Here are the ten most widely recognized official languages globally, based on their status in sovereign nations:
- English is official in 58 countries
- French is official in 27 countries
- Arabic is official in 23 countries
- Spanish is official in 20 countries
- Portuguese is official in 9 countries
- German is official in 6 countries
=7. Russian is official in 5 countries
=7. Swahili is official in 5 countries
=9. Malay is official in 4 countries
=9. Italian is official in 4 countries
These rankings consider the number of countries where these languages have de jure or de facto official status, although precise criteria or definitions of a language are not specified.