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List of countries by English-speaking population

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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.

Rank Country Total First language As an Additional language National language Official languages Comment
1 USA 251,388,301 215,423,557 35,964,744 * Source: US Census 2000: Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2000, 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"
2 China 200,000,000–
300,000,000		 (?) 200,000,000–
300,000,000		 Figures are for English users, not speakers. Source: Yong Zhao (1995). "English in China". World Englishes. 14 (3): 377–390. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Hong Kong contributes an additional 2.5 million speakers (1996 by-census[1]).
* European Union 226,000,000 58,000,000 168,000,000 * 2006 Eurobarometer survey. Covered EU citizens aged 15 years or more. EU is not ranked as it is not a country.
3 India 90,221,085 178,598 90,042,487 * Source: 1991 Census of India. Number with English as a mother tongue: [2] Number with mother tongue among the 18 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India who were multilingual in English: [3] Native speakers of these 18 languages account for over 96% of all speakers of any language in India. Figures exclude Jammu and Kashmir, and another 33 villages with a total population of 16,052 people. Note: Crystal (2005) gives conflicting figures, over twice as large.
4 United Kingdom 59,600,000 58,100,000 1,500,000 * Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
5 Philippines 42,500,000 20,000 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: Crystal (2005), p. 109.

6 Germany 36,000,000 272,504 36,000,000 (?) Native speakers: Statistisches Bundesamt (cited here).
Non-native speakers: 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
7 Canada 25,246,220 20,014,645 * Source: 2001 Census.[4] The figure shown in the first language English speakers column is actually the number of English speakers who do not speak French. This does not include any of the 5 million people who spoke both English and French, some of whom would speak English as a first language, so it is probably too low.
8 Australia 17,357,833 15,013,965 2,343,868 * Source: 2001 Census.[5] The figure shown in the first language English speakers column is actually the number of Australian residents who speak 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.
(?) Pakistan 17,000,000 (?) 17,000,000 * Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
9 France 16,000,000 (?) 16,000,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
10 Italy 14,000,000 (?) 14,000,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
22 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.

