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The English language remains the dominant global lingua franca, influencing communication across business, education, technology, and culture. Below, we present updated statistics reflecting the state of English language use, learning, and its global impact in 2024 and 2025, sourced from reputable data.
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2. Of these, around 380 million are native English speakers, while 1.12 billion are non-native speakers.
3. English is the most widely spoken language globally, surpassing Mandarin Chinese, which has 1.1 billion speakers.
4. The British Council’s Future of English report estimates that 2.3 billion people speak English to some level, including learners, with over 1.9 billion being non-native speakers.
5. Only 4% of global conversations involve two native English speakers, meaning the vast majority include at least one non-native speaker.
6. English is the third most widely spoken first language globally, with over 494.7 million native speakers, behind Mandarin (1.2 billion) and Hindi (610 million).
7. English is an official language in 58 sovereign states and 17–28 non-sovereign entities, totalling 75–86 countries and territories, depending on classification.
8. The United States has the largest English-speaking population, with over 230 million native speakers and 283 million total speakers.
9. The United Kingdom has approximately 60 million native English speakers.
10. Canada ranks third with about 20 million native English speakers.
11. Australia has around 17 million native English speakers.
12. India has 125 million English speakers, predominantly as a second language.
13. Pakistan has 108 million English speakers, mostly non-native.
14. Nigeria has 79 million English speakers, with a mix of native and non-native speakers.
15. The Philippines has 64 million English speakers, mainly as a second language.
16. English is a primary language of the United Nations and European Union, and is spoken in 88 countries globally.
17. In the European Union and the UK combined, 256.9 million people (51% of the population) speak English, including 65.5 million native speakers and 191.4 million non-native speakers.
18. English is recognised as an official language (de jure) in 55 countries, or 28.5% of the world’s nations.
19. Including de facto official status, 39% of countries (75 total) recognise English as an official language.
20. Territories like Hong Kong (China), Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Saba, Sint Eustatius (Netherlands), San Andrés and Providencia (Colombia), and Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast regions recognise English as an official language.
21. One hundred forty-two countries include English as a mandatory part of their national education policy.
22. In 2024, the United Kingdom hosted 349,679 students learning English as a foreign language at member centres, with 335,750 in full-time courses and 13,929 in part-time courses.
23. In 2022, Ireland had approximately 115,869 students learning English as a foreign language.
24. Canada had approximately 104,847 students learning English as a foreign language in 2022.
25. The United States had 100,105 students learning English as a foreign language in 2022.
26. Australia had 94,614 students learning English as a foreign language in 2022.
27. Malta had 56,675 students learning English as a foreign language in 2022.
28. South Africa had 10,039 students learning English as a foreign language in 2022.
29. New Zealand had 9,056 students learning English as a foreign language in 2022.
30. In the EU, 96% of pupils in upper secondary general education were learning English as a foreign language in 2019.
31. China is estimated to have 400 million English language learners.
32. The global English language learning market is projected to reach $69.62 billion by 2029, according to Meticulous Market Research.
33. The digital English language learning market is expected to grow by $14.37 billion from 2022 to 2026.
34. Pre-COVID, approximately 250,000 native English speakers taught at over 40,000 English language schools worldwide to meet global demand.
35. English is the most studied language globally, with over 1.5 billion learners or those who have learned it as a second language.
36. The average age at which children start learning English at school globally is approximately 7.5 years.
37. Yemen, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, and Guatemala have the highest proportions of students (70–80%) enrolled in English language courses.
38. Iraq experienced a 640% increase in new language learners (primarily English) between March and April 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
39. English is the most popular language to learn in 121 countries and the second most popular in 8 additional countries, accounting for 62% of all countries.
40. The United Arab Emirates leads in interest for learning English, with high search volumes for terms like “learn English” and “translate to English”.
41. In the UAE, approximately 34,800 searches for “learn English” and 1.1 million searches for “translate to English” were conducted over a year.
42. Malaysia ranks high in interest, with 23 searches per 10,000 people for “learn English” and 801 searches per 10,000 for “translate to English”.
43. Other countries with significant interest in learning English include the Philippines, Sweden, and Singapore.
44. English is the most widely studied language on Duolingo, topping the charts in 135 countries in 2024, a 10% increase from the previous year.
45. Japan, Czechia, and Hungary are among the top countries with the most dedicated English learners, based on time spent learning.
46. In 2024, over 70,000 locations worldwide offered English certification tests, with over half of test-takers seeking admission to English-language undergraduate programs.
47. India leads in English certification test-takers, followed by China, Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia.
48. A 2021 survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 62% believe English is the most important language for non-native children to learn at school globally.
49. 9% of respondents said Spanish is the most important language for non-native children to learn.
50. 6.5% favoured French as the most important language for non-native children.
51. Other languages deemed important included Mandarin (3.4%), Arabic (1%), Hindi (0.9%), Russian (0.8%), Indonesian (0.6%), Bengali (0.55%), and Portuguese (0.55%).
52. According to a global survey, 92% of people said English is critical for securing jobs in their country.
53. 98.5% of employers in 38 countries assess candidates’ English competency, with 50% offering better starting packages to those with strong English skills.
54. Employees with good business English skills are 18% more likely to progress faster through job grades and 17% more likely to receive salary increases.
55. 88% of employers prefer hiring bilingual individuals over monolingual ones.
56. 97% of respondents in a study said speaking another language (often English) simplifies travel.
57. English-speaking U.S. immigrants earn 15–19% more than those who speak only their native tongue.
58. According to Kaplan International, employees who speak multiple languages (including English) can expect up to a 20% pay increase.
59. As of February 2024, 54% of websites worldwide are in English, far ahead of Spanish at 5.6%.
60. 98% of scientific and technical periodicals are published in English.
61. English dominates online content, with 25.9% of internet users speaking English as their first language, closely followed by Chinese at 25.3%.
62. The global business English language training market was valued at $19.7 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $42 billion by 2031, with a CAGR of 8.8%.
63. 1 in 5 U.S. residents can speak two languages, but most adults have English as their first language.
64. California has the highest proportion of people speaking a language other than English at home, at 44%.
65. Texas follows with 35.5% of residents speaking a non-English language at home.
66. New Mexico has 34% of residents speaking a non-English language at home.
67. States with the lowest rates include West Virginia (2.6%), Mississippi (4%), and Montana (4.2%).
68. In 2019, 10.4% of U.S. K-12 students were English language learners (ELLs).
69. The U.S. ranks third globally for the number of students learning English as a foreign language in 2023.
70. American English is the official language of the United States, used for legislation, regulation, and official pronouncements.
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