What's the Status of the Spanish Language in the World

Spanish is the second most spoken language in terms of native speakers while it is the third most used language after English and Mandarin globally.

Statistics and data published by the World Bank and the British Council show that the top three languages spoken by native speakers are Chinese (Mandarin) with 1.2 billion speakers, Spanish with 329 million speakers and English with 328 million speakers. The ranking of the top languages used on the internet is the same: Spanish ranks third after English and Mandarin showing a significant increase in the number of Spanish speaking internet users since last decade.

Based on demographic and economic data, Spanish is among the top five most spoken languages in the world besides English, Chinese, Hindi-Urdu and Arabic. Spanish is the fastest growing language in world trade. It is expected that by the end of this century, 90% of the 7000 languages in the world will face extinction. Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn. On average, a native English speaker requires just 20 weeks worth of Spanish lessons to reach a level where social interaction in the target language is possible.

Recently, the Cervantes Institute published a report known as Spanish in the World (El español en el mundo). The publication demonstrates the growth of the Spanish language.

•    Spanish is spoken by more than 495 million people throughout the world.
•    It is the second most used language for international communication.
•    Based on demographics, there will be 525 million Spanish speakers in the world by 2030. Furthermore, the USA will be a Spanish speaking country 50 years from now.
•    Nearly 18 million people study Spanish as a foreign language.
•    With a population of 112 million, Mexico is the country with the most Spanish speakers followed by Colombia and Spain respectively.
•    In the USA, there are 50 million Spanish speakers and this number is gradually increasing. More than 15 million people speak Spanish throughout the European Union.
•    In the last few years, the number of people who come to study Spanish in Spain has risen by more than half (137%).
•    7.8% of internet users communicate over the internet using Spanish. Spain and Mexico have the highest number of internet users.
•    The Hispanic community makes up the biggest segment of the consumer market in the USA; within a few years their buying power will exceed $1.3 billion. This will directly affects any brands that use Spanish language in their marketing and/or advertising.