General: The figures in the first column are not meant to represent the number of people who speak the languages in question. They correspond to the number of people online in each language (i.e. native speakers), in millions. For details of how many are online in each country, click here, and for a general overview of the evolution of these online language zones (1995-2002), click here.  There is some overlap between English and non-English figures, since many Americans access the Web in two languages.  The 1990 U.S. Census stated that there were 32 M people online who do not speak English at home, which accounts for an overlap of 12 million Americans who access the Internet in English and their own native language (and many cannot speak English), plus some in other countries we counted twice because there are large foreign populations there, who go online in their own language. Hence we deduct 12.6 million from the sum of all the language families to arrive at a final figure for "total world online population". The column entitled "Total pop." refers to the total numbers of people in each language family. The figures are quoted from the Ethnologue (Feb., 1999).  GDP: "Gross Domestic Product" (called "GNP" in the United States and "GDP" in all other countries) represents the total economy of a country. Our figures for GDPs and populations were taken from the OECD (1998 figures), the CIA World Factbook (www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/, 1997 figures) and from the United Nation's Infonation (www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm). The "GDP per capita" column is reported in thousands of US$.  The source for the column "Net Hosts" is Network Wizards (Jan., 1999).  Return to main statistics page Language use in the U.S./Canada: many of the people who access the Internet outside the English language live in the U.S./Canada (that is, when they access it from home; at work they most likely access the Net in English). The figures are impressive: 32 million Americans switch from English to another language when they get home at night, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (1990 figures). (An article in the 1998 press gave this statistic as 45 million.) In 1990, the number of Americans speaking another language than English at home contained these major language groups:  Spanish: 31 M (the only figure for which we have recent figures: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)  French: 1.9 M (this and the rest of these figures are from the 1990 U.S. Census)  German: 1.5 M  Italian: 1.3 M  Chinese: 1.3 M  Polish: 0.72 M  Korean: 0.63 M  Japanese: 0.43 M  Portuguese: 0.43 M  Greek 0.39 M  Scandinavian languages: 0.2 M  Hungarian 0.15 M  The logical conclusion is that if they are not speaking English at home, and they read newspapers in their own language, most likely they want to access the Internet in their own language too. These linguistic populations can be served better in their own language than in English, since they are bound to access the Internet in their native language (at home). Since the average online penetration in the U.S. is 38% (100 M out of 260 M population), we use 30% as the penetration rate for Internet access, as studies show Hispanics are not as often online as other Americans. Our estimate is that there are some 10 M Americans who are more likely to access the Internet at home in their own language, rather than in English.  Total World Online Population: The methodology used in the above chart is to include these Americans who do not speak English at home in their own language group. However, this means that they are counted twice: once as a part of the 100 M Americans online, again as part of the Spanish, Chinese, etc. online populations. Hence the final sum of people online worldwide equals "English" plus "non-English" populations, less 10 M (the "overlap" area).  We have kept these statistics since late-1995, when non-English countries were first coming online in a significant way.  If you are interested in seeing the past figures and future projections, click here.  Return to main statistics page European Languages: (1) English: U.S. The first joint data released from Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings has identified 100 million people as having Internet access (one-half of the adult U.S. population.  Canada has 13.5 M adults online (Source: ComQuest, 3/99) of which 78% live in English-speaking part of Canada (hence 10.3 M English-speaking people online)  Australia has 5 M (Australian Bureau of Statistics 9/98)  The U.K. has around 12.2 M people online (Source: Q4, Sept., 1999).  Ireland has 275 K people online (Source: Amarach Consulting, Oct., 1998).  South Africa has 1.2 M people online (Source: Media Africa, 1999)  New Zealand has 315 K people online (IDC Research)  Countries who use English to access the Internet:  India: 1.5 M (internet.com news)  The Philippines: 100 K  Adding up these figures yields 133 M people online who access the Internet in English.  (2) Czech: 270 K (source: IDC and Virtual Info Park)  (3) Dutch: The latest figures from Mistermail state that there are 4.5 M people online in Netherlands (Oct., 1998). Among the 1.4 M people online in Belgium (Initiative Media), three-quarters of them, or 1.05 M, are Flemish (that is, Dutch-speaking). Combined Dutch-speaking online populations is 5.6 M.  (4) Finnish: There are 1.6 M people online in Finland, according to Business Arena Stockholm (May, 1999) (5) French: There are 6.2 M people in France online (source:  market research firm Mediangles, July, 1999). Quebec follows at 2.3 M (26% penetration of the 9 million Quebecois - source: eMarket Newsletter, 4/99; this penetration rate is less than in the rest of Canada). One must add 276 K French-speakers in Switzerland (23% of the 1.2 M Swiss online, according to WEFN marketing research, Sept., 1998). Among the 1.4 M people online in Belgium (Initiative Media), one-quarter of them, or 350 K, are from the French-speaking provinces. Another 760 K Americans who access the Internet in French (40% of the French-speaking American population). (We will not count the French-speaking users in Africa, although there are a good 7 to 10 M Africans who speak French there: Internet access is simply not readily available in most African countries.) This gives a total of nearly 9.9 M French-speaking people online worldwide.  (6) German: The marketing intelligence agency GfK reported that there are 12 M Germans online (Sept., 1998: GfK-Online-Monitor), to which one must add 861 K German-speakers in Switzerland (72% of the 1.2 M Swiss online, according to WEFN marketing research, Sept., 1998), and 500 K in Austria (according to the Information Technology, Dec., 1997). We estimate another 530 K Americans who access the Internet in German from home. This gives a total of 14 M German-speaking people online worldwide.  (7) Greek: 111 K Greeks online, according to (IDC Research). We estimate another 150 K Americans who access the Internet in Greek from home.  This gives a total of 260 K Greeks online worldwide.  (8) Hungarian: There are 250 K people in Hungary online, accord to Szonda Ipsos, and another 50 K Hungarian speakers online in the U.S. Total: 300 K.  (9) Italian: A recent study by Osservatorio Internet Italia indicates that 5 million Italians are online (May, 1998). We estimate another 520 K Americans who access the Internet in Italian from home, to which one must add 60 K Italian-speakers in Switzerland (5% of the 1.2 M Swiss online, according to WEFN marketing research, Sept., 1998), and another 100 K Italians online living in Australia. This gives 5.7 M Italian-speaking people online worldwide.  (10) Polish: 700 K people from Poland are online, accord to (NUA). We estimate another 250 K Americans who access the Internet in Polish from home. That makes a total of 950 K Polish-speakers online worldwide.  Return to main statistics page (11) Portuguese: There are some 3 million people online in Brazil (source: Business Week). To this must be added another 188 K in Portugal (according to AGB Marketest in Dec., 1997). We estimate another 172 K Americans who access the Internet in Portuguese from home. Total estimated Portuguese online users: 3.4 M  (12) Russian: The ComCon estimates that there are now about 1.3 M Russians online (Dec., 1998): this number doubles every year. Two-thirds of them are in the greater Moscow area. We estimate another 70 K Americans who access the Internet in Russian from home. Total estimated Russian online users: 1.4 M  (13) Scandinavian languages: Business Arena Stockholm estimate that there are 3.6 M Swedes online (May, 1999). One must also add Swedish speakers in Finland, as 20% of Finland speaks Swedish: 320 K. The total is 3.9 M Swedish-speakers worldwide.  Business Arena Stockholm estimates that there are 1.6 M Norwegians on line.  Business Arena Stockholm reports that there are 1.7 M people online in Denmark (Jan., 1999). Amarach Consulting reports 380 K people online in Iceland (March, 1999).  (14) Slovak: Net Projekt reports 510 K people online in the Slovak Republic (Sept. 98).  (15) Spanish: AIMC estimates 3.1 M people online in Spain (June, 1999). Business Week estimates there are 7.5 M people online in South America, but one has do deduct 3.68 M Brazilians online. This number should increase to 38 M by the end of 2000 (source: IDC). Within the U.S., there are 31 M Latinos (according to the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services), and 15% of the U.S. Hispanics are online today (according to USA Today): 4.7 M U.S. Hispanics online. This group should not be ignored or considered inconsequential because of lower income: by end of 1999 their estimated buying power will top $380 billion, more than the GDP of Mexico. Hispanic purchasing power grows by $1 billion every two weeks, and has the potential to reach $1 trillion by 2010 (source: Miami Herald).  Adding non-U.S. and U.S. Spanish-speaking online populations yields 11.7 M Spanish-speaking people online worldwide.  (16) Turkish. There are 150 K people online in Turkey (Source: Technserver), to which should be added the number of Turks in Germany who are online (there is a large Turkish community in Germany).     Asian Languages: (17): Arabic. DIT Net recently released a report that brings the online population of the Arabic world at nearly one million (April, 1999): Egypt (207 K), UAE (204 K), Lebanon (132 K), Saudi Arabia (113 K), Kuwait (63 K), Oman (40 K), Morocco (33 K), Bahrain (33 K), Qatar (28 K), Tunesia (15 K), and Yemen (6 K). Just 0.11% of the total Arab population has Internet access, while only 5% of Arab homes have a telephone.  Total: 945 K.  (18) Chinese. There are 4 M people online in mainland China (source: Las Vegas Sun), to which one must add 850 K in Hong Kong (source: AC Nielsen, April, 1998) and 4 M in Taiwan (according to the Institute for Information Industry). In Singapore, there are 500 K online (Source: Nielsen), who access the Internet in Chinese, English and the local dialect. We estimate another 520 K Americans who access the Internet in Chinese from home. This gives a total of 9.9 M Chinese-speaking people online.  (19) Hebrew: Israel's economy is becoming more and more dependent on their technology companies, and Internet is very accepted. Teleseeker Research in Israel estimates that there are 800 K Isralis online.  (20) Japanese: Latest reports at Nikkei BP Survey estimate that there are 19.5 M Internet users in Japan (May, 1999). As there are estimated to be some 430 K Japanese living in the U.S., we estimate another 170 K Japanese Americans who access the Internet in Japanese. That makes a total of 19.7 Japanese speakers online (not counting those living in Europe).  (21) Korean: The number of Korean Internet users is estimated at 4 M (InternetNews Korea - May, 1999). We estimate another 250 K Americans who access the Internet in Korean from home, for a total of 4.25 M Korean-speakers online worldwide.  (22) Malay: Jaring Network estimates 600 K Malaysians online (Jan., 1998). As the same language is spoken in Indonesia, we also include 80 K Indonesians online, according to Outlook 1998.  (23) Thai: There are 131 K people in Thailand online (source: IDC Research). Global Reach has been tracking non-English online populations since 1995.  You can see a graph of the growth of these online populations by clicking here.  If you have more accurate statistics, they would be greatly appreciated:  globstats@glreach.com Return to main statistics page  Editor: This page is edited by Global Reach, a marketing communications consultancy that assists clients attract Website visitors worldwide from all countries that are online. Internet marketing is global (that is, multi-lingual) by nature, and this requires expertise in international marketing. We can expand a single-language site to several languages and actively promote the it within target countries. We also sponsor several newsletters and discussion groups about online marketing in an international context.  Come visit the Global Reach Web site -- languages available:

 

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