What are the most spoken languages in Europe?
26th July 2022
Europe is home to many languages, including some of the most widely spoken languages in the world. There are 200 different languages spoken on this continent, making it incredibly diverse, both culturally and linguistically. This article will look at the top ten languages that dominate this diverse continent.
The term Europe is derived from the Greek words “eurys” meaning wide and “ops” meaning face or eye. Combined it meant “wide gazing” as a description of Europe’s broad shoreline.
Europe’s geographical area is about four million square miles, making it the second smallest continent on Earth. It is comprised of 44 independent nations, 746 million people and is home to one of the most important political institutions in the world: the European Union. The EU has 23 official languages, but only three of these are considered working languages. These include English, French and German.
1. Russian
160,000,000 native speakers
The Russian language has around 160 million native speakers. It is the official language of Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It’s also commonly spoken in former Soviet countries like Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia and Ukraine. While most languages in Europe use the Latin alphabet, Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet instead. Only 5% of Russians speak English, so pack a pocket translator or download a translation app if you are planning on visiting and your knowledge of the language is limited.
2. German
97,000,000 native speakers
With 97 million native speakers, German lands second place for the largest native-speaking population in Europe. German is the sole official language of Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein, and it’s a co-official language in Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. German is the mostly widely understood language after English and the most spoken language in the European Union. This is because it’s popular as a second language in Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and many other European countries.
3. French
80,000,000 native speakers
Not only one of the most spoken languages in Europe, but French is also the second most-taught language in the world behind English. It is the official language of France, as well as a co-official language of Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
4. Turkish
75,000,000 native speakers
Turkish is the official language of Turkey and has about 75 million native speakers in Europe. It also has co-official status in Cyprus and is widely spoken around the Mediterranean, particularly in North Macedonia, Greece and Serbia.
5. Italian
67,000,000 native speakers
Coming in at number 5, Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland (Ticino and the Grisons), San Marino and Vatican City.
6. English
63,000,000 native speakers
English is the global lingua franca, the most spoken language in the world with 63 million native speakers in Europe, mostly based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The English language is the de facto official language of England, the sole official language of Gibraltar, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and one of the official languages of the Republic of Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and the European Union.
7. Spanish
47,000,000 native speakers
There are 47 million native Spanish speakers in Europe. Most of them live in Spain and quite a few live in neighbouring countries like France and Portugal. Almost 10% of France’s population speaks Spanish as a native language. Did you know that Spanish is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn?
8. Polish
38,500,000 native speakers
There are around 38.5 million native Polish speakers. Most of them naturally live in Poland, but Polish is also widely spoken in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belarus and Ukraine. Polish is the second most spoken Slavic language after Russian.
9. Ukrainian
32,600,000 native speakers
There are around 32.6 million native Ukrainian speakers. Up until Russia’s invasion, most of them lived in Ukraine. Now you can hear Ukrainian in Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Slovakia. It’s worth mentioning that Ukrainian is closely related to Russian. It’s more related to Belarusian, Czech, Slovakian, Polish, Croatian and Bulgarian.
10. Dutch
22,000,000 native speakers
Dutch lands in position 10 in terms of native speakers. There are around 22 million native Dutch speakers and most of them come from the Netherlands and Belgium. Outside of Europe, Dutch is also the official language of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten.
