Misc
Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World
Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Worldwide
Even though you’re reading this article in English, there’s a good chance it might not be your mother tongue. Of the billion-strong English speakers in the world, only 33% consider it their native language.
The popularity of a language depends greatly on utility and geographic location. Additionally, how we measure the spread of world languages can vary greatly depending on whether you look at total speakers or native speakers.
Today’s detailed visualization from WordTips illustrates the 100 most spoken languages in the world, the number of native speakers for each language, and the origin tree that each language has branched out from.
How Do You Define A Language?
The data comes from the 22nd edition of Ethnologue, a database covering a majority of the world’s population, detailing approximately 7,111 living languages in existence today.
The definitions of languages are often dynamic, blurring the lines around a singular understanding of what makes a language:
- Linguistic: focused on lexical and grammatical differences, or on variations within speech communities
- Social: focused on cultural or political factors, as well as heritage and identity
For the purposes of measurement, the researchers use the ISO 693-3 set of criteria, which accounts for related varieties and dialects—ensuring that linguistics are not the only factor considered in this count of languages.
Here are the language origins of the 100 most spoken languages:
Indo-European languages have the widest spread worldwide. According to Ethnologue, the language family contains over 3 billion speakers in total. Interestingly, there are actually 1,526 Niger-Congo languages altogether, though only 12 are represented here.
Let’s now dive into the top 10 most spoken languages overall.
Which Languages Have the Most Speakers?
It comes as no surprise that English reigns supreme, with over 1.1 billion total speakers—or roughly 15% of the global population. Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and French round out the top five.
Rank | Language | Total Speakers | Language Origin |
---|---|---|---|
1 | English | 1,132 million | Indo-European |
2 | Mandarin Chinese | 1,117 million | Sino-Tibetan |
3 | Hindi | 615 million | Indo-European |
4 | Spanish | 534 million | Indo-European |
5 | French | 280 million | Indo-European |
6 | Standard Arabic | 274 million | Afro-Asiatic |
7 | Bengali | 265 million | Indo-European |
8 | Russian | 258 million | Indo-European |
9 | Portuguese | 234 million | Indo-European |
10 | Indonesian | 199 million | Austronesian |
However, this is only one piece in the full fabric of languages.
The metrics for native speakers tell a slightly different tale, as Mandarin Chinese shoots up to 918 million—almost 2.5x that of English native speakers.
Rank | Language | Native Speakers | Language Origin |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mandarin Chinese | 918 million | Sino-Tibetan |
2 | Spanish | 460 million | Indo-European |
3 | English | 379 million | Indo-European |
4 | Hindi | 341 million | Indo-European |
5 | Bengali | 228 million | Indo-European |
6 | Portuguese | 221 million | Indo-European |
7 | Russian | 154 million | Indo-European |
8 | Japanese | 128 million | Japanic |
9 | Western Punjabi | 93 million | Indo-European |
10 | Marathi | 83 million | Indo-European |
Note: No native speaker data was available for Filipino, Standard Arabic, Nigerian Pidgin, or Cameroonian Pidgin.
Here, Spanish comes in strong second for native speakers with 460 million, considering it’s well-used across Latin America. The Indian languages of Hindi and Bengali cap off the top five by native speakers as well.
These are the biggest languages people learn growing up, but what about the ones they pick up later in life?
What About Second (L2) Languages?
Nearly 43% of the world’s population is bilingual, with the ability to switch between two languages with ease.
From the data, second language (L2) speakers can be calculated by looking at the difference between native and total speakers, as a proportion of the total. For example, 66% of English speakers learned it as a second language.
Swahili surprisingly has the highest ratio of L2 speakers to total speakers—although it only has 16 million native speakers, this shoots up to 98 million total speakers. Overall, 82% of Swahili speakers know it as a second language.
Swahili is listed as a national or official language in several African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s likely that the movement of people from rural areas into big cities in search of better economic opportunities, is what’s boosting the adoption of Swahili as a second language.
Indonesian is another similar example. With a 78% proportion of L2 speakers compared to total speakers, this variation on the Malay language has been used as the lingua franca across the islands for a long time. In contrast, only 17% of Mandarin speakers know it as a second language, perhaps because it is one of the most challenging languages to learn.
Keeping Language Traditions Alive
Languages are fluid, and constantly evolving—altogether, the 100 most spoken languages paint a unique picture across centuries of a changing world. Here’s the full list of these languages, by types of speakers and language origin.
