The State of the World’s 7,168 Living Languages
What are the roots of a living language, and how many are at risk of extinction?
This graphic, from Stephen Jones, CEO of Derivation.co, shows the state of living languages around the world.
Mapping Out Living Languages
Across the 7,168 living languages today, 43% are at risk of being endangered.
According to data from Ethnologue, languages are classified across 12 states of vitality and three broader categories:
- Endangered: Children do not learn and use the language, it is no longer the norm.
- Stable: A language is used in the home and community, all children learn the language, but it is not formally used in institutions.
- Institutional: A language is used beyond the community across institutions.
| Status Scale | Number of Languages |
Percent of Languages |
Number of Speakers | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dormant | 330 | 4.6% | 0 | Endangered |
| Nearly Extinct | 313 | 4.4% | 92,217 | Endangered |
| Moribund | 356 | 5.0% | 1,126,017 | Endangered |
| Shifting | 438 | 6.1% | 10,867,828 | Endangered |
| Threatened | 1,641 | 22.9% | 75,983,169 | Endangered |
| Vigorous | 1,963 | 27.4% | 308,820,743 | Stable |
| Written | 1,637 | 22.8% | 940,043,954 | Stable |
| Educational | 169 | 2.4% | 284,342,572 | Institutional |
| Trade | 172 | 2.4% | 820,230,460 | Institutional |
| Regional | 44 | 0.6% | 683,448,282 | Institutional |
| National | 99 | 1.4% | 2,232,001,096 | Institutional |
| International | 6 | 0.1% | 2,031,705,440 | Institutional |
Today, over 88 million people speak endangered languages.
Africa has 428 that are endangered, many which are clustered around the equator. Displacement, drought, and conflict are some of the key reasons that languages risk being endangered.
In North and Central America, 222 languages are at risk of extinction. In fact, 98% of Indigenous languages in the U.S. are endangered, one of the highest rates in the world.
Revitalizing Languages
Thanks to key initiatives, languages can be preserved.
For instance, during the 1970s, the Māori language was spoken by just 5% of Māori schoolchildren. Fast forward to today, and 25% speak the language, driven by efforts from the Māori, leading the government to protect it by law.
Advancements in AI are also providing tools to preserve languages. Google and Microsoft, for instance, are developing AI tools that can translate languages at impressive speeds, allowing for dying languages to become more accessible so they are not erased.
Source: Visualcapitalist.
