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List of countries by English-speaking population
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.
List in order of total speakers
Rank Country TotalFirst
language
As an additional language
Comment
1 United States 251,388,301 215,423,557 35,964,744
Source: US Census 2006: Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2006, Table 1. Figure for second language speakers are respondents who reported they do not speak English at home but know it "very well" or "well". Note: figures are for population age 5 and older
2 India 100,000,000 178,598
65,000,000 second language speakers.35,000,000 third language speakers
Figures include both those who speak English as a second language and those who speak it as a third language. [1] [2] [3] [4] Number with English as a mother tongue: 1991 Census of India
3 Nigeria 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.
4United Kingdom
59,600,000 58,100,000 1,500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
5 Philippines 45,900,000 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 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 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 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.
9 Pakistan 17,000,000 17,000,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
10 France 16,000,000 16,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
11 Italy 14,000,000 14,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
12 South Africa 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 12,000,000 12,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
14 Spain 10,000,000 10,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
15 Poland 9,200,000 9,200,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
16 Turkey 8,100,000 8,100,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
17 Cameroon 7,700,000 7,700,000Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
18 Malaysia 7,400,000 380,000 7,000,000 Crystal (2005), p. 109.
19 China200,000 (Hong Kong only)
Figures are for English users, not speakers. Source: Jian Yang (April 2006). "Learners and users of English in China". English Today 22 (2): 3–10. Hong Kong contributes an additional 2.5 million speakers, of whom 200,000 regard English as their "usual" language (1996 by-census [2]).
20 Russia 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 6,600,000 6,600,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
22 Zimbabwe 5,550,000 250,000 5,300,000 Crystal (2005), p. 109.
23 Romania 5,300,000 5,300,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
24 Belgium 5,100,000 5,100,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
25 Sierra Leone 4,900,000 500,000 4,400,000Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
26 Mexico 4,855,000 4,855,000
Consulta Mitovsky-Tracking Poll Roy Campos: Las Lenguas Extranjeras en México, April 2007 [3]; and II Conteo de Población y Vivienda, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI) [4].
27 Greece 4,200,000 4,200,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
28 Tanzania 4,000,000 4,000,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
29 Austria 3,900,000 3,900,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
30 Ireland 3,850,000 3,750,000 100,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
31 Denmark 3,800,000 3,800,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
32 New Zealand 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 3,500,000 3,500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
34Papua New Guinea
3,150,000 150,000 3,000,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
35 Liberia 3,100,000 600,000 2,500,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
36= Finland 2,700,000 2,700,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
37= Kenya 2,700,000 2,700,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
38 Jamaica 2,650,000 2,600,000 50,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
39 Portugal 2,600,000 2,600,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
40 Uganda 2,500,000 2,500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
41 Czech 2,100,000 2,100,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
Republic
42 Hungary 2,000,000 2,000,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
43 Puerto Rico 1,940,000 100,000 1,840,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
44= Sri Lanka 1,910,000 10,000 1,900,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
45= Zambia 1,910,000 110,000 1,800,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
46 Croatia 1,800,000 1,800,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
47 Singapore 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.
48 Bulgaria 1,500,000 1,500,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
49= Slovakia 1,400,000 1,400,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
50= Ghana 1,400,000 1,400,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
51Trinidad and Tobago
1,145,000 1,145,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
52 Slovenia 950,000 950,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
53 Lithuania 900,000 900,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
54 Guyana 680,000 650,000 30,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
55 Botswana 630,000 630,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
56 Estonia 590,000 590,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
57= Latvia 540,000 540,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
58= Malawi 540,000 540,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
59 Lesotho 500,000 500,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
60 Cyprus 420,000 420,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
61 Suriname 410,000 260,000 150,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
62 Namibia 314,000 14,000 300,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
63 Bahamas 288,000 260,000 28,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
64 Malta 280,000 280,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
65 Barbados 275,000 262,000 13,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of
an English creole.
66 Belize 246,000 190,000 56,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
67 Luxembourg 220,000 220,000 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
68 Mauritius 202,000 2,000 200,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
69 Vanuatu 180,000 60,000 120,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
70 Fiji 176,000 6,000 170,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
71Solomon Islands
175,000 10,000 165,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
72 Ethiopia 171,712 1,986 169,726
73 Guam 158,000 58,000 100,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
74 Brunei 144,000 10,000 134,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
75Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
114,000 114,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
76U.S. Virgin Islands
113,000 98,000 15,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
77= Grenada 100,000 100,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
78= Israel 100,000 100,000 Source: Ethnologue (2005) [5]
79 Samoa 94,000 1,000 93,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
80 Japan >93,500 >93,500
Native speaker figure is the number of foreign residents from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.[6]
81 Bhutan 75,000 75,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
82 Saint Lucia 71,000 31,000 40,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
83Northern Mariana Islands
70,000 5,000 65,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
84Antigua and Barbuda
68,000 66,000 2,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
85American Samoa
67,000 2,000 65,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
86 Micronesia 64,000 4,000 60,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
87= Bermuda 63,000 63,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
88= Dominica 63,000 3,000 60,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
89Marshall Islands
60,000 60,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
90 Swaziland 50,000 50,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
91 Aruba 44,000 9,000 35,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
92 Gambia 40,000 40,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
93Saint Kitts and Nevis
39,000 39,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
94Cayman Islands
36,000 36,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
95 Seychelles 33,000 3,000 30,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
96 Honduras 31,500 31,500
97= Gibraltar 30,000 28,000 2,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
98= Tonga 30,000 30,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
99 Kiribati 23,000 23,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
100= Rwanda 20,000 20,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
101=British Virgin Islands
20,000 20,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
102 Palau 18,500 500 18,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
103 Anguilla 12,000 12,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
104 Nauru 10,300 800 9,500 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
105Dominican Republic
8,000 8,000
106 Saint Helena 5,400 5,400
107= Cook Islands 4,000 1,000 3,000 Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
108= Montserrat 4,000 4,000Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. Note this includes speakers of an English creole.
109British Indian Ocean Territory
3,500 3,500
110 Lebanon 3,300 3,300
111 Niue 2,160 78 2,082
112Falkland Islands
1,991 1,991
113Netherlands Antilles
1,800 1,800
114Norfolk Island
1,678 1,678
115Turks and Caicos Islands
920 920
116 Guadeloupe 200 200
117Saint Pierre and Miquelon
188 188
118 Pitcairn 46 46
119 Tokelau 40 40
Cambodia
Replacing French as second language, especially in Phnom Penh. Also used for mobile phone texting
Total800-900 million
Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population [l;ast accessed Nov 7, 2007