Rank | Language | Total Speakers | Native Speakers | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | English | 1,132M | 379M | Indo-European |
2 | Mandarin Chinese | 1,117M | 918M | Sino-Tibetan |
3 | Hindi | 615M | 341M | Indo-European |
4 | Spanish | 534M | 460M | Indo-European |
5 | French | 280M | 77M | Indo-European |
6 | Standard Arabic | 274M | NA | Afro-Asiatic |
7 | Bengali | 265M | 228M | Indo-European |
8 | Russian | 258M | 154M | Indo-European |
9 | Portuguese | 234M | 221M | Indo-European |
10 | Indonesian | 199M | 43M | Austronesian |
11 | Urdu | 170M | 69M | Indo-European |
12 | Standard German | 132M | 76M | Indo-European |
13 | Japanese | 128M | 128M | Japanic |
14 | Swahili | 98M | 16M | Niger-Congo |
15 | Marathi | 95M | 83M | Indo-European |
16 | Telugu | 93M | 82M | Dravidian |
17 | Western Punjabi | 93M | 93M | Indo-European |
18 | Wu Chinese | 82M | 81M | Sino-Tibetan |
19 | Tamil | 81M | 75M | Dravidian |
20 | Turkish | 80M | 69M | Turkic |
21 | Korean | 77M | 77M | Koreanic |
22 | Vietnamese | 77M | 76M | Austronesian |
23 | Yue Chinese | 74M | 73M | Sino-Tibetan |
24 | Javanese | 68M | 68M | Austronesian |
25 | Italian | 68M | 65M | Indo-European |
26 | Egyptian Spoken Arabic | 65M | 65M | Afro-Asiatic |
27 | Hausa | 63M | 44M | Afro-Asiatic |
28 | Thai | 61M | 21M | Kra-Dai |
29 | Gujarati | 61M | 56M | Indo-European |
30 | Kannada | 56M | 44M | Dravidian |
31 | Iranian Persian | 53M | 53M | Indo-European |
32 | Bhojpuri | 52M | 52M | Indo-European |
33 | Southern Min Chinese | 50M | 50M | Sino-Tibetan |
34 | Hakka Chinese | 48M | 48M | Sino-Tibetan |
35 | Jinyu Chinese | 47M | 47M | Sino-Tibetan |
36 | Filipino | 45M | NA | Austronesian |
37 | Burmese | 43M | 33M | Sino-Tibetan |
38 | Polish | 40M | 40M | Indo-European |
39 | Yoruba | 40M | 38M | Niger-Congo |
40 | Odia | 38M | 34M | Indo-European |
41 | Malayalam | 38M | 37M | Dravidian |
42 | Xiang Chinese | 37M | 37M | Sino-Tibetan |
43 | Maithili | 34M | 34M | Indo-European |
44 | Ukrainian | 33M | 27M | Indo-European |
45 | Moroccan Spoken Arabic | 33M | 27M | Afro-Asiatic |
46 | Eastern Punjabi | 33M | 33M | Indo-European |
47 | Sunda | 32M | 32M | Austronesian |
48 | Algerian Spoken Arabic | 32M | 29M | Afro-Asiatic |
49 | Sudanese Spoken Arabic | 32M | 32M | Afro-Asiatic |
50 | Nigerian Pidgin | 30M | NA | Indo-European |
51 | Zulu | 28M | 12M | Niger-Congo |
52 | Igbo | 27M | 27M | Niger-Congo |
53 | Amharic | 26M | 22M | Afro-Asiatic |
54 | Northern Uzbek | 25M | 25M | Turkic |
55 | Sindhi | 25M | 25M | Indo-European |
56 | North Levantine Spoken Arabic | 25M | 25M | Afro-Asiatic |
57 | Nepali | 25M | 16M | Indo-European |
58 | Romanian | 24M | 24M | Indo-European |
59 | Tagalog | 24M | 24M | Austronesian |
60 | Dutch | 23M | 23M | Indo-European |
61 | Sa'idi Spoken Arabic | 22M | 22M | Afro-Asiatic |
62 | Gan Chinese | 22M | 22M | Sino-Tibetan |
63 | Northern Pashto | 21M | 21M | Indo-European |
64 | Magahi | 21M | 21M | Indo-European |
65 | Saraiki | 20M | 20M | Indo-European |
66 | Xhosa | 19M | 8M | Niger-Congo |
67 | Malay | 19M | 16M | Austronesian |
68 | Khmer | 18M | 17M | Austronesian |
69 | Afrikaans | 18M | 7M | Indo-European |
70 | Sinhala | 17M | 15M | Indo-European |
71 | Somali | 16M | 16M | Afro-Asiatic |
72 | Chhattisgarhi | 16M | 16M | Indo-European |
73 | Cebuano | 16M | 16M | Austronesian |
74 | Mesopotamian Spoken Arabic | 16M | 16M | Afro-Asiatic |
