Most Europeans speak two or more languages

There are more than 6,000 languages in the world, and 225 of these are indigenous to Europe.

More than half of the population in the world speaks two or more languages, and in Europe this number increases to 65%.

Actually, most countries in the continent have one or several minority languages, and some have two or more co-official languages.

Furthermore, in some large cities the phenomenon of ethnic diversity and migration make them places where over 300 languages are spoken (as it happens in London).

Nordic countries and some of the smaller nations in Europe have the highest language proficiency. The places where most citizens speak at least one foreign language are Sweden (97%), Latvia (96%), Denmark (96%), Lithuania (96%), Luxembourg (95%), Finland (92%), Malta (92%) and Estonia (91%).

At the bottom part of the list are the United Kingdom (only 34% speak a foreign language), Romania (35%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (38%), Albania (40%) and Hungary (42%).

This statistics are based on 2016’s Eurostat, and have been shared by the Council of Europe to celebrate the European Day of Languages. (Graph: Euronews)