Top 5 Most Spoken Languages in the World 2024

In this article, we will look at the top 5 most-spoken languages in the world in 2024. If you want to read our detailed analysis, you can go directly to the Top 25 Most Spoken Languages in the World in 2024.

5. French

Number of Total Speakers: 309.8 million 

French ranks first in the top 5 on our list of 25 most spoken languages worldwide. It is one of the most internationally significant romance languages. It is the official language of more than 25 countries worldwide, including France, Belgium, and Corsica.

4. Spanish

Number of Total Speakers: 559.1 million. 

Spanish is a romance language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Spain and 18 American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. It is spoken by approximately 559.1 million in the world. 

3. Hindi

Number of Total Speakers: 609.5 million 

Hindi is the third most-spoken language in the world in 2024. It belongs to the Indo-Iranian language family. It is India’s preferred official language. Significant Hindi-speaking communities are also found in South Africa, Bangladesh, Yemen, and Uganda. It is spoken by more than 609.5 million people around the world.

2. Mandarin Chinese

Number of Total Speakers: 1.1 billion 

Mandarin Chinese is one of the most commonly spoken forms of Chinese. It is spoken by over two-thirds of the Chinese population as a native language. The language is divided into 4 main subgroups: Northern, Northwestern, Southwestern, and Southern. More than 1.1 billion speakers around the world speak it.

1. English

Number of Total Speakers: 1.5 billion 

English is the most spoken language in the world in 2024, with more than 1.5 billion speakers around the globe. It belongs to the West Germanic language of the Indo-European languages and originates from England. It is a dominant language in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and many others. 

You can also look at the 25 Most Spoken Second Languages in the World and 25 Most Spoken Native Languages in the World.