34 of the Most Spoken Languages in Europe: Key Facts and Figures
Chad Emery
Published on April 7, 2025
This article shows you the most spoken languages in Europe. There are up to 200 different languages spoken on the continent, and we decided to take a look at 34 of the most common ones.
Europe is a continent full of diversity, both culturally and linguistically. Traveling between the countries can show you just how broad this diversity actually is, too. That’s what makes Europe one of the biggest destinations for tourists, students and academics, and professionals in the world.
Speaking one (or more) of the languages on this list can open doors to millions of people, new personal and professional opportunities, and more. Some of the languages also made the list of the most spoken languages in the world!
Take a look below at some interesting facts about each language and also check out some of the best ways to learn each one.
Editor’s note: This post was first published in December 2022 and has since been updated and refreshed in April 2025 to ensure accuracy and completeness.
What Are The Most Spoken Languages In Europe?
To determine what the most spoken languages in Europe are, we pulled data from a variety of sources. Most of the figures come from Ethnologue, and other sources include the UK Census and various government bodies throughout Europe. For a more complete list of the languages spoken in Europe, you can read this article.
The table below shows 34 of the most spoken languages in Europe by number of native speakers.
| Language | Number of Native Speakers |
|---|---|
| Russian | 106,000,000 |
| German | 97,000,000 |
| French | 81,000,000 |
| Italian | 65,000,000 |
| English | 63,000,000 |
| Spanish | 47,000,000 |
| Polish | 38,500,000 |
| Ukrainian | 32,600,000 |
| Romanian | 24,000,000 |
| Dutch | 22,000,000 |
| Turkish | 15,750,000 |
| Greek | 13,500,000 |
| Hungarian | 13,000,000 |
| Swedish | 11,100,000 |
| Czech | 10,600,000 |
| Portuguese | 10,000,000 |
| Serbian | 9,000,000 |
| Bulgarian | 7,800,000 |
| Croatian | 5,600,000 |
| Danish | 5,500,000 |
| Finnish | 5,400,000 |
| Norwegian | 5,200,000 |
| Slovak | 5,200,000 |
| Catalan | 4,000,000 |
| Lithuanian | 3,000,000 |
| Bosnian | 2,500,000 |
| Galician | 2,400,000 |
| Slovene | 2,100,000 |
| Latvian | 1,750,000 |
| Estonian | 1,165,000 |
| Welsh | 562,000 |
| Icelandic | 330,000 |
| Irish | 240,000 |
Russian
106,000,000 native speakers
The Russian language has about 106 million native speakers. It is the official language of 4 different countries (Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan). It’s also commonly spoken in former Soviet countries like Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine.
In addition to being one of the most spoken languages on Earth, it’s also the language of space! Astronauts have to learn Russian before launching into space because the International Space Station uses both Russian and English.
If you want to learn the language, you can check out the best apps to learn Russian.
German
97,000,000 native speakers
The second most spoken language in Europe is German. There are around 97 million native German speakers. They mostly come from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but you can also find some in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Lichtenstein.
Even though it’s the second most spoken language in Europe, German is actually the most spoken language in the European Union (EU). You’d be surprised how much German you already know if you speak English – they share about 60% of their vocabulary!
To start learning it, you can check out these apps to learn German.
French
81,000,000 native speakers
French is the next language on the list and it has around 81 million native speakers. Close to 20% of people in the European Union speak French as a native or second language. French is also the second most-taught language in the world behind English.
The language shares about 45% of its vocabulary with English, although the grammar and pronunciation are pretty different. If you learn French, you’ll be able to talk with people in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Monaco.
This list of the best apps to learn French can help you start speaking today.
Italian
65,000,000 native speakers
Italian is the fourth language on the list and there are around 65 million native speakers. It’s the official language of Italy, San Marino, and the Vatican City (along with Latin). There are also quite a few Italian speakers scattered around the globe, including 700,000 in the United States.
An interesting fact about the Italian language is that it only has 21 letters. You won’t see any Italian words with J, K, W, X and Y. You may also notice people speaking different dialects of the language throughout Italy. Sometimes the dialects are so different that native speakers can’t even understand each other!
If you want to start learning the language, you can check out this list of apps to learn Italian.
English
63,000,000 native speakers
While there are only 63 million native English speakers in Europe, there are over 1 billion in the world. That’s because English is the most spoken language in the world. 63 million is still quite a bit in Europe though. You’ll mostly find native English speakers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
English is one of the fastest growing languages in terms of vocabulary, too. Hundreds of new words find their way into the official dictionaries every year. While it may be easy to learn new vocabulary, pronouncing it is another matter in English. For example, there are 10 different ways to pronounce the letter combination “ough”!
To learn more, you can take a look at the best apps to learn English.
Spanish
47,000,000 native speakers
Most native Spanish speakers come from the Americas, but there’s still an astounding 47 million of them in Europe. Not surprisingly, most native Spanish speakers in Europe live in Spain.
You may be surprised to learn that quite a few live in neighboring countries like France and Portugal though. In fact, almost 10% of France’s population speaks Spanish as a native language.
If you want to learn it, you can read through these apps to learn Spanish.
Polish
38,500,000 native speakers
There are around 38.5 million native Polish speakers. Most of them come from Poland, but you can also find native speakers in the Czech Republic, Belarus, Ukraine, and other nearby countries.
English and Polish share a few of the same words, but they’re mostly all related to food. Examples include kielbasa (a sausage) and pierogies (a type of dumpling). Polish also has some similarities to other Slavic languages, like Serbian, Russian, and Ukrainian.
You can check out these Polish learning apps to start studying the language today.
Ukrainian
32,600,000 native speakers
There are around 32.6 million native Ukrainian speakers. While the majority of them live in Ukraine, you can also hear Ukrainian in Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, and Slovakia.
One of the biggest misconceptions about Ukrainian is that it’s closely related to Russian. It’s actually more related to Belarusian, Czech, Slovakian, Polish, Croatian, and Bulgarian. Most of these are also some of the most spoken languages in Europe!
Take a look at some of the best apps to learn Ukrainian if you want to pick up some new vocab.
Romanian
24,000,000 native speakers
Romanian is the next language on the list with about 24 million native speakers. Although you may native speakers only come from Romania, that’s not true. Romanian is also the official language of Moldova (sometimes called Moldovan).
It’s a romance language, which means it shares common roots with Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. You may be surprised how much Romanian you understand if you’ve learned another romance language!
Check out these Romanian learning apps if you want to start learning the language.
Dutch
22,000,000 native speakers
Dutch follows closely behind Romanian 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.
It’s a Germanic language, which means it’s pretty closely related to English and German. It’s also somewhat (although not very) mutually-intelligible with Afrikaans, the language of South Africa.
A lot of apps can help you learn it, but I think these are the best apps to learn Dutch.