Economy + Geopolitics, Language Surveys
How relevant can English-only content be in a multilingual India? Multi-awarded author and journalist Luca de Biase is a professor at Pisa University, innovation editor at Sole 24Ore newspaper and a Member of the Mission Assembly for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, amongst many other roles and achievements.
Legend
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Hindi
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Kashmiri and Dogri
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Punjabi
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Gujarati
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Marathi
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Konkani
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Kannada and Tulu
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Malayalam
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Tamil
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Telugu
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Odia
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Bengali
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Nepal
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Assemese
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Khasi and Garo
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Nyishi and Adi
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Konyak and Sumi
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Manipuri
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Mizo
Of course India speaks English, but it’s a bit more complicated than that…More than 19,500 languages are spoken in India
First, Second, and Third languages by number of speakers in India (2011 Census)
| First language speakers | Second language speakers | Third language speakers | Total speakers | |||
| Language | Figure | % of total | Figure | % of total* | ||
| HINDI | 528,347,193 | 43.63% | 139,207,180 | 24,160,696 | 691,347,193 | 57.09% |
| ENGLISH | 259,678 | 0.02% | 83,125,221 | 45,993,066 | 129,259,678 | 10.67% |
| BENGALI | 97,237,669 | 8.03% | 9,037,222 | 1,008,088 | 107,237,669 | 8.85% |
| MARATHI | 83,026,680 | 6.86% | 12,923,626 | 2,966,019 | 99,026,680 | 8.18% |
| TELUGU | 81,127,740 | 6.70% | 11,946,414 | 1,001,498 | 94,127,740 | 7.77% |
| TAMIL | 69,026,881 | 5.70% | 6,992,253 | 956,335 | 77,026,881 | 6.36% |
| GUJARATI | 55,492,554 | 4.58% | 4,035,489 | 1,007,912 | 60,492,554 | 4.99% |
| URDU | 50,772,631 | 4.19% | 11,055,287 | 1,096,428 | 62,772,631 | 5.18% |
| KANNADA | 43,706,512 | 3.61% | 14,076,355 | 993,989 | 58,706,512 | 4.84% |
| ODIA | 37,521,324 | 3.10% | 4,972,151 | 31,525 | 42,551,324 | 3.51% |
| MALAYALAM | 34,838,819 | 2.88% | 499,188 | 195,885 | 35,538,819 | 2.93% |
| PUNJABI | 33,124,726 | 2.74% | 2,300,000 | 720,000 | 36,074,726 | 2.97% |
| SANSKRIT | 24,821 | 0.00185% | 1,234,931 | 1,196,223 | 2,360,821 | 0.19% |
*sum of percentages takes into account the fact that many people speak more languages
English is shrinking in the media.
Share in growth rate of publication volumes across India in 2019, by region
Source: KPMG, Nielsen 2016
Number of Indian and English language Internet users across India from 2011 to 2021
(in millions)
Source: KPMG; Nielsen 2016
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Get your copy nowSo, in which language is it worth translating in India?
English is spoken in cities but not in the country: it’s a problem.
Share of English speakers in India in 2019, by region
Sources: CMIE; Oxford University Press, Website (Lok Foundation), 2019
Challenges faced by non-English internet users across India
Sources: KPMG; Nielsen, 2016
Tamil is big online. Of course, Bengali is bigger and Hindi is the biggest.
Share of internet adoption levels among non-English users across India in 2016, by language
Sources: KPMG; Nielsen, 2016
Number one Hindi, then Marathi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada.
Estimate of the share of non-English internet users across India in 2021, by language
Sources: KPMG; Google, 2016
Most common languages in India in 2011, by number of speakers
Sources: KPMG; Nielsen, 2016
Anyway, take a look at Tamil.
Share of online advertisement response readiness among non-English users across India in 2016, by language
Sources: KPMG; Nielsen, 2016
Imminent Annual Report 2021
Fit your business in global shape. Get your copy of Imminent Annual Research Report 2021. And let us know what you think.
Get your copy nowMedia and languages in India
Share of advertising volumes in Indian newspaper in 2019, by language
Sources: EY; FICCI; TAM Media Research
Television viewership across India in 2017 by preferred languages
(in million impressions)
Sources: BARC; Wweek 2016-2017
Distribution of the Indian box office in 2019, based on language
Sources: BARC; Wweek 2016-2017
Distribution of film produced in India in FY 2019, by language
Sources: BARC; Wweek 2016-2017
News about Indian languages
- Today is International Mother Language Day. Of the 4,000 endangered languages globally, India’s share is 10%. Since independence, India already lost 250 languages
Photo credits: Pop & Zebra, Unsplash / Zekeriya Sen, Unsplash / Nikita S, Unsplash