Not all countries speak English as a primary language (Image: Getty)
The language is spoken by around 380 million native speakers around the world – and it’s also the most common second language thanks to the business and travel opportunities it presents.
It counts learners from 122 countries according to Yahoo Finance – but being fluent .
The United States and United Kingdom are often assumed to be the centres of English-speaking populations thanks to their size – and the US can count 230 million English speakers across its 50 states, making it the largest English-speaking country in the world.
But a percentage breakdown tells a different story – with only one country around the globe boasting a 100% English-speaking population, and it’s not the US or UK.
In fact, it’s British Overseas Territory , compiled using Census data alongside information from Crystal, Euromonitor, Eurobarometer and other local sources.
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Gibraltar is the only country where 100% of the population primarily speak English (Image: Getty)
It’s followed by Ireland, with a percentage of 98.37%, then the UK, which has a fluent population of 98.3%
New Zealand is just behind it, with a rate of 97.8% and the US – a melting pot of different cultures and languages – is estimated to have a 95.5% English-speaking population.
Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark fill out the rest of the top 10 for fluency, all hovering just above or below 90%.
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Meanwhile, the country with the lowest rate of fluency is reportedly China, with a staggeringly low percentage of 0.9%.
It’s followed by Brazil and , both at 5%, then India at 10.5% and Mexico at 12.9%.
While these figures may be surprising, it’s worth noting that the lower-scoring countries generally don’t count English as a primary language – with second-tongue speakers not included in the statistics.
Countries by the percentage of their population that primarily speaks English:
China – 0.9%
Brazil – 5%
– 5%
India – 10.5%
Mexico – 12.9%
Italy – 13.74%
Turkey – 17%
Spain – 22%
Indonesia – 30.8%
South Africa – 31%
Romania – 31%
Egypt – 39.9%
Poland – 49.1%
Pakistan – 49-58%
Greece – 51%
Nigeria – 51-57%
Germany – 56%
France – 57.2%
Philippines – 58.2%
Belgium – 60%
Austria – 73%
Finland – 75%
Canada – 83%
Denmark – 86%
Sweden – 89%
Norway – 90%
Netherlands – 90.9%
Australia – 92.8%
USA – 95.5%
Singapore – 96.4%
New Zealand – 97.8%
UK – 98.3%
Ireland – 98.37%
Gibraltar – 100%