French Could Become One of the Most Spoken Languages Worldwide by 2050

The Observatoire de la langue française published its ranking of the most spoken languages in the world in March 2022. Based on this report, there are approximately 300 million French speakers in the world, and French is currently ranked as the 5th most spoken language worldwide. According to the French National Institute for Statistical Studies (INED), Africa will account for about a quarter of the world's population by 2050. Since many African countries speak French, it being an official or co-official language for 21 of them, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) determines that there will be three times more French speakers in 2050. Furthermore, the Observatoire Démographique et Statistique de l’Espace Francophone, estimates that nearly 90% of French-speaking youth will be African by 2050. This means that French could be one of the three most commonly used languages in the world in 2050. Thus, with these predictions, French will become an increasingly essential language in the years to come, and the African continent will also gain significant importance. French will also be key for businesses, organizations and the Internet, especially in Ontario, given Canada's bilingualism. Therefore, we will see trends in the labour market to accommodate these changes, even attracting professionals and students to adapt to the rapid growth of the French language.

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