Geographical distribution of French speakers

Statistics

OIF figures

Country	French speakers	%	Basis of projection
Albania Other territories Territory Country French speakers Percentage Year Reference Flag of Wallonia.svg Native speakers It is estimated that 80 million people worldwide speak French as a main or first language. The following table gathers data from different sources in order to estimate the number of French native speakers by country. The total sum of speakers from this data is around 78 million people. Country L1 speakers Percentage Year Reference Region Algeria Subnational territories Africa French is an official language in 18 African countries, though it is not spoken as a first language by the majority, acting mainly as a second one or a lingua franca due to the many indigenous languages spoken in the territories. Despite this, it is increasingly being spoken as a native language among some communities in urban areas or the elite class. In contrast to Central Africa and most of West Africa, where French had been entrenched, countries in North Africa and the Sahel have generally distanced themselves from the language due to colonial connections; for example, Algeria intermittently attempted to remove the use of French in favor of a strong native language, and French has recently also been removed as an official language in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. Despite these changes and the emergence of English as a global lingua franca, French remains a major language in the societies of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, where it is a first language among the upper classes along with Arabic, but a second language among the general population. Northern Africa Algeria In Algeria, 69.1% of the population over 15 in Alger, Constantine, Oran and Annaba can read and write French. According to a survey conducted in 2012, fewer than four in 10 Algerians identified with a Francophone identity. Conversely, speaking French was seen as essential by seven in 10, though a third of the population felt that the use of French is declining. In urban areas, the ability to speak fluent French is considered almost mandatory to find employment, especially in specialized white collar fields. French is the first foreign language in Algeria, and is introduced at the primary level. In higher education, French is the language of instruction in scientific and technical fields. Francophone Algerians can be divided into three broad categories: 'real Francophones', who speak French as part of their daily lives and mostly come from a privileged background; 'casual Francophones', who use the language in certain contexts, alternating it with Arabic, and 'passive Francophones', who can understand French but do not speak it. French television channels are widely watched in Algeria, and Algerian newspapers print their television schedules. Algeria also has a sizeable French-language press. A 2014 report published by the National Assembly of France describes it as the most important French-speaking country after France. Nevertheless, Algeria is not a member of the Francophonie. On social media, French was used on Facebook by 76% of Algerians in 2014. French is not official, but The World Factbook cites it as the lingua franca of the country. The French language, restricted to an urban elite during the colonial period, began to expand as part of the mass education efforts launched after 1962. Its controversial status as a legacy of colonialism led to the increasing Arabisation of the school system in the 1970s and 1980s. The usage of French in the country reached its lowest point during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s, when armed Islamist groups targeted teachers of French. The language has rebounded in public life since the end of the war, culminating in the efforts to reintroduce French in primary schools in 2006, which were initially hampered by a lack of sufficiently qualified teachers. Referring to the continued usage of French in Algeria in the post-colonial period, the writer Kateb Yacine described the French language as the 'spoils of war' of Algerians. Local French-language media include El Watan, Le Soir d'Algérie, Liberté, Le Matin and Tout sur l'Algérie. According to a 2010 study by IMMAR Research & Consultancy, Francophone newspapers had a readership of 4,459,000 in the country, or 28% of the total, and a majority among readers with a high school or university education. Egypt The first French-medium school was established in Egypt in 1836, and the importance of French expanded throughout the second half of the 19th century, until it became the most common foreign language in the country. At the time, it was also a lingua franca for the communities of foreign origin, especially in Cairo. During the period of the British colonization of Egypt French was actually the medium of communication among foreigners and between foreigners and Egyptians; the mixed French-Egyptian civil courts operated in French, and government notices from the Egyptian Sultan, taxi stand information, timetables of trains, and other legal documents were issued in French. This was partly because some Egyptians had French education and partly because of cultural influence from France. Despite efforts from British legal personnel, English was never adopted as a language of the Egyptian civil courts during the period of British influence. French began to lose ground in Egyptian society in the 1920s for a number of political and social reasons; from the 1930s onwards English became the main foreign language, but French was still being learnt by 8 million Egyptians in 2013. There are two French-speaking universities in the country, the Université Française d'Égypte and the Université Senghor. Mauritania French was demoted from its status as an official language of Mauritania in 1991. Even so, it is taught from the second grade onward for up to six hours a week. French is also a language of instruction in high school for scientific subjects. In higher education, 2,300 students were enrolled in French courses in 2012. French remains, alongside Arabic, the language of work and education, although there were attempts to introduce English as a first foreign language. On social media, 59% of Mauritanian Facebook users used French on the website in 2014.