List of countries by English-speaking population.html
 
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Percentage of the population with a knowledge of English
Population density of people whose mother tongue is English.

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.

Contents

List in order of total speakers

Rank Country  % English Speakers Total Population Total English Speakers As First Language As an Additional Language Comment
1 United States 89.33% 281,421,906 251,388,301 215,423,557 35,964,744 Figures are from the year 2000 U.S. census. English speaker figures are for persons age 5 and older. Total population age 5 and older was 262,375,152. 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". 1
2 India 7.95% 1,132,446,000 90,000,000 226,449 65,000,000 second language speakers.
25,000,000 third language speakers		 Figures include both those who speak English as a second language and those who speak it as a third language. 1991 figures for second, third. 2001 figures for mother tongue.234 The figures include English speakers, but not English users.5
3 Nigeria 53.34% 148,093,000 79,000,000 4,000,000 >75,000,000 Figures are for speakers of Nigerian Pidgin, an English-based pidgin or creole. Ihemere gives a range of roughly 3 to 5 million native speakers; the midpoint of the range is used in the table. Ihemere, Kelechukwu Uchechukwu. 2006. "A Basic Description and Analytic Treatment of Noun Clauses in Nigerian Pidgin." Nordic Journal of African Studies 15(3): 296–313.
4 United Kingdom 97.74% 60,975,000 59,600,000 58,100,000 1,500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
5 Philippines 46.98% 90,457,200 42,500,000 27,000 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. 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. (1998)
6 Germany 43.8% 82,191,000 36,000,000 272,504 36,000,000 Native speakers: Statistisches Bundesamt (cited here).
Non-native speakers: 2006 Eurobarometer survey. Does not include foreign military personnel based in Germany.
7 Canada 75.69% 33,355,400 25,246,220 17,694,830 7,551,390 Source: 2001 Census - Knowledge of Official Languages and Mother Tongue. The native speakers figure comprises 122,660 people with both French and English as a mother tongue, plus 17,572,170 people with English and not French as a mother tongue.
8 Australia 81.13% 21,394,309 17,357,833 15,013,965 2,343,868 Source: 2001 Census. [1] The figure shown in the first language English speakers column is actually the number of Australian residents who speak only 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 France 24.82% 64,473,140 16,000,000 16,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
11 Italy 23.48% 59,619,290 14,000,000 14,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
12 South Africa 28.63% 47,850,700 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.
13 Netherlands 72.97% 16,445,000 12,000,000 12,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
14 Spain 21.71% 46,063,000 10,000,000 10,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
15 China 0.77% 1,300,000,000 10,000,000 0 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 oft-cited figure of 300 million is for "learners."6
16 Poland 24.14% 38,115,967 9,200,000 9,200,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
17 Turkey 11.48% 70,586,256 8,100,000 8,100,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
18 Cameroon 41.51% 18,549,000 7,700,000 7,700,000 Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
19 Malaysia 27.24% 27,170,000 7,400,000 380,000 7,000,000 Crystal (2005), p. 109.
20 Russia 4.9% 141,888,900 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.
21 Sweden 71.62% 9,215,021 6,600,000 6,600,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
22 Zimbabwe 41.58% 13,349,000 5,550,000 250,000 5,300,000 Crystal (2005), p. 109.
23 Romania 24.72% 21,438,000 5,300,000 5,300,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
24 Belgium 48.18% 10,584,534 5,100,000 5,100,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
25 Sierra Leone 83.53% 5,866,000 4,900,000 500,000 4,400,000 Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
26 Mexico 4.55% 106,682,500 4,855,000 4,855,000 Consulta Mitovsky-Tracking Poll Roy Campos: Las Lenguas Extranjeras en México, April 2007 [2]; and II Conteo de Población y Vivienda, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI) [3].
27 Greece 37.68% 11,147,000 4,200,000 4,200,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
28 Tanzania 9.89% 40,454,000 4,000,000 4,000,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