75 | Assamese | 15M | 15M | Indo-European |
76 | Northeastern Thai | 15M | 15M | Kra-Dai |
77 | Northern Kurdish | 15M | 15M | Indo-European |
78 | Hijazi Spoken Arabic | 15M | 15M | Afro-Asiatic |
79 | Nigerian Fulfulde | 14M | 14M | Niger-Congo |
80 | Bavarian | 14M | 14M | Indo-European |
81 | Bamanankan | 14M | 4M | Niger-Congo |
82 | South Azerbaijani | 14M | 14M | Turkic |
83 | Northern Sotho | 14M | 5M | Niger-Congo |
84 | Setswana | 14M | 6M | Niger-Congo |
85 | Souther Sotho | 14M | 6M | Niger-Congo |
86 | Czech | 13M | 11M | Indo-European |
87 | Greek | 13M | 13M | Indo-European |
88 | Chittagonian | 13M | 13M | Indo-European |
89 | Kazakh | 13M | 13M | Turkic |
90 | Swedish | 13M | 10M | Indo-European |
91 | Deccan | 13M | 13M | Indo-European |
92 | Hungarian | 13M | 13M | Uralic |
93 | Jula | 12M | 2M | Niger-Congo |
94 | Sadri | 12M | 5M | Indo-European |
95 | Kinyarwanda | 12M | 12M | Niger-Congo |
96 | Cameroonian Pidgin | 12M | NA | Indo-European |
97 | Sylheti | 12M | 10M | Indo-European |
98 | South Levantine Spoken Arabic | 12M | 12M | Afro-Asiatic |
99 | Tunisian Spoken Arabic | 12M | 12M | Afro-Asiatic |
100 | Sanaani Spoken Arabic | 11M | 11M | Afro-Asiatic |
One reason these languages are popular is that they are actively and consistently used. Unfortunately, nearly 3,000 (about 40%) of all languages are at risk of being lost, or are already in the process of dying out today.
Languages play a crucial role in our daily lives. … [Their] losses have huge negative impacts indigenous peoples’ most basic human rights.
—UN, IYoIL statement
As a result, the United Nations declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYoIL), with a resolution to continue fostering these languages and pass on their knowledge for future generations.
Misc
Visualized: The Most Googled Countries
This series of visualizations uses Google trends search data to show the most googled countries around the world, from 2004 to 2022.

Visualized: The Most Googled Countries, Worldwide
View a higher resolution version of this network diagram.
Analyzing societal trends can teach us a lot about a population’s cultural fabric.
And since Google makes up more than 90% of internet searches outside of the Great Firewall, studying its usage is one of the best resources for modern social research.
This series of visualizations by Anders Sundell uses Google Trends search data to show the most googled countries around the world, from 2004 to 2022. These graphics provide thought-provoking insight into different cultural similarities and geopolitical dynamics.
A Quick Note on Methodology
The visualization above shows the most googled country in each nation around the world over the last couple of decades.
For example, the arrow pointing from Canada to the United States means that, between 2004 and 2022, people in Canada had more searches about the U.S. than any other country globally.
And since this study only looked at interest in other countries, queries of countries searching for themselves were not included in the data.
Finally, each country’s circle is scaled relative to its search interest, meaning the bigger the circle, the more countries pointing to it (and searching for it).
The Top Googled Countries Overall
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the U.S. is the most googled country on the list, ranking first place in 45 of the 190 countries included in the dataset.
