Languages spoken in China
Asia · Capital: Beijing · Population 1.4 billion
In China, three languages have official status: Chinese, English, and Portuguese. Cantonese is used as a de facto official language. A further five languages hold official status at regional level: Uyghur, Zhuang, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Korean. Chinese is the most widely spoken language, with an estimated 90.6% of the population speaking it as a first or additional language, or roughly 1.3 billion people. After Chinese, the most widely spoken are Cantonese at 10.9% and Wu Chinese at 6%. Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is also spoken in two of its 14 neighbours: Mongolia and Vietnam. In total, 15 languages are recorded in China, and their shares add up to 118.6% of the population, which implies the average resident speaks about 1.2 of them.
What languages are spoken in China?
| Language | Share of population | Status | Estimated speakers |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChineseSino-Tibetan | 90.6% | Official | 1.3 billion |
| CantoneseSino-Tibetan | 10.9% | De facto official | 154.4 million |
| Wu ChineseSino-Tibetan | 6% | Spoken | 85 million |
| Xiang Chinese | 2.9% | Spoken | 41.1 million |
| Hakka ChineseSino-Tibetan | 2.3% | Spoken | 32.6 million |
| Min Nan ChineseSino-Tibetan | 1.9% | Spoken | 26.9 million |
| Gan ChineseSino-Tibetan | 1.7% | Spoken | 24.1 million |
| Sichuan Yi | 0.6% | Spoken | 8.5 million |
| UyghurTurkic | 0.6% | Official (regional) | 7.8 million |
| Zhuang | 0.3% | Official (regional) | 4.4 million |
| EnglishIndo-European | 0.3% | Official | 3.9 million |
| MongolianMongolic | 0.3% | Official (regional) | 3.7 million |
| TibetanSino-Tibetan | 0.2% | Official (regional) | 2.8 million |
| KoreanKoreanic | 0.1% | Official (regional) | 2.1 million |
| PortugueseIndo-European | <0.1% | Official | 14,822 |
Percentages are the share of the population that speaks each language, including as a second language, so they add up to well over 100% in multilingual countries. Speaker counts are estimates derived from the percentage and the country's population, not counted figures.
What is the official language of China?
In China, three languages have official status: Chinese, English, and Portuguese. Cantonese is also used as a de facto official language. A further five languages are official at regional or state level: Uyghur, Zhuang, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Korean. Chinese is spoken by an estimated 90.6% of the population, or roughly 1.3 billion people, counting both first-language and additional speakers. A de facto official language is one used throughout government and public life without being named as official in law.
Official status comes from Unicode CLDR. It distinguishes languages that are official nationwide, those used as de facto official without being named in law, and those official only in particular regions or territories.
How many people speak Chinese in China?
An estimated 90.6% of China's 1.4 billion people speak Chinese, which works out at roughly 1.3 billion speakers. That figure is derived from the population and the reported share, and it counts second-language speakers, so it is an estimate rather than a census count.
Key facts about China
- Capital
- Beijing
- Population
- 1.4 billion
- Continent
- Asia
- Area
- 9,706,961 km²
- Currency
- CNY
- Languages recorded
- 15
- Land borders
- 14
- ISO codes
- CN / CHN / 156
Which countries border China?
China shares a land border with 14 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. Chinese, the most widely spoken language in China, is also spoken in Mongolia and Vietnam.
Explore more
Language shares, population, and official status: Unicode CLDR. Capital, area, borders, and currency: mledoze/countries (ODbL 1.0). Flag image: flagcdn.com. Speaker counts are estimates derived from population and reported share.