Top 10 Most Spoken Languages in 2025: Learn a New Language This Year!

The new year is always a time to set new goals for the following 12 months. Other than general fitness goals like losing weight, learning a new language is often amongst the most common New Year's Resolutions.

But have you ever wondered what the most spoken languages in the world are? In this article, we will break down the top 10 most spoken languages in 2025, and hopefully help inspire you to choose a new language to learn this year!

Lets define “most spoken”

Before we jump into exploring the top 10 most spoken languages in the world, let's first define what “most spoken” actually means.

L1 vs L2

Linguists generally categorize the languages a person speaks as first language (L1) and second language (L2, sometimes also called FL for “foreign language”). The main difference between the two is the age the person learned the language.

When it comes to determining the most spoken languages in the world, it is important to distinguish between the total number of native speakers (L1) and the total number of speakers (which includes those in the L2 category, meaning those who have learned the language as a second language and speak it at a conversationally fluent level).

While we will look at both categories to compare numbers, we will base our main rankings in this article on the number of L1 speakers.

Linguists classify languages as L1 (native) or L2 (second/foreign), with the distinction based on age of acquisition, and total speakers include both native and fluent L2 speakers.

Dialects and mutually intelligible varieties

Another thing to take into account when considering which languages are the “most spoken” in the world is the number of dialects (e.g., Mandarin vs Cantonese) that each language has as well as the question of mutual intelligibility.

A good example to demonstrate this point would be the Arabic language. Many sources cite Arabic as one of the top 10 most spoken languages in the world, though technically this is not actually true.

Modern Standard Arabic is the standardized, literary version of Arabic that developed in the Arab world mainly in the late 19th century. Nowadays, it is the lingua franca of the Arab world. In reality, however, there are actually many dialects of the Arabic language, meaning that the language people actually speak can vary considerably from region to region.

Modern Standard Arabic, the standardized literary form of Arabic, serves as the Arab world's lingua franca, while spoken dialects vary widely across regions.

Most spoken languages in the world (L1)

1. Mandarin Chinese

Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world, with approximately 920 million L1 native speakers.

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There are many reasons why you should learn Chinese. Luckily, the fact that Mandarin is so widely spoken also means that it’s incredibly accessible, with tons of great learning resources to choose from. As China's global influence grows, Chinese is quickly becoming an incredibly important and useful language to learn.

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L1 + L2 ranking: When the large number of L1 Mandarin speakers is combined with L2 speakers, the total number of Mandarin speakers is 1.12 billion, making it the second most spoken language in the world behind English.

2. Spanish

Spanish is fun, versatile and probably one of the easiest languages for English speakers to pick up. With over 470 million L1 speakers, it is definitely another language worth adding to your list. Spanish is the official language in 20 countries and is also widely spoken in many other countries, particularly in South and Central America.

L1 + L2 ranking: When the number of L1 Spanish speakers is combined with L2 speakers, the total number of Spanish speakers is just over 540 million, making it the fourth most spoken language in the world.

Spanish, an easy and versatile language for English speakers, has over 470 million native speakers and 540 million total speakers, ranking as the world's fourth most spoken language.

3. English

With just over 369 million L1 speakers, English is currently the lingua franca of the world. It is the dominant language in international business, tech, and higher education. Currently, English is recognized as an official language in a total of 67 different countries and 27 non-sovereign entities.

L1 + L2 ranking: The majority of the world’s population learns English as a second language in school and this is why when the number of L1 speakers is combined with L2 speakers, English is actually the most spoken language in the world, totaling approximately 1.35 billion speakers.

English, with 369 million native speakers and 1.35 billion total speakers, is the world's most spoken language and a global lingua franca in business, tech, and education.

4. Hindi

With over 342 million native speakers, Hindi is the official language of India. Therefore, it acts as a lingua franca among members of a large variety of linguistic and cultural groups within India. There is also a lot of Hindi-language media (think Bollywood!) available, so many people are exposed to this language.

Although as previously stated we will not focus on dialects in this article, but it is important to know that Hindi and Urdu are highly mutually intelligible. If Hindi and Urdu were counted as a single language, then Hindi would technically be higher up on our list of most spoken languages.

L1 + L2 ranking: If the many L2 speakers of Hindi were also taken into account, it would be the third most spoken language in the world, with just over 600 million speakers.

Hindi, with over 342 million native speakers, serves as India's official lingua franca, and with L2 speakers included, it ranks as the third most spoken language globally with over 600 million speakers.

