Misc
Mapped: The Most Popular Languages to Learn by Country
Article/Editing:
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
Mapped: The Most Popular Languages to Learn by Country
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Across the 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, just five languages command roughly half of the global population.
With 1.5 billion speakers, English is spoken more than any other language, followed by Mandarin (1.2 billion), and Hindi (610 million). Given its prevalence in business and political spheres, it continues to be the most sought-after language to learn today even as proficiency in China, Japan, and South Korea has declined in recent years.
This graphic from NeoMam Studios shows the most popular languages to learn in 2024, based on data from Word.Tips.
Global Language Learning Trends
For the rankings, monthly Google search volumes were analyzed across countries based on “Study X language” or “Learn X language”. These phrases were translated across 119 of the most-spoken languages globally.
Each language was ranked according to their search volume as of May 2024, shown in the table below:
| Country | Most Popular Language | Second Most Popular Language |
|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇿 Algeria | Arabic | French |
| 🇧🇭 Bahrain | Arabic | German |
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | Arabic | English |
| 🇮🇶 Iraq | Arabic | English |
| 🇯🇴 Jordan | Arabic | German |
| 🇰🇼 Kuwait | Arabic | German |
| 🇱🇧 Lebanon | Arabic | English |
| 🇱🇾 Libya | Arabic | English |
| 🇲🇦 Morocco | Arabic | English |
| 🇴🇲 Oman | Arabic | English |
| 🇵🇸 Palestine | Arabic | English |
| 🇶🇦 Qatar | Arabic | English |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | Arabic | Chinese |
| 🇺🇬 Uganda | Arabic | Bengali |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | Arabic | German |
| 🇬🇾 Guyana | Chinese | Spanish |
| 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | Chinese | Spanish |
| 🇱🇦 Laos | Chinese | English |
| 🇹🇼 Taiwan | Chinese | Minnan |
| 🇻🇪 Venezuela | Chinese | Russian |
| 🇦🇫 Afghanistan | English | Farsi |
| 🇦🇴 Angola | English | French |
| 🇦🇲 Armenia | English | German |
| 🇦🇹 Austria | English | Italian |
| 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | English | Russian |
| 🇧🇾 Belarus | English | Russian |
| 🇧🇯 Benin | English | German |
| 🇧🇴 Bolivia | English | Japanese |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | English | Spanish |
| 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | English | German |
| 🇰🇭 Cambodia | English | Chinese |
| 🇨🇲 Cameroon | English | German |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | English | Italian |
| 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | English | Spanish |
| 🇨🇮 Cote D'Ivoire | English | Arabic |
| 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | English | Swahili |
| 🇪🇨 Ecuador | English | Italian |
| 🇸🇻 El Salvador | English | Italian |
| 🇪🇪 Estonia | English | German |
| 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | English | Arabic |
| 🇫🇮 Finland | English | Ukrainian |
| 🇫🇷 France | English | Spanish |
| 🇬🇪 Georgia | English | German |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | English | Spanish |
| 🇬🇹 Guatemala | English | Spanish |
| 🇭🇳 Honduras | English | Russian |
| 🇭🇺 Hungary | English | German |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | English | Arabic |
| 🇮🇱 Israel | English | Arabic |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | English | Italian |
| 🇯🇲 Jamaica | English | Chinese |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | English | Korean |
| 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | English | Russian |
| 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan | English | German |
| 🇱🇻 Latvia | English | German |
| 🇲🇺 Mauritius | English | German |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | English | Spanish |
| 🇲🇩 Moldova | English | Italian |
| 🇲🇪 Montenegro | English | German |
| 🇲🇿 Mozambique | English | French |
| 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | English | Russian |
| 🇳🇬 Nigeria | English | Hausa |
| 🇵🇰 Pakistan | English | Korean |
| 🇵🇾 Paraguay | English | Portuguese |
| 🇵🇪 Peru | English | Italian |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | English | Polish |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | English | Portuguese |
| 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | English | Chinese |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | English | German |
| 🇷🇼 Rwanda | English | German |
| 🇸🇳 Senegal | English | Arabic |
| 🇸🇴 Somalia | English | Arabic |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | English | Thai |
| 🇹🇿 Tanzania | English | Swahili |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | English | Chinese |
| 🇹🇳 Tunisia | English | Arabic |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | English | Polish |
| 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan | English | Russian |
| 🇺🇦 Ukraine | English | Ukrainian |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | English | Spanish |
| 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | English | Russian |
| 🇻🇳 Vietnam | English | Chinese |
| 🇿🇲 Zambia | English | German |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | Filipino | Korean |
| 🇧🇸 Bahamas | French | Spanish |
| 🇧🇼 Botswana | French | German |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | French | Japanese |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | French | English |
| 🇦🇱 Albania | German | English |
| 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina | German | English |
| 🇭🇷 Croatia | German | Arabic |
| 🇨🇾 Cyprus | German | English |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | German | Spanish |
| 🇬🇭 Ghana | German | English |
| 🇬🇷 Greece | German | English |
| 🇰🇪 Kenya | German | French |
| 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | German | French |
| 🇲🇹 Malta | German | English |
| 🇳🇦 Namibia | German | Portuguese |
| 🇲🇰 North Macedonia | German | English |
| 🇷🇸 Serbia | German | French |
| 🇸🇰 Slovakia | German | English |
