1. English (1.452 billion speakers)

• First language: 372.9 million

• Total speakers: 1.4+ billion

According to Ethnologue, English is the most-spoken language in the world including native and non-native speakers.

Like Latin or Greek at the time, English has become the world's common language. It is the default language in international business, tourism, technology, and much more.

A bilingual person who speaks Spanish and English can understand 1 in 3 people who connect to the Internet. They can also access over 60% of everything published on the web.

2. Mandarin (1.118 billion speakers)

• First language speakers: 929 million

• Total speakers: 1.1+ billion

Looking at total speakers, Mandarin is the second most widely spoken language in the world. However, it's the most spoken language in the world if you count only first-language (native) speakers due to China's significant population.

Mandarin is not actually a language, but a set of dialects of the Chinese language. What unifies these dialects under the same name is that their speakers can understand each other.

3. Hindi (602+ million speakers)

• First language speakers: 343.9 million

• Total speakers: 602+ million

Hindi is, along with English, one of the 22 official languages of India, the second most inhabited country in the world. India’s incredible linguistic diversity (more than 121 languages coexist) explains the high rate of non-native speakers who use it as a lingua franca. In addition to India, Hindi is spoken by over a quarter of the population of Nepal!

4. Spanish (548+ million speakers)

• First language speakers: 474.7 million

• Total speakers: 548+ million

Spanish is the second most widely spoken language globally in terms of native speakers. In addition, it is the most spoken of the Romance languages and the third most used on the internet.

Spain’s enormous colonial expansion took this language not only to the Americas but also to Africa and Asia. Today, there are 21 Spanish-speaking countries in the world, with dozens more that have a significant Spanish-speaking population. Interestingly, the United States is the second country with the largest number of Spanish speakers in the world!

5. French (280 million speakers)

• First language speakers: 79.9 million

• Total speakers: 274+ million

Like Spanish and English, French spread throughout the world along with the French colonial empire. Today, there are 29 French-speaking countries all around the world!

If English is the language of business, then French is considered the language of culture. Its enormous importance is also reflected in the fact that it is the third language with the largest number of non-native speakers

6. Modern Standard Arabic (274 million speakers)

• First language speakers: 0 million

• Total speakers: 274 million

Did you know that Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the only language on this list without native speakers? Indeed, Arabic is a large language with many different dialects, and all Arabic speakers grow up speaking a local dialect, like Egyptian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Mesopotamian Arabic or another local variety.

So, how does MSA have so many non-native speakers? That’s because MSA is commonly used in newspapers, TV broadcasts, and movies, but people don’t speak it with each other. It’s an academic language that you’ll find in literature in politics, but not in everyday life. As such, if you’re interested in learning Arabic, you’re better off starting with one dialect and then learning MSA to widen your horizons.

7. Bengali (272+ million speakers)

• First language speakers: 233.7 million

• Total speakers: 272.7 million

Bengali is the official language of Bangladesh and is also spoken in some areas of India and Burma. It may come as a surprise that a language spoken in such a small region appears in a list of the most spoken languages in the world. However, it makes sense when you think about the population density of that region.

8. Russian (258+ million speakers)

• First language speakers: 154 million

• Total speakers: 258.2 million

Less surprising is the inclusion of Russian among the most widely spoken languages globally considering that Russia is the largest country in the world by territory. Plus, while Russian is the official language of only four countries, it’s widely spoken in 19 countries. Did you know that it’s also the language with the highest number of native speakers in all of Europe?

9. Portuguese (257+ million speakers)

• First language speakers: 232.4 million

• Total speakers: 257.7 million

Portuguese is another language that expanded worldwide during the European colonial period. Today, Portuguese is the official language of nine countries in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. Brazil is the largest country out of those nine and has the most Portuguese speakers. Brazil’s large population makes Portuguese the most widely spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere!

10. Urdu (231.3 million speakers)

• First language speakers: 70.2 million

• Total speakers: 231.3 million

Urdu is one of the two official languages in Pakistan and is also widely used in certain regions of India. The spoken part of Urdu is widely intelligible with Hindi, as both speakers can understand each other without much issue. However, Urdu uses a modified Persian script for its alphabet, while Hindi uses Sanskrit.

11. Indonesian (199 million speakers)

• First language speakers: 43.6 million

• Total speakers: 199.0 million

Bahasa Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world. Peculiarly, it’s not the native language of most of its speakers. Rather, it’s a second language necessary for mutual understanding in a country with more than 200 languages.

12. German (134.6 million speakers)

• First language speakers: 75.6 million

• Total speakers: 134.6 million

German is, of course, the official language of Germany. Unlike its other European counterparts, it’s mostly spoken in Europe, with only Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg having sizeable German-speaking populations. With that said, learning German is incredibly popular relative to its small population, ranking as the fifth most studied language in the world.