How many languages are there in the world?

7,164 languages are in use today.

That number is constantly in flux, because we're learning more about the world's languages every day. And beyond that, the languages themselves are in flux. They’re living and dynamic, used by communities whose lives are shaped by our rapidly changing world. This is a fragile time: Roughly 44% of all languages are now endangered, often with fewer than 1,000 users remaining. Meanwhile, the world's 20 largest languages are the native tongue of more than 3.6 billion people total. That's just 0.3% of the world's languages accounting for nearly half of the world’s population!

About Ethnologue Ethnologue is the research center for language intelligence. We help you identify languages, find where they’re used, get population estimates, and more. See Features »