Country | Top Googled Country |
---|---|
🇦🇩 Andorra | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇦🇪 The United Arab Emirates | 🇮🇳 India |
🇦🇫 Afghanistan | 🇮🇷 Iran |
🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇦🇱 Albania | 🇮🇹 Italy |
🇦🇲 Armenia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇦🇴 Angola | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
🇦🇷 Argentina | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇦🇹 Austria | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇦🇺 Australia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
🏴 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 🇷🇴 Romania |
🇧🇧 Barbados | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇧🇩 Bangladesh | 🇮🇳 India |
🇧🇪 Belgium | 🇫🇷 France |
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | 🇫🇷 France |
🇧🇬 Bulgaria | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇧🇭 Bahrain | 🇮🇳 India |
🇧🇮 Burundi | 🇫🇷 France |
🇧🇯 Benin | 🇫🇷 France |
🇧🇳 Brunei | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
🇧🇴 Bolivia | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
🇧🇷 Brazil | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇧🇸 The Bahamas | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇧🇹 Bhutan | 🇮🇳 India |
🇧🇼 Botswana | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇧🇾 Belarus | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇧🇿 Belize | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇦 Canada | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇩 The Democratic Republic of Congo | 🇫🇷 France |
🇨🇫 The Central African Republic | 🇫🇷 France |
🇨🇬 The Congo | 🇨🇩 The Democratic Republic of Congo |
🇨🇭 Switzerland | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | 🇫🇷 France |
🇨🇱 Chile | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
🇨🇲 Cameroon | 🇫🇷 France |
🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇴 Colombia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇷 Costa Rica | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇺 Cuba | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇨🇻 Cabo Verde | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇾 Cyprus | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇨🇿 Czechia | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇩🇪 Germany | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇩🇯 Djibouti | 🇫🇷 France |
🇩🇰 Denmark | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇩🇲 Dominica | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇩🇴 The Dominican Republic | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇩🇿 Algeria | 🇫🇷 France |
🇪🇨 Ecuador | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇪🇪 Estonia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇪🇬 Egypt | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia |
🇪🇷 Eritrea | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia |
🇪🇸 Spain | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇫🇮 Finland | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
🇫🇯 Fiji | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇫🇲 Micronesia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇫🇷 France | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇬🇦 Gabon | 🇫🇷 France |
🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇬🇩 Grenada | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇬🇪 Georgia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇬🇭 Ghana | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇬🇲 Gambia | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇬🇳 Guinea | 🇫🇷 France |
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇬🇷 Greece | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇬🇹 Guatemala | 🇸🇻 El Salvador |
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
🇬🇾 Guyana | 🇮🇳 India |
🇭🇳 Honduras | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇭🇷 Croatia | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇭🇹 Haiti | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇭🇺 Hungary | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇮🇩 Indonesia | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇮🇪 Ireland | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇮🇱 Israel | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇮🇳 India | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇮🇶 Iraq | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
🇮🇷 Iran | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
🇮🇸 Iceland | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇮🇹 Italy | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇯🇲 Jamaica | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇯🇴 Jordan | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇰🇪 Kenya | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇰🇭 Cambodia | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
🇰🇮 Kiribati | 🇫🇯 Fiji |
🇰🇲 Comoros | 🇫🇷 France |
🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇰🇵 North Korea | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇰🇷 South Korea | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇰🇼 Kuwait | 🇮🇳 India |
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇱🇦 Laos | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
🇱🇧 Lebanon | 🇸🇾 Syria |
🇱🇨 Saint Lucia | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | 🇮🇳 India |
🇱🇷 Liberia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇱🇸 Lesotho | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇱🇹 Lithuania | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 🇫🇷 France |
🇱🇻 Latvia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇱🇾 Libya | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
🇲🇦 Morocco | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇨 Monaco | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇩 Moldova | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇲🇪 Montenegro | 🇷🇸 Serbia |
🇲🇬 Madagascar | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇰 Republic of North Macedonia | 🇷🇸 Serbia |
🇲🇱 Mali | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇲 Myanmar | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇲🇳 Mongolia | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇲🇷 Mauritania | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇹 Malta | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇲🇺 Mauritius | 🇮🇳 India |
🇲🇻 Maldives | 🇮🇳 India |
🇲🇼 Malawi | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇲🇽 Mexico | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇲🇾 Malaysia | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇲🇿 Mozambique | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
🇳🇪 The Niger | 🇫🇷 France |
🇳🇬 Nigeria | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇳🇮 Nicaragua | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇳🇱 The Netherlands | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇳🇴 Norway | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
🇳🇵 Nepal | 🇮🇳 India |
🇳🇿 New Zealand | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇴🇲 Oman | 🇮🇳 India |
