List of countries by Spanish-speaking population

The following is a list of Spanish-speaking populations by country, including information on both native speakers and second-language speakers.

Official data

Country Eligible population Total Spanish speakers Total % As a first language L1 % As an additional language[a] L2 or L3 % Notes / Sources
Spain 49,315,949 48,908,080 99.17% 42,214,452 85.60% 6,693,628 13.57% As of the 2021 Essential Population and Housing Characteristics Survey (ECEPOV), which complemented the 2021 census.[1]
United States 321,745,943 44,867,699 13.94% As of the 2024 American Community Survey (ACS).[2]
Puerto Rico 3,285,874 3,115,009 94.80% As of the 2020 census.[3]
Belize 397,483 199,393 50.16% As of the 2022 census, which reported that 54% of Belizeans could speak Spanish. However, not everyone answered the question.[4]
Australia 25,422,797 171,378 0.67% As of the 2021 census.[5]
New Zealand 4,993,923 47,004 0.94% As of the 2023 census.[6]

El Español del Mundo 2025

Each year, the Instituto Cervantes releases a report titled El Español del Mundo (lit. 'The World's Spanish'), reporting the estimated number of Spanish speakers in several countries worldwide. Below is information from the 2025 report, with percentages calculated from the country's estimated population in 2025. Countries and territories in bold have Spanish as an official language (either de facto or de jure), while those in italics are not countries or territories.[7]

Country Eligible population Total Spanish speakers Total % As a first language L1 % As an additional language L2 or L3 %
Mexico 131,946,900 131,814,953 99.9% 124,030,086 94.0% 7,784,867 5.9%
United States 341,784,857 65,000,000 19.1% 45,000,000 13.2% 20,000,000 5.9%
Colombia 99.9% 98.0% 1.9%
Spain 99.3% 96.0% 3.3%
Argentina 99.9% 98.7% 1.2%
European Union[b] 45,800,000 11,300,000 34,300,000
Peru 88.9% 86.0% 2.9%
Venezuela 99.9% 97.0% 2.9%
Chile 99.9% 96.0% 3.9%
Ecuador 96.8% 94.0% 2.8%
Guatemala 94.0% 76.0% 18.0%
Bolivia 98.7% 81.0% 17.7%
Dominican Republic 99.9% 95.0% 4.9%
Cuba 99.9% 98.9% 0.1%
Honduras 99.9% 95.0% 4.5%
Paraguay 99.0% 67.0% 32.0%
Nicaragua 99.9% 97.0% 2.9%
El Salvador 99.9% 98.9% 0.1%
United Kingdom
Costa Rica 99.9% 99.0% 0.9%
Panama 99.0% 86.0% 13.0%
Uruguay 99.9% 99.0% 0.9%
Puerto Rico 99.9% 95.0% 4.9%
Brazil 3,000,000 1,100,000 1,900,000
Morocco 1,900,000 137,000 1,800,000
Equatorial Guinea 99.9% 74.0% 25.9%
Canada 1,400,000 321,000 1,000,000
Australia 27,840,775 572,000 2.1% 185,000 0.7% 387,000 1.4%
 Switzerland 566,000 214,000 351,000
Philippines 554,000 6,800 548,000
Israel 440,000 80,000 36,000
Belize 238,000 39,000 199,000
Commonwealth of Independent States[c] 209,000 56,000 154,000
Dutch Caribbean[d] 177,000 37,000 141,000
Algeria 175,000 1,000 174,000
Trinidad and Tobago 117,000 49,000 68,000
Aruba 96,000 18,000 78,000
Japan 91,000 74,000 17,000
Andorra 89,058 74,000 83.1% 35,000 39.3% 39,000 43.8%
Mariana Islands[e] 224,451 42,000 18.7%
China 32,000 20,000 12,000
Norway 31,000 27,000 4,000
New Zealand 28,000 0.5%
Moldova 16,000 11,000 5,000
South Korea 14,000 4,000 10,000
Turkey 12,000 7,000 5,000
India 11,000 7,500 3,500
Jamaica 9,000 8,500 500
World 8,300,000,000 635,743,644 7.7% 519,000,000 6.3% 116,743,644 1.4%
  1. ^ Statistics on second language speakers are not precise; partly because there is no widely agreed definition of second language speakers (no differentiation between countries where Spanish is the lingua franca and those where it is not).
  2. ^ Excludes:
    • Spain (counted separately)
  3. ^ Includes: Excludes:
  4. ^ Includes Excludes:
    • Aruba (counted separately)
  5. ^ Includes:

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ "Encuesta de Características Esenciales de la Población y Viviendas (ECEPOV)" [Essential Population and Housing Characteristics Survey (ECEPOV)] (PDF) (in Spanish). National Statistics Institute.
  2. ^ "Language Spoken at Home". United States Census Bureau.
  3. ^ "Puerto Rico". United States Census Bureau.
  4. ^ "Languages spoken in Belize according to the 2022 Census" (PDF). Statistical Institute of Belize.
  5. ^ "Census of Population and Housing: Cultural diversity data summary, 2021, Table 5. Language used at home by state and territory". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Most common languages spoken in New Zealand other than English". Figure.nz.
  7. ^ Poorte, Marielle (24 November 2025). "How many people in the world speak Spanish?". Speak Easy.
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