| 🇸🇮 Slovenia | German | Japanese |
| 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | German | English |
| 🇫🇯 Fiji | Hindi | Chinese |
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | Italian | English |
| 🇨🇱 Chile | Italian | Korean |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | Italian | English |
| 🇺🇾 Uruguay | Italian | Spanish |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | Japanese | Spanish |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | Japanese | English |
| 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | Korean | Bengali |
| 🇧🇹 Bhutan | Korean | Chinese |
| 🇧🇳 Brunei | Korean | Malayalam |
| 🇮🇳 India | Korean | English |
| 🇲🇳 Mongolia | Korean | German |
| 🇲🇲 Myanmar | Korean | Japanese |
| 🇳🇵 Nepal | Korean | Japanese |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | Korean | Chinese |
| 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | Korean | English |
| 🇲🇾 Malaysia | Malayalam | English |
| 🇱🇹 Lithuania | Russian | English |
| 🇷🇺 Russia | Russian | English |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | Spanish | Arabic |
| 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | Spanish | Polish |
| 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | Spanish | English |
| 🇮🇸 Iceland | Spanish | German |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | Spanish | French |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | Spanish | Filipino |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | Spanish | Urdu |
| 🇵🇦 Panama | Spanish | English |
| 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico | Spanish | Arabic |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | Spanish | English |
| 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | Spanish | Arabic |
| 🇺🇸 United States | Spanish | Japanese |
| 🇿🇦 South Africa | Zulu | Swahili |
Overall, English is the most desired language to learn in 63 countries, dropping substantially from 98 countries in 2021.
Due to shifting geopolitical dynamics, English proficiency is falling across East Asia. For instance, China ranked 91st out of 116 countries on English proficiency compared to ranking 38th four years earlier. Despite this, English is the most popular language people want to learn across virtually every global region.
Ranking in second is German, driven by its popularity in European nations including Greece, Denmark, and Croatia. While it falls behind English by a wide margin, it stands as the most sought-after language to learn in 16 countries likely due to Germany being the world’s third-largest economy.
Arabic follows next in line, being the top language in 15 countries mostly found in the Middle East. Since 2021, this number has grown by more than double as countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt witnessed strong search volumes. Globally, Arabic is the sixth-most common language, with 274 million speakers around the world.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about this topic from a global perspective, check out this graphic on the 12 most spoken languages globally.
This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Energy
Mapped: The World’s Most Critical Oil Chokepoints
As Israel and Trump weigh future strike scenarios on Iran, we map the Strait of Hormuz and its vital role in the global oil market.
Why the Strait of Hormuz is a Vital Oil Chokepoint
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Key Takeaways
- Roughly a fifth of global oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the second-largest oil chokepoint in the world.
- As tensions flare in the Middle East, any closure to the Strait of Hormuz could cause oil prices to spike to up to $130.
- The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Iranian oil, in efforts to exert pressure on the regime.
The total volume of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz stands around a staggering $600 billion.
While a blockade of the strait is considered a distant possibility, its closure could ripple across global supply chain networks. In particular, Japan, China, and India would be impacted the most. Furthermore, a shock to oil prices would likely affecting production costs, in turn raising the price of consumer goods.
This graphic shows the most vital oil transit chokepoints, based on data from MUFG.
The Strait of Hormuz and Oil Trade Flows
Below, we show how the Strait of Hormuz sees the second-highest volume of oil passing through its corridor globally:
| Location | Million Barrels per Day in 2023 |
|---|---|
| Strait of Malacca | 23.7 |
| Strait of Hormuz | 20.9 |
| Suez Canal & SUMED Pipeline | 8.8 |
| Bab el-Mandeb | 8.6 |
| Cape of Good Hope | 6.0 |
| Danish Strait | 4.9 |
| Turkish Straits | 3.4 |
| Panama Canal | 2.1 |
In 2023, 20.9 million barrels of oil flowed through the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman.
Iran largely controls this waterway, where 20% of global oil consumption is transported across this shipping route. In response to Israel-Iran conflicts, oil production surged by 950,000 barrels per day in June—largely driven by Saudi Arabian output.
While tensions have recently flared between Israel and Syria, it remains to be seen if conflict will resurface with Iran. Earlier in July, Israeli officials met with Trump to discuss certain scenarios that would justify a future attack on Iran—including the resumption of nuclear enrichment activities.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about industrial resources from a global perspective, check out this graphic on the top 25 countries by proven oil reserves.
-
Energy3 weeks agoVisualizing the Countries With the Largest Proven Oil Reserves
-
Misc1 week agoRanked: The Best Countries for Work-Life Balance in 2025
-
Maps4 weeks agoMapped: The Most Common Job in Each U.S. State in 2024
-
Money2 weeks agoMapped: The Income a Family Needs to Be Middle Class, by State
-
Oil and Gas1 week agoRanked: The World’s Top Countries by Natural Gas Reserves
-
Misc3 weeks agoMapped: The Most Stolen Car in Every U.S. State
-
Maps2 weeks agoRanked: 40 Best Countries in the World, According to People
-
Economy4 weeks agoRanked: U.S. States Most Dependent on the Federal Government