29 Austria 46.76% 8,340,924 3,900,000 3,900,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
30 Ireland 87.06% 4,422,100 3,850,000 3,750,000 100,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
31 Denmark 69.23% 5,489,022 3,800,000 3,800,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
32 New Zealand 85.93% 4,275,100 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. Crystal (2005), p. 109, gives figures of 3,700,000 native speakers and 150,000 second language speakers.
33 Bangladesh 2.21% 158,665,000 3,500,000 3,500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
34 Papua New Guinea 49.76% 6,331,000 3,150,000 150,000 3,000,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
35 Liberia 82.67% 3,750,000 3,100,000 600,000 2,500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
36= Finland 50.77% 5,318,105 2,700,000 2,700,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
36= Kenya 7.19% 37,538,000 2,700,000 2,700,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
38 Jamaica 97.64% 2,714,000 2,650,000 2,600,000 50,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
39 Portugal 24.48% 10,623,000 2,600,000 2,600,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
40= Uganda 8.09% 30,884,000 2,500,000 2,500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
40= Hong Kong 35.9% 6,963,100 2,500,000 200,000 2,300,000 According to 1996 by-census, Hong Kong has approximately 2.5 million speakers, of whom 200,000 regard English as their "usual" language 7.
42 Czech Republic 20.19% 10,403,136 2,100,000 2,100,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
43 Hungary 19.91% 10,043,000 2,000,000 2,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
44 Puerto Rico 48.61% 3,991,000 1,940,000 100,000 1,840,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
45= Sri Lanka 9.9% 19,299,000 1,910,000 10,000 1,900,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
45= Zambia 16.02% 11,922,000 1,910,000 110,000 1,800,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
47 Croatia 39.52% 4,555,000 1,800,000 1,800,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
48 Singapore 39.08% 4,588,600 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.
49 Bulgaria 19.63% 7,640,238 1,500,000 1,500,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
50= Slovakia 38.59% 5,402,273 1,400,000 1,400,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
50= Ghana 5.96% 23,478,000 1,400,000 1,400,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
52 Trinidad and Tobago 1,305,000 1,145,000 1,145,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
53 Slovenia 2,023,358 950,000 950,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
54 Lithuania 26.70% 3,369,600 900,000 900,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
55 Guyana 751,000 680,000 650,000 30,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
56 Botswana 1,639,833 630,000 630,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
57 Estonia 1,340,602 590,000 590,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
58= Latvia 2,270,700 540,000 540,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
58= Malawi 3.88% 13,931,831 540,000 2098 540,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
60 Lesotho 27.86% 1,795,000 500,000 500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
61 Cyprus 794,600 420,000 420,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
62 Suriname 470,784 410,000 260,000 150,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
63 Namibia 17.24% 1,820,916 314,000 14,000 300,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
64 Bahamas 87.13% 330,549 288,000 260,000 28,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
65 Malta 66.78% 419,285 280,000 280,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
66 Barbados 98.57% 279,000 275,000 262,000 13,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
67 Belize 81.65% 301,270 246,000 190,000 56,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
68 Luxembourg 45.81% 480,222 220,000 220,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
69 Mauritius 15.97% 1,264,866 202,000 2,000 200,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
70 Vanuatu 83.55% 215,446 180,000 60,000 120,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
71 Fiji 20.62% 853,445 176,000 6,000 170,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
72 Solomon Islands 31.68% 552,438 175,000 10,000 165,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