11 Netherlands 12,000,000 (?) 12,000,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
12 Spain 10,000,000 (?) 10,000,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
13 Poland 9,200,000 (?) 9,200,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
14 Turkey 8,100,000 (?) 8,100,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
75 Malaysia 7,400,000 380,000 7,000,000 Crystal (2005), p. 109.
15 Sweden 6,600,000 (?) 6,600,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
42 Zimbabwe 5,550,000 250,000 5,300,000 * Crystal (2005), p. 109.
16 Romania 5,300,000 (?) 5,300,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
17 Belgium 5,100,000 (?) 5,100,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
18 Greece 4,200,000 (?) 4,200,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
19 Ireland 4,130,000 4,050,000 80,000 *
20 Austria 3,900,000 (?) 3,900,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
21 Denmark 3,800,000 (?) 3,800,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
(?) Bangladesh 3,500,000 (?) 3,500,000 * Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
23 New Zealand 3,425,301 >2,868,000 (?) * 2001 Census: National Summary, Tables 12 and 15
24 Singapore 3,369,261 227,000 3,142,261 * Second-language users (literate in English) are 71% of population
25 Finland 2,700,000 (?) 2,700,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
(?) Kenya 2,700,000 (?) 2,700,000 * Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.
26 Portugal 2,600,000 (?) 2,600,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
27 Czech Republic 2,100,000 (?) 2,100,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
28 Hungary 2,000,000 (?) 2,000,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
29 Croatia 1,800,000 (?) 1,800,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
30 Bulgaria 1,500,000 (?) 1,500,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
31 Tanzania 1,500,000 1,500,000 *
32 Slovakia 1,400,000 (?) 1,400,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
33 Ghana 1,000,000 1,000,000 *
34 Nigeria 1,000,000 1,000,000 * This figure has been criticized as appearing too small.Wolf (2001) It also does not include over 40 million speakers of Nigerian Pidgin English.
35 Uganda 1,000,000 1,000,000 *
36 Slovenia 950,000 (?) 950,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
37 Lithuania 900,000 (?) 900,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
38 Estonia 590,000 (?) 590,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
39 Latvia 540,000 (?) 540,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
40 Puerto Rico 458,371 82,000 376,371 *
41 Cyprus 420,000 (?) 420,000 (?) 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
43 Malta 280,000 (?) 280,000 * 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
44 Luxembourg 220,000 (?) 220,000 * 2006 Eurobarometer survey.
45 Ethiopia 171,712 1,986 169,726 *
46 Israel 100,000 100,000
47 Sri Lanka 74,170 74,170
48 Liberia 69,000 69,000 *
49 Bermuda 58,800 58,800 *
50 Belize 55,998 55,998 *
51 Papua New Guinea 50,000 50,000 *
52 Bahamas 49,331 49,331 *
53 Zambia 41,434 41,434 *
54 Honduras 31,500 31,500
55 Guam 28,800 28,800 *
56 Cayman Islands 20,000 20,000 *
57 Fiji 19,857 4,929 14,928 *
58 American Samoa 16,298 1,248 15,050 *
59 Malawi 16,000 16,000 *
60 Barbados 13,000 13,000 *
61 Namibia 10,941 10,941 *
62 Dominica 10,000 10,000 *
63 U.S. Virgin Islands 8,414 8,414 *
64 Brunei 8,000 8,000 *
65 Dominican Republic 8,000 8,000
66 Nauru 7,254 714 6,540 *
67 Saint Helena 5,400 5,400 *
68 Micronesia 5,341 5,341 *
69 British Indian Ocean Territory 3,500 3,500 *
70 Gibraltar 3,300 3,300 *
71 Lebanon 3,300 3,300
72 Aruba 3,000 3,000
73 Mauritius 3,000 3,000 *
74 Trinidad and Tobago 2,600 2,600 *
76 Niue 2,160 78 2,082 *
77 British Virgin Islands 2,000 2,000 *
78 Falkland Islands 1,991 1,991 *
79 Vanuatu 1,900 1,900 *
80 Netherlands Antilles 1,800 1,800
81 Norfolk Island 1,678 1,678 *
82 Seychelles 1,601 1,601 *
83 Saint Lucia 1,600 1,600 *
84 Gambia 1,000 1,000 *
85 Anguilla 946 946 *
86 Turks and Caicos Islands 920 920 *
87 Grenada 750 750 *
88 Cook Islands 683 683 *
89 Kiribati 492 492 *
90 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 400 400 *
91 Rwanda 300 300 *
92 Guadeloupe 200 200
93 Saint Kitts and Nevis 200 200 *
94 Samoa 200 200 *
95 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 188 188
96 Montserrat 100 100 *
97 Pitcairn 46 46 *
98 Tokelau 40 40 *
? Indonesia (?) (?) (?)
? Thailand (?) (?) (?)
? Russia (?) (?) (?)
? Japan (?) (?) (?)
? Korea (?) (?) (?)
? Taiwan (?) (?) (?)
(?) Antigua and Barbuda (?) (?) *
(?) Botswana (?) (?) *
(?) Cameroon (?) (?) *
(?) Eritrea (?) (?) *
(?) Guyana (?) (?) *
(?) Jamaica (?) (?) *
(?) Lesotho (?) (?) *
(?) Northern Mariana Islands (?) (?) *
(?) Palau (?) (?) *
(?) Sierra Leone (?) (?) *
(?) Solomon Islands (?) (?) *
(?) Somalia (?) (?) *
(?) Swaziland (?) (?) *
(?) Tonga (?) (?) *
(?) Cambodia (?) (?) Replacing French as second language, especially in Phnom Penh. Also used for mobile phone texting
(?) Marshall Islands (?) (?) *


Sources

See also

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