As of January 2024, English was the most popular language for web content, with over 52 percent of websites using it. Spanish ranked second, with 5.5 percent of web content, while the content in the German language followed, with 4.8 percent.
English as the leading online language
United States and India, the countries with the most internet users after China, are also the world's biggest English-speaking markets. The internet user base in both countries combined, as of January 2023, was over a billion individuals. This has led to most of the online information being created in English. Consequently, even those who are not native speakers may use it for convenience.
Global internet usage by regions
As of January 2023, the number of internet users worldwide was 5.16 billion. Asia was leading among the global regions, with more than half of global internet users, an estimated 2.9 billion, as of July 2022. Europe was the second region, followed by North America. Regarding internet penetration rates worldwide, Northern Europe was leading as of January 2023, with over 97 percent of its population accessing the internet.
Languages most frequently used for web content as of January 2024, by share of websites
share of websites featuring content in each language, compared with the share of the global population that speaks each language
Supplementary notes
The source adds the following information: "Languages include sub-languages (e.g. "Chinese" Includes mandarin, Yue, etc.). Figures are based on a traffic analysis for the top ten million websites, as ranked by Alexa Internet."
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DataReportal, & We Are Social, & Meltwater. (January 31, 2024). Languages most frequently used for web content as of January 2024, by share of websites [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved November 12, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/most-common-languages-on-the-internet/
DataReportal, und We Are Social, und Meltwater. "Languages most frequently used for web content as of January 2024, by share of websites." Chart. January 31, 2024. Statista. Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/most-common-languages-on-the-internet/
DataReportal, We Are Social, Meltwater. (2024). Languages most frequently used for web content as of January 2024, by share of websites. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: November 12, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/most-common-languages-on-the-internet/
DataReportal, and We Are Social, and Meltwater. "Languages Most Frequently Used for Web Content as of January 2024, by Share of Websites." Statista, Statista Inc., 31 Jan 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/most-common-languages-on-the-internet/
DataReportal & We Are Social & Meltwater, Languages most frequently used for web content as of January 2024, by share of websites Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/most-common-languages-on-the-internet/ (last visited November 12, 2024)
Languages most frequently used for web content as of January 2024, by share of websites [Graph], DataReportal, & We Are Social, & Meltwater, January 31, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/most-common-languages-on-the-internet/