73 Ethiopia 0.22% 78,254,090 171,712 1,986 169,726
74 Guam 91.09% 173,456 158,000 58,000 100,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
75 Brunei 37.76% 381,371 144,000 10,000 134,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
76 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 95% 120,000 114,000 114,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
77 U.S. Virgin Islands 95.97% 108,448 113,000 98,000 15,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
78= Grenada 90.91% 110,000 100,000 100,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
78= Israel 7,303,000 100,000 100,000 Source: Ethnologue (2005) [4]
80 Samoa 188,540 94,000 1,000 93,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
81 Japan 11.75% 127,690,000 15,000,000citation needed >93,5009 Native speaker figure is the number of foreign residents from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as of 2003.9
82 Isle of Man 80,058 80,000 80,000
83 Bhutan 11.4% 658,000 75,000 75,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
84 Switzerland 0.96% 7,637,300 >73,400 73,400 2000 Census[5]
85 Saint Lucia 165,000 71,000 31,000 40,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
86 Northern Mariana Islands 84,000 70,000 5,000 65,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
87 Antigua and Barbuda 85,000 68,000 66,000 2,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
88 American Samoa 67,000 67,000 2,000 65,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
89 Micronesia 111,000 64,000 4,000 60,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
90= Bermuda 65,000 63,000 63,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
90= Dominica 67,000 63,000 3,000 60,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
92 Marshall Islands 59,000 60,000 60,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
93 Swaziland 1,141,000 50,000 50,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
94 Aruba 104,000 44,000 9,000 35,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
95 Gambia 1,709,000 40,000 40,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
96 Saint Kitts and Nevis 50,000 39,000 39,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
97 Cayman Islands 47,000 36,000 36,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
98 Seychelles 37.93% 87,000 33,000 3,000 30,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
99 Honduras 7,106,000 31,500 31,500
100= Gibraltar 28,875 30,000 28,000 2,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
100= Tonga 100,000 30,000 30,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
102 Kiribati 95,000 23,000 23,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
103= Rwanda 0.21% 9,725,000 20,000 20,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
103= British Virgin Islands 23,000 20,000 20,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
105 Palau 20,000 18,500 500 18,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
106 Anguilla 13,000 12,000 12,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
107 Nauru 10,000 10,300 800 9,500 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
108 Dominican Republic 9,760,000 8,000 8,000
109 Saint Helena 6,600 5,400 5,400
110= Cook Islands 20,200 4,000 1,000 3,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
110= Montserrat 5,900 4,000 4,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
112 British Indian Ocean Territory 3,500 3,500 3,500
113 Lebanon 0.08% 4,099,000 3,300 3,300
114 Niue 1,600 2,160 78 2,082
115 Falkland Islands 3,000 1,991 1,991
116 Netherlands Antilles 192,000 1,800 1,800
117 Norfolk Island 2114 1,678 1,678
118 Turks and Caicos Islands 26,000 920 920
119 Guadeloupe 0.05% 408,000 200 200
120 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 3.07% 6,125 188 188
121 Pitcairn 50 46 46
122 Tokelau 1,400 40 40
Cambodia 14,444,000 Replacing French as second language, especially in Phnom Penh. Also used for mobile phone texting
Christmas Island 1,493
Eritrea 4,851,000
Guernsey 65,726
Indonesia 231,627,000
Jersey 89,300
South Korea 48,224,000
Somalia 8,699,000
Taiwan 23,000,000
Thailand 10 63,038,247 6,549,329 6,549,329 Secondary language of the elite1011
Bahrain 760,168
World 17.01% 6,718,045,021 1,143 million 331,000,000 812 million
  • Flag of Europe The European Union is a supranational union composed of 27 member states. The combined total English speaking population is 229,850,000 including 61,850,000 native speakers and 168,000,000 non-native speakers,12 and would be ranked 2rd if it were included.

