Languages spoken in Germany: map, families and speakers

Languages of Germany at a glance

38living languages
2language families
84.1 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
19with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Germany. Areas are generalisations from published atlases and overlap, and a language that is mapped here is not necessarily spoken everywhere inside its area.

Languages spoken in Germany

Languages with a Unicode CLDR share come first, biggest first by estimated speakers; the rest follow A to Z. Estimated speakers are the share applied to CLDR’s own population figure for the country.

Language	Family	Share of population	Estimated speakers	Status
German	Indo-European	91%	76,548,381	Not endangered
English	Indo-European	64%	53,836,224	Not endangered
French	Indo-European	18%	15,141,438	Not endangered
Bavarian	Indo-European	17%	14,300,247	Threatened
Eastern Low German	Indo-European	12%	10,094,292	Threatened
Dutch	Indo-European	9%	7,570,719	Not endangered
Italian	Indo-European	7%	5,888,337	Not endangered
Ostfränkisch	Indo-European	6%	5,047,146	Threatened
Russian	Indo-European	6%	5,047,146	Not endangered
Spanish	Indo-European	6%	5,047,146	Not endangered
Turkish	Turkic	2.5%	2,102,978	Not endangered
Central Alemannic	Indo-European	2.3%	1,934,739	Threatened
Danish	Indo-European	2%	1,682,382	Not endangered
Swabian	Indo-European	1%	841,191	Threatened
Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian	Indo-European	0.8%	664,541	Not endangered
Northern Kurdish	Indo-European	0.7%	555,186	Threatened
Modern Greek	Indo-European	0.4%	319,653	Not endangered
Kölsch	Indo-European	0.3%	252,357	Threatened
Polish	Indo-European	0.3%	243,945	Not endangered
Balkan Romani	Indo-European			Not endangered
Central East Middle German	Indo-European			Not endangered
Central Romani	Indo-European			Not endangered
Eastphalian	Indo-European			Threatened
Ems-Weser Frisian	Indo-European			Shifting
German Northern Low Saxon	Indo-European			Threatened
Gronings	Indo-European			Threatened
Jutish	Indo-European			Shifting
Limburgan	Indo-European			Threatened
Lower Silesian	Indo-European			Threatened
Lower Sorbian	Indo-European			Shifting
Moselle Franconian	Indo-European			Threatened
Northern Frisian	Indo-European			Shifting
Pfaelzisch-Lothringisch	Indo-European			Threatened
Sinte-Manus Romani	Indo-European			Not endangered
Upper Sorbian	Indo-European			Threatened
Vlax Romani	Indo-European			Not endangered
Westphalic	Indo-European			Threatened
Yeniche	unclassified			Shifting

Language families in Germany

Indo-European (36 languages)
Turkic (1 language)
Unclassified (1 language)

About these numbers

The list of languages in Germany comes from the overlap of Glottography and Glottolog language areas and positions with the country outline, together with the languages Glottolog assigns to the country. The shares come from Unicode CLDR release 48 and are estimates. See every source and licence.

Questions about languages in Germany

How many languages are spoken in Germany?

38 living languages are mapped in Germany, from 2 families. The number depends on how a catalogue decides where one language ends and another begins, so other sources give other totals.

What is the most spoken language in Germany?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, German is spoken by 91% of the population, about 76,548,381 people, followed by English (64%). Shares are approximate, can add up to more than 100% because many people speak several languages, and only cover languages CLDR has a figure for.

Which language families are found in Germany?

Indo-European (36 languages) and Turkic (1 language).