Main languages spoken at home in Nigeria 2020

The primary languages spoken at home in Nigeria are Hausa, Yoruba, and English. In a survey conducted in 2020, around 31 percent of respondents declared that they mainly spoke Hausa at home. Some 17 percent, on the other hand, had Yoruba as their main family language. English followed, with 12.6 percent of the respondents indicating it. Some other languages spoken in Nigerian households are Igbo, Fulani, Tiv, Nupe, Pidgin English, and Ijaw.

One of the most diverse countries

There are over 500 languages in Nigeria. The country has only one official language, English. According to estimates from 2018, Nigeria's major ethnic groups are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, Tiv, Kanuri, and Beriberi. Hausa, the largest population, is an ethnic group of people speaking the Hausa language. The Hausa are mainly present in West Africa, most of them living between Nigeria and Niger.

English is the main language at school

The main language of instruction at school is generally English. However, for the first years of education also an indigenous or local language should be taught. As of 2019, around 72 percent of young women and 78 percent of young men in Nigeria were literate in English. This means they could understand, read, and write a short, simple statement, for instance, on their everyday life in English.