Languages On The Web

Top Ten Online Language Populations

Statistics compiled and updated on 31^st December 2009 by Internet World Stats shows that the top 10 languages on the web were:

1. English: 495,843,462 (27.5% of total worldwide internet users) with a 251.7% growth rate between 2000 and 2009.
2. Chinese: 407,650,713 (22.6%) / +1,162.0%
3. Spanish: 139,849,651 (7.8%) / +669.2%
4. Japanese: 95,979,000 (5.3%) / +103.9%
5. Portuguese: 77,569,900 (4.3%) / +923.9%
6. German: 71,782,234 (4.0%) / +160.9%
7. Arabic: 60,252,100 (3.3%) / +2,297.7%
8. French: 57,017,099 (3.2%) / +375.2%
9. Russian: 45,250,000 (2.5%) / +1,359.7%
10. Korean: 37,475,800 (2.1%) / +96.8%

Arabic (+2,297.7%), Russian (+1,359.7%) and Chinese (+1,162.0%) are the three languages that recorded the biggest growth rates between 2000 and 2009. (Internet World Stats, April 2010)

Other Languages On The Web

There were 407,650,713 internet users in Chinese speaking regions worldwide in December 2009, representing 22.6% of the total online population worldwide and 29.7% of the Chinese speaking regions  population , according to Internet World Stats.  This included:

- 384.0 million users in China
- 15.1 million in Taiwan
- 4.9 million in Hong Kong
- 3.4 million in Singapore
- 0.3 million in Macao

(Internet World Stats Newsletter, June 2010)

There were 71,782,234 internet users in German speaking regions worldwide in December 2009, representing 4% of the total online population worldwide and 75% of the German speaking regions population, according to Internet World Stats.  This included:

- 62.0 million users in Germany
- 5.9 million in Austria
- 3.7 million in Switzerland
- 0.2 million in Luxembourg
- 0.02 million in Liechtenstein  

(Internet World Stats Newsletter, June 2010)

There were 60,252,100 internet users in Arabic speaking regions worldwide in December 2009, representing 3.3% of the total online population worldwide and 17.5% of the Arabic speaking regions population, according to Internet World Stats.  This included the following top 10 Arabic speaking countries:

- 16.6 million users in Egypt
- 10.4 million in Morocco
- 7.8 million in Saudi Arabia
- 4.2 million in Sudan
- 4.1 million in Algeria
- 3.6 million in Syria
- 3.6 million in UAE
- 3.5 million in Tunisia
- 1.6 million in Jordan
- 1.0 million in Kuwait

(Internet World Stats Newsletter, June 2010)

There were 139,849,651 internet users in Spanish speaking regions worldwide in December 2009, representing 7.8% of the total online population worldwide and 34% of the Spanish speaking regions population, according to Internet World Stats.  This included the following top 10 Spanish speaking countries:

- 29.1 million users in Spain
- 27.6 million in Mexico
- 20.8 million in Colombia
- 20.0 million in Argentina
- 8.8 million in Venezuela
- 8.4 million in Chile
- 7.6 million in Peru
- 3.0 million in Dominican Republic
- 2.0 million in Guatemala
- 1.8 million in Ecuador

(Internet World Stats Newsletter, June 2010)

An English-only website is no longer sufficient, according to eConsultancy. For those under the illusion that their potential customers are all surfing the web in English, it is time to realize that the language of the web is multilingual.

People prefer to search and interact online in their own language: it's natural and comfortable. And the more relaxed a potential customer is when they're browsing an online store, the more likely they will make a purchase. That is, of course, if they even find your site in the first place. (HOTELMARKETING.COM, June 2009)