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Data

Living languages

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About this data

Living languages
The number of languages, indigenous and non-indigenous, that are still used.
Source
Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
July 17, 2024
Next expected update
July 2025
Date range
2024–2024
Unit
languages

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Ethnologue is a comprehensive reference work cataloging the world’s languages, providing data on over 7,000 living languages, including their distribution, number of speakers, and classification. It serves as a key resource for linguists, educators, and researchers interested in global linguistic diversity.

Retrieved on
July 17, 2024
Retrieved from
https://www.ethnologue.com/codes/
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2024. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-seventh edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline
Notes on our processing step for this indicator

Languages are aggregated to the continent level with each language being counted only once for each region it is spoken in.

Reuse this work

  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
  • All data, visualizations, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Living languages”. Our World in Data (2024). Data adapted from Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/living-languages [online resource]
How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data

Full citation

Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Living languages” [dataset]. Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International, “Ethnologue” [original data]. Retrieved December 4, 2024 from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/living-languages