Datastream
The World’s Top 10 Most Spoken Languages
The Briefing
- Around 15% of the global population speaks English, making it the world’s most spoken language
- However, only a third of English speakers consider it their native language
- There are more native Mandarin Chinese speakers worldwide than native English speakers
The World’s 10 Most Spoken Languages
In today’s increasingly globalized world, having a shared means of communication—or an international language, rather—is more important than ever.
With over 1.1 billion speakers worldwide, English is currently the closest we’ve come to a lingua franca, a common language that connects people from different backgrounds.
However, Mandarin Chinese may one day catch up. Here’s a look at the top 10 most spoken languages across the globe:
Rank | Language | Total Speakers |
---|---|---|
1 | English | 1,132 million |
2 | Mandarin Chinese | 1,117 million |
3 | Hindi | 615 million |
4 | Spanish | 534 million |
5 | French | 280 million |
6 | Standard Arabic | 274 million |
7 | Bengali | 265 million |
8 | Russian | 258 million |
9 | Portuguese | 234 million |
10 | Indonesian | 199 million |
While English and Mandarin Chinese come close when looking at their total number of speakers, English has a wider geographical distribution—it’s classified as an official language in 67 different countries worldwide.
In contrast, Mandarin Chinese is recognized as an official language in just five regions.
Top 10 Languages By Native Speakers
Things look slightly different when looking at total native speakers, or people who consider a language their first/primary one.
In this instance, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish outrank English:
Rank | Language | Native Speakers |
---|---|---|
1 | Mandarin Chinese | 918 million |
2 | Spanish | 460 million |
3 | English | 379 million |
4 | Hindi | 341 million |
5 | Bengali | 228 million |
6 | Portuguese | 221 million |
7 | Russian | 154 million |
8 | Japanese | 128 million |
9 | Western Punjabi | 93 million |
10 | Marathi | 83 million |
This begs the question—will English remain the “dominant” language in the years to come, or will the world be switching to a new lingua franca in the future?
»For a more in-depth look at languages, visit: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World
Where does this data come from?
Source: Ethnologue
Notes: This database covers a majority of the world’s population and details approximately 7,111 living languages
Central Banks
Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve
Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

The Briefing
- Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
- After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low
Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve
Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.
More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.
Methodology and Results
The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.
Year | Fed chair | % Great deal or Fair amount |
---|---|---|
2023 | Jerome Powell | 36% |
2022 | Jerome Powell | 43% |
2021 | Jerome Powell | 55% |
2020 | Jerome Powell | 58% |
2019 | Jerome Powell | 50% |
2018 | Jerome Powell | 45% |
2017 | Janet Yellen | 45% |
2016 | Janet Yellen | 38% |
2015 | Janet Yellen | 42% |
2014 | Janet Yellen | 37% |
2013 | Ben Bernanke | 42% |
2012 | Ben Bernanke | 39% |
2011 | Ben Bernanke | 41% |
2010 | Ben Bernanke | 44% |
2009 | Ben Bernanke | 49% |
2008 | Ben Bernanke | 47% |
2007 | Ben Bernanke | 50% |
2006 | Ben Bernanke | 41% |
2005 | Alan Greenspan | 56% |
2004 | Alan Greenspan | 61% |
2003 | Alan Greenspan | 65% |
2002 | Alan Greenspan | 69% |
2001 | Alan Greenspan | 74% |
Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”
We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.
For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.
On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.
Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.
Confidence Now on the Decline
After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.
This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:
- Negative impact on the stock market
- Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
- Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable
Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Where does this data come from?
Source: Gallup (2023)
Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.
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