide, Punjabi is the tenth most spoken language in the world. It is the official language of Punjab in India and Pakistan and is also spoken in several other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.


We hope you like the products we recommend! Just as a heads up, Trip Treasury may collect a share of the sale from the links on this page and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

We hope you like the products we recommend! Just as a heads up that as an Amazon affiliate, Trip Treasury may collect a share of the sale from some of the links on this page.

More From Trip Treasury

Sign up for our newsletter to receive awesome travel content in your inbox, every month.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.