🇵🇦 Panama | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇵🇪 Peru | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇵🇭 The Philippines | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇵🇰 Pakistan | 🇮🇳 India |
🇵🇱 Poland | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇵🇸 Palestine | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇵🇹 Portugal | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
🇵🇾 Paraguay | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
🇶🇦 Qatar | 🇮🇳 India |
🇷🇴 Romania | 🇮🇹 Italy |
🇷🇸 Serbia | 🇽🇰 Kosovo |
🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇷🇼 Rwanda | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
🇸🇧 Solomon Islands | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇸🇨 Seychelles | 🇮🇳 India |
🇸🇩 Sudan | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
🇸🇪 Sweden | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇸🇬 Singapore | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇸🇮 Slovenia | 🇭🇷 Croatia |
🇸🇰 Slovakia | 🇨🇿 Czechia |
🇸🇱 Sierra Leone | 🇬🇳 Guinea |
🇸🇲 San Marino | 🇮🇹 Italy |
🇸🇳 Senegal | 🇫🇷 France |
🇸🇴 Somalia | 🇮🇳 India |
🇸🇷 Suriname | 🇳🇱 The Netherlands |
🇸🇸 South Sudan | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
🇸🇻 El Salvador | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇸🇾 Syria | 🇱🇧 Lebanon |
🇸🇿 Eswatini | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇹🇩 Chad | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇹🇬 Togo | 🇫🇷 France |
🇹🇭 Thailand | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇹🇯 Tajikistan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇹🇱 Timor-Leste | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇹🇳 Tunisia | 🇫🇷 France |
🇹🇴 Tonga | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
🇹🇷 Turkey | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇹🇼 Taiwan | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇹🇿 Tanzania | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
🇺🇦 Ukraine | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇺🇬 Uganda | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇺🇸 The United States | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
🇺🇾 Uruguay | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 🇧🇧 Barbados |
🇻🇪 Venezuela | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
🇻🇳 Vietnam | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇻🇺 Vanuatu | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇽🇰 Kosovo | 🇦🇱 Albania |
🇾🇪 Yemen | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia |
🇿🇦 South Africa | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇿🇲 Zambia | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
While it’s the top googled country in neighboring places like Canada and Mexico, it’s also number one in countries much farther away like Nigeria, Sweden, and Australia.
The U.S. is currently the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP, and one of the biggest cultural influences globally. However, it’s worth noting that China, the world’s second-largest economy and the most populated, had very little search interest in comparison, at least based on Google Trends data.
Zooming into Specific Regions
In addition to the network map highlighting the overall top googled countries, Sundell created a series of videos breaking down the data monthly, by regions. Here are the videos for the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
The United States
Since 2004, there have been a high number of searches for Canada, Mexico and India in America.
The searches for Mexico seem to be concentrated in the Western U.S., which is also where a large portion of the country’s Hispanic population lives. In contrast, searches for India seem to come mostly from the eastern side of the country.
Europe
The U.S. is by the far the most commonly googled country across Europe, ranking number one consistently over the last two decades.
However, Russia stole the limelight in 2014, the year that they invaded and ultimately annexed Crimea.
Asia
In the early 2000s, the U.S. held the top googled spot in Asia, but over time, relative searches for the U.S. go down. India stole the top spot to become the most googled country in Asia for a majority of the 2010s.
One anomaly occurred when Japan briefly took the top spot in March 2011, which is when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit the northern coast of Japan, causing a devastating tsunami.
What will future search results reveal about the global landscape? Were any of the results surprising?
Politics
Which Countries Trust Their Government, and Which Ones Don’t?
There is a clear correlation between trust in government and trust in public institutions, but a few countries buck the trend.

Which Countries Trust Their Government, and Which Ones Don’t?
In many countries around the world, vast portions of the population do not trust their own government.
Lack of faith in government and politics is nothing new, but in times of uncertainty, that lack of trust can coalesce into movements that challenge the authority of ruling parties and even threaten the stability of nations.
This visualization uses data from the Ipsos Global Trustworthiness Monitor to look at how much various populations trust their government and public institutions.
Tracking Trust in Government
Since the beginning of the pandemic, global trust in government has improved by eight percentage points, but that is only a small improvement on an otherwise low score.
At the country level, feelings towards government can vary widely. India, Germany, Netherlands, and Malaysia had the highest government trust levels.
Many of the countries with the lowest levels of trust were located in Latin America. This makes sense, as trust in politicians in this region is almost non-existent. For example, in Colombia, only 4% of the population consider politicians trustworthy. In Argentina, that figure falls to just 3%.
Trust in Public Institutions
Broadly speaking, people trust their public services more than the governments in charge of managing and funding them. This makes sense as civil servants fare much better than politicians and government ministers in trustworthiness.
As our main chart demonstrates, there is a correlation between faith in government and trust in public institutions. There are clear “high trust” and “low trust” groupings in the countries included in the polling, but there is also a third group that stands out—the countries that have high trust in public institutions, but not in their government. Leading this group is Japan, which has a stark difference in trust between public services and politicians. There are many factors that explain this difference, such as values, corruption levels, and the reliability of public services in various countries.
While trust scores for government improved slightly during the pandemic, trust in public institutions stayed nearly the same.
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