Languages · Africa
What Language Do They Speak in Ethiopia?
The official language of Ethiopia is Amharic. In total about 86 living languages are spoken there, the most common being English (43%), Amharic (33%) and Oromo (32%).
1
Official language
86
Living languages · #23
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Regional official languages
18
Endangered languages
Official languages of Ethiopia
Most spoken languages in Ethiopia
All languages of Ethiopia (86)
| Language | Speakers here | Family | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 50,976,500 · 43% | Indo-European | Safe |
| Amharic | 39,121,500 · 33% | Afro-Asiatic | Official |
| Oromo | 37,936,000 · 32% | Afro-Asiatic | — |
| West Central Oromo | 19,100,000 · 16% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Somali | 7,113,000 · 6% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Tigrinya | 7,113,000 · 6% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Eastern Oromo | 4,500,000 · 4% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Sidamo | 4,149,250 · 4% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo | 3,900,000 · 3% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Wolaytta | 2,133,900 · 2% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Safe |
| Afar | 1,659,700 · 1% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Gamo | 1,100,000 · 0.93% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Safe |
| Gedeo | 980,000 · 0.83% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Silt'e | 940,000 · 0.79% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Wolane | 940,000 · 0.79% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Kambaata | 890,000 · 0.75% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Kafa | 830,000 · 0.7% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Safe |
| Dawro | 530,000 · 0.45% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Safe |
| Awngi | 490,000 · 0.41% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Sebat Bet Gurage | 440,000 · 0.37% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Gofa | 390,000 · 0.33% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Safe |
| Berta | 370,000 · 0.31% | — | Vulnerable |
| Bench | 350,000 · 0.3% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Threatened |
| Alaba-K’abeena | 280,000 · 0.24% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Inor | 280,000 · 0.24% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Kistane | 260,000 · 0.22% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Hadiyya | 250,000 · 0.21% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Aari | 240,000 · 0.2% | South Omotic | Safe |
| Konso | 240,000 · 0.2% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Xamtanga | 210,000 · 0.18% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Mesqan | 200,000 · 0.17% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Saho | 170,000 · 0.14% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Koorete | 160,000 · 0.14% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Safe |
| Me'en | 150,000 · 0.13% | Surmic | Vulnerable |
| Anuak | 140,000 · 0.12% | Nilotic | Safe |
| Dirasha | 117,000 · 0.1% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Male | 100,000 · 0.08% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Threatened |
| Basketo | 92,000 · 0.08% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Threatened |
| Yemsa | 82,000 · 0.07% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Vulnerable |
| Shekkacho | 80,000 · 0.07% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Safe |
| Hamer-Banna | 74,000 · 0.06% | South Omotic | Threatened |
| Libido | 64,000 · 0.05% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Daasanach | 60,000 · 0.05% | Afro-Asiatic | Threatened |
| Girirra | 50,000 · 0.04% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Argobba | 44,000 · 0.04% | Afro-Asiatic | Threatened |
| Nyangatom | 40,500 · 0.03% | Nilotic | Safe |
| Sheko | 39,000 · 0.03% | Dizoid | Threatened |
| Oyda | 37,000 · 0.03% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Threatened |
| Dizin | 34,000 · 0.03% | Dizoid | Safe |
| Zayse-Zergulla | 34,000 · 0.03% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Threatened |
| Gawwada | 33,000 · 0.03% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Majang | 33,000 · 0.03% | Surmic | Safe |
| Tirmaga-Chai Suri | 27,000 · 0.02% | Surmic | Threatened |
| Harari | 26,000 · 0.02% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Uduk | 22,000 · 0.02% | Koman | Safe |
| Dorze | 21,000 · 0.02% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Threatened |
| Melo | 20,000 · 0.02% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Threatened |
| Tsamai | 18,000 · 0.02% | Afro-Asiatic | Vulnerable |
| Chara | 13,000 · 0.01% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Vulnerable |
| Arbore | 10,000 · 0.01% | Afro-Asiatic | Vulnerable |
| Kwama | 10,000 · 0.01% | Koman | Threatened |
| Mursi | 7,400 · 0.01% | Surmic | Vulnerable |
| Nayi | 7,200 · 0.01% | Dizoid | Moribund |
| Hozo | 6,000 · 0.01% | Blue Nile Mao | Vulnerable |
| T'apo | 5,000 · 0% | Koman | Vulnerable |
| Zay | 4,900 · 0% | Afro-Asiatic | Vulnerable |
| Baiso | 4,600 · 0% | Afro-Asiatic | Vulnerable |
| Kacipo-Bale Suri | 4,100 · 0% | Surmic | Vulnerable |
| Ganza | 3,000 · 0% | Blue Nile Mao | Vulnerable |
| Seze | 3,000 · 0% | Blue Nile Mao | Vulnerable |
| Kachama-Ganjule | 2,800 · 0% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Vulnerable |
| Bambassi | 2,300 · 0% | Blue Nile Mao | Vulnerable |
| Qimant | 1,600 · 0% | Afro-Asiatic | Moribund |
| Komo (Sudan) | 1,500 · 0% | Koman | Vulnerable |
| Karo (Ethiopia) | 1,500 · 0% | South Omotic | Vulnerable |
| Daatsʼíin | 650 · 0% | Gumuz | Safe |
| Gumuz | 500 · 0% | Gumuz | Safe |
| Anfillo | 500 · 0% | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Vulnerable |
| Chabu | 400 · 0% | — | Moribund |
| Dime | 330 · 0% | South Omotic | Vulnerable |
| Kwegu | 300 · 0% | Surmic | Vulnerable |
| Birale | 12 | — | Nearly extinct |
| Burji | — | Afro-Asiatic | Threatened |
| Bussa | — | Afro-Asiatic | Vulnerable |
| Boro (Ethiopia) | — | Ta-Ne-Omotic | Vulnerable |
| Gayil | — | South Omotic | Safe |
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Frequently asked questions
What language do they speak in Ethiopia?
The official language of Ethiopia is Amharic. In total about 86 living languages are spoken there, the most common being English (43%), Amharic (33%) and Oromo (32%).
What is the official language of Ethiopia?
Amharic.
Is English spoken in Ethiopia?
About 43% of people in Ethiopia speak English (51 million).
How many languages are spoken in Ethiopia?
About 86 living languages — #23 in the world for linguistic diversity. 18 of them are endangered.
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT).