5 Indian Languages among Top 20 Most Spoken Languages Worldwide in 2025

Current Context: On 14th May 2025, The Ethnologue’s 2025 Global Language Rankings report highlights the top 20 most spoken languages worldwide, with five Indian languages securing spots in the list.

Key Insights from the Report:

• English remains the most spoken language with 1.53 billion speakers, followed by Mandarin Chinese (1.25 billion).
• Five Indian languages ranked in the top 20 globally—Hindi (3rd), Bengali (7th), Urdu (11th), Marathi (16th), and Telugu (18th).
• Spanish (558.5 million speakers) and Standard Arabic (334.8 million speakers) round out the top five.
• The report emphasizes India’s linguistic diversity and the global influence of Indian languages.

Question:

Q.1 How many Indian languages feature in the top 20 most spoken languages globally in the 2025 Ethnologue report?
a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 6

Answer: c) The report highlights five Indian languages in the top 20: Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Marathi, and Telugu.