The French language is now the fourth most spoken language in the world, according to the latest report from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Fueled by strong demographic growth, especially in Africa, French is experiencing rapid expansion. By 2050, Molière’s language could be spoken by 590 million people worldwide.
With 396 million French speakers worldwide, French has become the fourth most spoken language, as revealed in the report on the French language released on Monday, March 16 in Quebec by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Following English (1.5 billion speakers), Mandarin (over a billion people), and Spanish (over a billion speakers).
Furthermore, French is “the second most learned language on all five continents,” the report explains. By 2024, over 170 million students from 36 countries “have received education in French or learned French in an institutional setting.”
The number of French speakers continues to grow. While 321 million people were French speakers in 2022, in just three years, an additional 75 million people speak French. The Secretary-General of the Francophonie (OIF), Louise Mushikiwabo, points out that in the next 25 years, as many as “590 million people” should speak French, with “9 out of 10 living in Africa.” Currently, the majority of French speakers ( “almost 65%”) live on the African continent, notes the report.
The report predicts that by 2050, the future of French “will no longer be read from Paris, but will instead be conceived in Abidjan, Beirut, Brussels, Dakar, Kinshasa, Montreal, Port-au-Prince, Tunis or Yaoundé.” Molière’s language will be “a plural language whose future will be played out in its ability to adapt to new digital and geopolitical realities.”
French maintains “a strong legitimacy in diplomacy, international law, cultural relations, and in certain scientific and academic spaces,” the report asserts. However, “its position is weakening in exact sciences, new technologies, and higher education due to the dominance of English.” Despite its importance, the presence of French on the Internet remains limited, with only 3.5% of online content being in French.
Published on March 18 at 11:17 AM by Léna Saint Jalmes, 6Médias
