English Speaking Countries
With over 1.5 billion people worldwide either speak or are learning to speak English. This represents approximately 20% of the world’s population. English is a widely spoken language worldwide, it is not surprising that there are several countries where English is the official language. Check out our Languages of the World section to learn more about languages. Let’s take a closer look at the largest English-speaking countries in the world by population.
| Country Name | Number of English Speakers |
Official Language(s) |
| United States | 268 million | None at the federal level (English is the de facto national language) |
| India | 125 million | Hindi and English |
| Pakistan | 94 million | Urdu and English |
| Nigeria | 79 million | English |
| Philippines | 67 million | Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English |
| United Kingdom | 63 million | English |
| South Africa | 4.9 million | 11 official languages, including English |
| Canada | 27 million | English and French |
| Australia | 23 million | English |
| Ghana | 3.7 million | English |