Data brief

Asia in 2026

Midyear 2026 population estimates for 50 country-level entries, alongside 136 language indicators: 129 from CLDR and 7 from named supplementary sources. Language measurement years and definitions differ.

EAJ Editorial
Published 2026-07-31 · revised 2026-10-18
50 entries
136 sourced cells
5 min read

Abstract population density rendered as stacked forms across a curved horizon, two markedly taller than the rest — Illustration

The short answer

Asia in 2026 is not a set of monolingual states. Population is concentrated in two entries — China and India together account for nearly three-fifths of the continent — while most countries here routinely operate in more than one language.

Listen

2:29

One nation, one language — an idea Asia never adopted

What the numbers in this table say about how Asia actually speaks, and why the percentages refuse to add up to a hundred.

Read the transcript

Ask how many languages a country has, and the question already contains a mistake.

Start with India. It is the most populous country on earth, and Hindi — the language most outsiders would name — is used by about forty-one percent of it. Not a majority. English reaches nineteen percent. Bangla, eight. There is no single language you could speak and be understood across India, and there never has been.

Or take China, where the arithmetic does something strange. Mandarin is used by roughly ninety percent. Wu — the family spoken around Shanghai — by six. Six percent sounds like a rounding error. It is about eighty-five million people. That is more speakers than Germany has citizens. Cantonese, at five percent, is another seventy million. In China, a minority language can be the size of a large European country.

Then the Philippines, where English is used by sixty-four percent and Filipino by sixty. The colonial language outranks the national one. In Kazakhstan the same pattern, sharper: Russian, seventy-two percent. Kazakh, sixty-four. Three and a half decades after independence.

Look down the column and you will notice the percentages do not add up to a hundred. In Taiwan they come to more than a hundred and sixty. That is not an error. These figures count people able to use a language, and most people in Taiwan use two — Mandarin, and Taiwanese Hokkien. For one in nine, Hakka as well.

Which makes the real outlier easy to miss. Japan: Japanese, ninety-five percent, and almost nothing else. The Koreas, much the same. The countries that actually fit the idea of one nation with one language are the rare cases here. Not the pattern.

And that idea — one country, one people, one language — is a European export, roughly two centuries old. Most of Asia never took it up.

So when a table of Asian languages looks untidy, the untidiness is not in the data.

Data brief / Test your intuition

How many people live in Japan?

Your estimate: 160.0 million people

UN World Population Prospects 2024 via Asia in 2026 ↗Open all 50 entries ↗

Published value: 122.4 million people. Open all 50 entries ↗

The twelve most populous entries Midyear 2026 estimates, millions. Burgundy marks East Asia and Russia.

India 1,476.6M
China 1,412.9M
Indonesia 287.9M
Pakistan 259.3M
Bangladesh 177.8M
Russia 143.4M
Japan 122.4M
Philippines 117.7M
Vietnam 102.2M
Iran 93.2M
Turkey 87.9M
Thailand 71.6M

India and China together account for about 58% of the population across all fifty entries. The full table follows.

Population figures use one UN midyear 2026 projection series. The language cells draw from different measurement periods and definitions. CLDR provides approximate functional-population estimates; supplementary cells include self-rated proficiency, combined speech or literacy ability, and historical language shares. These measures cannot be ranked as equivalent abilities. See the measurement year and definition in each daggered source note.

Where the language figures come from. 129 of the 136 cells come from Unicode CLDR 49, used as a single common layer so that entries are drawn from one place rather than assembled country by country. CLDR's own figures are approximate and rest on underlying sources that vary in age and method, so this is a common layer — not a uniform measurement. The remaining 7, marked †, name their publisher, measurement period, definition and comparability limit in the source popover. Estimates are shown with ≈ or as a bound such as <0.1%, and are rounded. The year 2026 applies to population, not to these language observations.

What was withdrawn. An external source audit on 1 August 2026 found twelve further language cells whose cited source did not establish the figure, or rested on evidence too weak for a brief of this kind. They have been removed rather than restated, and the affected entries — the Koreas, Palestine and four Gulf states — now show only their common-layer figures. On 18 October 2026, two more entries were withdrawn: a Bengali share inferred from Bangladeshi nationality in the Maldives and a Yemen-only Mehri share inferred from a speaker count spanning Yemen and Oman. Neither cited source measured the displayed language percentage. The corrections log records these changes.

