[Map] Where and which are the French speaking countries in the world ?

Where in the world are the French speaking countries and speakers ?

In 2018, the Observatory of French language of the International Organization of Francophony (IOF) counted more than 301 million French speakers through the world. As shown in the table below, French speaking countries and speakers in Africa are numerous, every more than French speaking countries in Europe:

The 15 most French speaking countries in the world

Here's the top 3 French speaking countries in the world, in terms of people speaking French:

1. France

66.1 million of French speakers

2. D.R. of Congo

42.6 million of French speakers

3. Algeria

13.8 million of French speakers

Then come the following French speaking countries in the ranking:

Which countries have the highest proportion of French speakers in their population?

Here below are the 3 French speaking countries in the world that have the highest French speaking levels into their national population:

1. France

95.6% of Francophones

2. Belgium

75.5% of Francophones

3. Mauritius Island

72.6% of Francophones

Then come the following French speaking countries in the ranking:

Focus n°1 : the French language in Canada

In total, according to the numbers of the Observatory of the French Language, out of the 37.3 million of Canadians, a little less than 11 million are Francophones, which represents a proportion of about 29.5 % French speakers in the overall Canadian population. Thus, on international level, Canada is classified as:

• The 7th country of the world counting the more Francophones in number
• The 20th country of the world counting the more Francophones in proportion of its population.

In Canada, French speakers are mainly distributed in the following three provinces:

1. Quebec

7.8 million of French speakers
i.e. 93.3% of the population

2. Ontario

1.7 million of French speakers
i.e. 11.4% of the population

3. New-Brunswick

779,000 of French speakers
i.e. 41.9% of the population

Focus n°2 : the French language in Maghreb

The Maghreb region gathers among the most active French speaking countries in Africa. Regarding numbers of the Observatory of the French language in 2018, out of the 90 million inhabitants who populate the 3 Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), 32.6 million are Francophones, i.e. a proportion of 36.3 % of French-speakers within the total Maghreb population.

North Africa remains, in 2018, an important Francophony land. Here's the repartition of French speakers between those 3 countries:

1. Algeria

13.8 million of Francophones
i.e. 32.9% of the population

2. Morocco

12.7 million of Francophones
i.e. 37.2% of the population

3. Tunisia

6.1 million of Francophones
i.e. 52.2% of the population

Thus:

• Algeria is classified as the third country counting the more French speakers in the world (Morocco is fourth)
• Tunisia is classified as the eighth country in the world counting the more French speakers in proportion of its population

Will there be more than a billion French speakers in 2065?

As observed above, Africa is, in 2018, the continent which concentrates the most Francophones with about 141 million people (i.e. 7.5 million more than in Europe). With the present and future demographic dynamism of most of the French speaking countries in Africa, The IOF predicts that the population of all countries with French as their official language will exceed one billion shortly before 2065.

Indeed, the IOF anticipates a much greater demographic dynamism of countries with French as their official language over the next five decades, in comparison with other groups of countries with Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese or German as their official language. Nevertheless, as shown in the tables above, countries with French as their official language are far from having 100% of their inhabitants who speak the language of Molière.

So, it is very unlikely that the billion of French speakers will be exceeded in 2065, all the population of the French speaking countries will grow a lot in the meantime.

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Alexandre Desoutter Redactor in chief

Alexandre Desoutter has been working as editor-in-chief and head of press relations at HelloSafe since June 2020. A graduate of Sciences Po Grenoble, he worked as a journalist for several years in French media, and continues to collaborate as a contributor to several publications. In this sense, his role leads him to carry out steering and support work with all HelloSafe editors and contributors so that the editorial line defined by the company is fully respected and declined through the texts published daily on our platforms. As such, Alexandre is responsible for implementing and maintaining the strictest journalistic standards within the HelloSafe editorial staff, in order to guarantee the most accurate, up-to-date information on our platforms and expert as possible. Alexandre has in particular undertaken for two years now the implementation of a system of systematic double-checking of all the articles published within the HelloSafe ecosystem, able to guarantee the highest quality of information.