List in order of native speakers

Pie chart showing the relative numbers of native English speakers in the major English-speaking countries of the world
Rank Country First language
1 United States 215,423,557
2 United Kingdom 58,100,000
3 Canada 17,694,830
4 Australia 15,013,965
5 Ireland 3,750,000
6 South Africa 3,673,203
7 New Zealand ≥ 3,008,058
8 Jamaica 2,600,000
9 Trinidad and Tobago 1,145,000
10 Singapore 665,087
11 Guyana 650,000
12 Liberia 600,000
13 Sierra Leone 500,000
14 Malaysia 380,000
15 Germany 272,504
16 Barbados 262,000
17- Bahamas 260,000
17- Suriname 260,000
19 Zimbabwe 250,000
20 India 226,000
Hong Kong if ranked separately 200,000
21 Belize 190,000
22 Papua New Guinea 150,000
23 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 114,000
24 Zambia 110,000
25= Grenada 100,000
25= Israel 100,000
25= Puerto Rico 100,000
28 U.S. Virgin Islands 98,000
29 Japan >93,5009
30 Switzerland 73,000
31 Antigua and Barbuda 66,000
32 Bermuda 63,000
33 Vanuatu 60,000
34 Guam 58,000
35 Saint Kitts and Nevis 39,000
36 Cayman Islands 36,000
37 Honduras 31,500
38 Saint Lucia 31,000
39 Gibraltar 28,000
40 Philippines 27,000
41 British Virgin Islands 20,000
42 Namibia 14,000
43 Anguilla 12,000
44= Solomon Islands 10,000
44= Sri Lanka 10,000
44= Brunei 10,000
47 Aruba 9,000
48 Dominican Republic 8,000
49 Fiji 6,000
50 Saint Helena 5,400
51 Northern Mariana Islands 5,000
52 Micronesia 4,000
53 Montserrat 4,000
54 British Indian Ocean Territory 3,500
55= Dominica 3,000
55= Seychelles 3,000
57= American Samoa 2,000
57= Mauritius 2,000
58 Falkland Islands 1,991
59 Russia 1,804
60 Ethiopia 1,986
61 Norfolk Island 1,678
62= Cook Islands 1,000
62= Samoa 1,000
64 Turks and Caicos Islands 920
65 Nauru 800
66 Palau 500
67 Guadeloupe 200
68 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 188
69 Niue 78
70 Pitcairn 46
71 Tokelau 40
72 East Timor
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Notes

  1. ^ Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics,, U.S. Census Bureau, p. 1, http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/dp1/2khus.pdf 
    ^ "Table 1. Twenty Languages Most Frequently Spoken at Home by English Ability for the Population 5 Years and Over: 1990 and 2000", Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-29.pdf 
  2. ^ Census of India's Indian Census, Issue 10, 2003, pp 8-10, (Feature: Languages of West Bengal in Census and Surveys, Bilingualism and Trilingualism).
  3. ^ FAMILY-WISE GROUPING OF THE 122 SCHEDULED AND NON-SCHEDULED LANGUAGES – 2001
  4. ^ Tropf, Herbert S. 2004. India and its Languages. Siemens AG, Munich
  5. ^ For the distinction between "English Speakers," and "English Users," please see: TESOL-India (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)], India: World's Second Largest English-Speaking Country. Their article explains the difference between the 350 million number mentioned in a previous version of this Wikipedia article and a more plausible 90 million number:
    “ "Wikipedia's India estimate of 350 million includes two categories - "English Speakers" and "English Users". The distinction between the Speakers and Users is that Users only know how to read English words while Speakers know how to read English, understand spoken English as well as form their own sentences to converse in English. The distinction becomes clear when you consider the China numbers. China has over 200~350 million users that can read English words but, as anyone can see on the streets of China, only handful of million who are English speakers." ”
  6. ^ Jian Yang (April 2006). "Learners and users of English in China". English Today 22 (2): 3–10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0266078406002021. . Quote: "What this suggests, it seems, is that Yan’s (2004) ten million may after all be a more informed estimate of the actual regular users of English in China." (page 9)"
  7. ^ 1996 by-census LONDON'S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
  8. ^ Edrinnie Kayambizinthu (1998). "The Language Planning Situation in Malawi". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 19 (5&6): 369, http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/019/0369/jmmd0190369.pdf. 
  9. ^ a b c Maciamo (31 July 2005), Foreigners in Japan, jref.com, http://www.jref.com/society/foreigners_in_japan.shtml, retrieved on 21 September 2008  (figures are for 2003)
  10. ^ CIA - The world factbook: Thailand
  11. ^ Refugees get crash course in U.S. culture
  12. ^ Crystal (2005), p. 109, UK and Ireland total. Non-native speakers: 2006 Eurobarometer survey. Covered EU citizens aged 15 years or more.

References

See also

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