East Asia & Russia

7 entries · population midyear 2026, medium variant
		Language use (estimated)
China	1,412.9M	Chinese/Mandarin ≈90% · Wu Chinese ≈6% · Cantonese ≈5%
Russia	143.4M	Russian ≈99% · English ≈4% · Tatar ≈2%
Japan	122.4M	Japanese ≈95% · English ≈10% Japan — English ≈10% Terasawa, Asian Englishes (online 2023) \| data: EASS 2008 and 2018; AsiaBarometer 2003-2008 \| measure: nationally sampled self-rating of fair or higher English proficiency \| not observed fluency or comparable with CLDR. doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2023.2191410 · Ryukyuan ≈0.8%
South Korea	51.6M	Korean ≈100% · English ≈20% South Korea — English ≈20% Terasawa, Asian Englishes (online 2023) \| data: EASS 2008 and 2018; AsiaBarometer 2003-2008 \| measure: nationally sampled self-rating of fair or higher English proficiency \| not observed fluency or comparable with CLDR. doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2023.2191410
North Korea	26.6M	Korean ≈88%
Taiwan	23.0M	Mandarin ≈95% · Taiwanese/Hokkien ≈57% · Hakka ≈11%
Mongolia	3.6M	Mongolian ≈93% · Kazakh ≈7% · Chinese ≈1%

Southeast Asia

11 entries · population midyear 2026, medium variant
		Language use (estimated)
Indonesia	287.9M	Indonesian ≈64% · Javanese ≈34% · Sundanese ≈12%
Philippines	117.7M	English ≈64% · Filipino ≈60% · Cebuano ≈24%
Vietnam	102.2M	Vietnamese ≈86% · Hmong ≈1.4% · Chinese ≈1.1%
Thailand	71.6M	Thai ≈80% · English ≈27% · Isan ≈24%
Myanmar	55.2M	Burmese ≈64% · Shan ≈6% · Kachin ≈2%
Malaysia	36.4M	Malay ≈75% · English ≈21% · Chinese ≈17%
Cambodia	18.1M	Khmer ≈89% · Western Cham ≈1.6% · Kuy ≈0.1%
Laos	8.0M	Lao ≈69% · Khmu ≈6% · Hmong ≈3%
Singapore	5.9M	English ≈80% · Chinese ≈62% · Malay ≈19%
Timor-Leste	1.4M	Tetum ≈92% Timor-Leste — Tetum ≈92% Timor-Leste GDS/UNICEF/UNFPA, Census 2015, Education Monograph Table 4.1 \| age 5+; 100% minus share unable to speak, read or write; includes read-only ability \| not a speech-only or regular-use rate; not comparable to CLDR. www.unicef.org/timorleste/media/2211/file/Education%20Monograph… · Indonesian ≈62% Timor-Leste — Indonesian ≈62% Timor-Leste GDS/UNICEF/UNFPA, Census 2015, Education Monograph Table 4.1 \| age 5+; 100% minus share unable to speak, read or write; includes read-only ability \| not a speech-only or regular-use rate; not comparable to CLDR. www.unicef.org/timorleste/media/2211/file/Education%20Monograph… · Portuguese ≈61% Timor-Leste — Portuguese ≈61% Timor-Leste GDS/UNICEF/UNFPA, Census 2015, Education Monograph Table 4.1 \| age 5+; 100% minus share unable to speak, read or write; includes read-only ability \| not a speech-only or regular-use rate; not comparable to CLDR. www.unicef.org/timorleste/media/2211/file/Education%20Monograph…
Brunei	0.47M	Malay ≈93% · Chinese ≈11% · English ≈2%

South Asia

8 entries · population midyear 2026, medium variant
		Language use (estimated)
India	1,476.6M	Hindi ≈41% · English ≈19% · Bangla ≈8%
Pakistan	259.3M	Urdu ≈95% · Punjabi ≈70% · English ≈50%
Bangladesh	177.8M	Bangla ≈98% · English ≈18% · Rangpuri ≈7%
Afghanistan	45.0M	Persian/Dari ≈50% · Pashto ≈43% · Hazaragi ≈6%
Nepal	29.6M	Nepali ≈44% · Maithili ≈11% · Bhojpuri ≈7%
Sri Lanka	23.3M	Sinhala ≈68% · Tamil ≈15% · English ≈10%
Bhutan	0.80M	Dzongkha ≈47% · Nepali ≈17% · Tshangla ≈15%
Maldives	0.53M	Dhivehi ≈98% · English ≈75%