5. Portuguese

With 232 million L1 speakers, Portuguese is the official language of Portugal, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

L1 + L2 ranking: The number of Portuguese L2 speakers is slightly lower in comparison to the other languages previously mentioned. Adding these L2 speakers would make Portuguese the 9th most spoken world language, with a total of 258 million speakers.

Portuguese, with 232 million native speakers, is the official language of several countries and ranks as the 9th most spoken language globally with 258 million total speakers.

6. Bengali

Bengali is the official language of Bangladesh and of several states in India. With 228 million L1 speakers, it is the sixth most spoken language in the world.

L1 + L2 ranking: If the total number of L1 Bengali speakers is combined with the 39 million L2 speakers of this language, Bengali still ranks as the 6th most spoken language in the world, with a total of 268 million speakers.

Bengali, the official language of Bangladesh and parts of India, ranks as the sixth most spoken language globally with 228 million native speakers and 268 million total speakers.

7. Russian

Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (alongside Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish). It is the state language of Russia and Belarus, but also an official language in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

Russian is also an officially recognized minority language in countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Uzbekistan. With just over 153 million L1 speakers, there is no doubt that Russian is a useful language to learn, especially if you ever intend to travel or work in eastern Europe.

L1 + L2 ranking: If we consider both L1 and L2 speakers, then Russia would be the 8th most spoken language in the world, with 258 million L1 and L2 speakers total.

Russian, an official UN language and state language in several countries, ranks as the 7th (L1) or 8th (L1 + L2) most spoken language globally with 153 million native speakers and 258 million total speakers.

8. Japanese

Although Japanese is only an official language in Japan and the Republic of Palau (which only has a population of 18,000!), it is still the 8th most spoken language in the world when native L1 speakers alone are taken into account.

Many people are drawn to Japanese because of the rich culture of Japan. No matter whether you’re drawn to Japanese because of Japan’s breathtaking natural scenery, good food or creative manga and anime, you’ll find that learning resources are quite abundant and it is a fairly accessible language to learn.

L1 + L2 ranking: It is estimated that just over a 100,000 people speak Japanese as a second (L2) language, making it the 13th most spoken language in the world if both L1 and L2 speakers are considered.

Japanese, an official language in Japan and Palau, is the 8th most spoken language globally based on native speakers, with a rich cultural appeal and abundant learning resources.

9. Cantonese

With almost 85 million native speakers, Cantonese is the official language of Hong Kong and Macau, and is spoken by millions of people in mainland China, predominantly in Guangzhou and Wuzhou, as well as by members of large immigrant communities across the world.

Although Cantonese is generally considered a variant or dialect of Mandarin, the two are mutually unintelligible in spoken form. While there are many differences between Mandarin and Cantonese, formal written Cantonese is mostly mutually intelligible with Mandarin Chinese, so learning one generally helps if you decide to learn the other.

L1 + L2 ranking: It is estimated that there are only around 400,000 L2 speakers of Cantonese. Thus, if we rank languages in terms of both L1 and L2 speakers, its ranking falls significantly from number 9 to number 18 on the list of the most spoken languages in the world.

Cantonese, with nearly 85 million native speakers, is the official language of Hong Kong and Macau, widely spoken in parts of mainland China and global immigrant communities, though its L2 speakers are limited to around 400,000, impacting its global ranking.

10. Marathi

Marathi is an official language in the state of Maharashtra in western India. Although this is a language many people have never heard of, that doesn’t stop it from being the 10th most spoken language in the world. After Hindi and Bengali, Marathi has the third largest number of L1 native speakers in India.

L1 + L2 ranking: The total number of Marathi speakers is around 99 million, so it is the 14th most spoken language in the world when both L2 and L1 speakers are taken into account.

Marathi, an official language of Maharashtra in western India, is the 10th most spoken language by native speakers and ranks 14th globally with 99 million total speakers. Image credit: By _capturing__moment__ - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Why learn languages?

There are so many reasons why language learning is important, especially in our current ever-expanding, ever-globalizing world. Most importantly, though, learning languages helps us learn to think differently and see the world as we may never have seen it before.

The Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein summarized the importance of language beautifully: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

After all, concepts would not exist in our mind without a language, so consequently it is language that determines thought. Therefore, it is fair to say that we are all in some way restricted by the boundaries of our language.

The more languages you know, the wider your horizons.

Chinese vocabulary: most spoken languages in the world

Tania Yeromiyan

Tania holds a BA in Arabic and Chinese from the University of Leeds, which led her to spend two years studying in Taiwan and Egypt as part of her degree. Her interests include Chinese traditional theater, international education, and programming. Tania travels to China annually and is fluent in Chinese.