Central Asia & Caucasus

8 entries · population midyear 2026, medium variant
		Language use (estimated)
Uzbekistan	37.7M	Uzbek ≈85% · Russian ≈14% · Karakalpak ≈2%
Kazakhstan	21.1M	Russian ≈72% · Kazakh ≈64% · English ≈15%
Tajikistan	11.0M	Tajik ≈100% · Russian ≈12% · Uzbek ≈12% Tajikistan — Uzbek ≈12% CIA World Factbook (archival republication) \| estimate: 2010; 11.9% Uzbek in reported languages \| underlying survey instrument and second-language inclusion not specified; not comparable to self-rated proficiency or CLDR. openfactbook.org/countries/tajikistan
Azerbaijan	10.5M	Azeri ≈89% · Talysh ≈10% · Kurdish <1%
Turkmenistan	7.7M	Turkmen ≈70% · Russian ≈12% · Uzbek ≈9%
Kyrgyzstan	7.4M	Kyrgyz ≈48% · Russian ≈36% · Uzbek ≈14% Kyrgyzstan — Uzbek ≈14% CIA World Factbook (archival republication) \| estimate: 2009; 14.4% Uzbek in reported languages \| underlying survey instrument and second-language inclusion not specified; not comparable to self-rated proficiency or CLDR. openfactbook.org/countries/kyrgyzstan
Georgia	3.8M	Georgian ≈86% · Mingrelian ≈11% · Russian ≈9%
Armenia	2.9M	Armenian ≈99% · Russian ≈65% · Kurdish ≈3%

West Asia I

10 entries · population midyear 2026, medium variant
		Language use (estimated)
Iran	93.2M	Persian ≈75% · Azeri ≈24% · Mazanderani ≈5%
Turkey	87.9M	Turkish ≈93% · English ≈17% · Kurdish ≈6%
Iraq	48.0M	Arabic ≈68% · English ≈35% · Kurdish ≈12%
Yemen	43.0M	Arabic ≈74% · English ≈9%
Saudi Arabia	35.2M	Arabic ≈100%
Syria	26.5M	Arabic ≈85% · Kurdish ≈8% · French ≈6%
Jordan	11.6M	Arabic ≈100% · English ≈45% · Adyghe ≈1%
Israel	9.6M	Hebrew ≈100% · English ≈85% · Arabic ≈20%
Lebanon	5.9M	Arabic ≈100% · English ≈40% · French ≈38%
Palestine	5.7M	Arabic ≈100%

West Asia II & Gulf

6 entries · population midyear 2026, medium variant
		Language use (estimated)
United Arab Emirates	11.6M	Arabic ≈78% · English ≈50% · Malayalam ≈7%
Oman	5.7M	Arabic ≈81% · Baluchi ≈5% · Persian ≈1%
Kuwait	5.1M	Arabic ≈100%
Qatar	3.2M	Arabic ≈89% · Persian ≈11%
Bahrain	1.7M	Arabic ≈87%
Cyprus	1.38M	Greek ≈95% · English ≈73% · Turkish ≈23%

Worked example: the Portuguese cell. The Timor-Leste 2015 census Education Monograph, Table 4.1 records 39.3% of people aged five or older as unable to speak, read or write Portuguese. Subtracting from 100 yields 60.7%, displayed as about 61%. That group includes 24.5% who could read only. It is a measure of any reported language ability, not a Portuguese-speaking rate, and it cannot be directly compared with the English proficiency estimates.

How to read this

Rows sort by population within each region.
Regional groupings are editorial. Taiwan and all of Russia are included deliberately.
Language indicators have different definitions and measurement years. Some describe self-reported ability; others report a language share or any ability to speak, read or write. They are not a common proficiency test or a ranking of mother tongues.
† marks a cell drawn from a supplementary source rather than the common CLDR layer.
Figures are rounded for reading, not for calculation.

Download the full table (CSV) 136 rows — one per language cell, each with its country, population and named source.

Funding and competing interests

This brief was produced without external funding, commission or sponsorship. No organisation named in it, and no publisher of any source cited in it, reviewed it before publication or has any relationship with East Asian Journal. It contains no affiliate links. The publication's general position is on the disclosures page.

Sources

UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024 — medium variant, midyear 2026 estimates. population.un.org/wpp
Unicode CLDR 49, territory–language information — the common layer for 129 of 136 language cells. unicode.org/cldr
Disclosed supplementary sources for the 7 cells marked †, used where CLDR carries no usable entry.

Found an error? Corrections are logged publicly on the corrections page rather than edited silently.