Trails only behind Mexico, but not for too long.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: The United States is now the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico, according to a new study published by the prestigious Instituto Cervantes.
The report said there are 41 million native Spanish speakers in the U.S. in addition to 11.6 million who are bilingual, putting it ahead of Colombia, with 48 million, and Spain, with 46 million, The Guardian reported.
The report relied on data from the U.S. Census Office that estimates the United States will have 138 million Spanish speakers by 2050, making it the biggest Spanish-speaking nation on Earth, with Spanish the mother tongue of almost a third of its citizens.
The report, titled “El español, una lengua viva,” or “Spanish, a living language,” surmises that there are 559 million Spanish speakers worldwide, a figure that includes 470 million native speakers and those with some command of the language.
The Guardian reported that two-thirds of Spanish-linked GDP is generated in two areas: North America (US, Canada and Mexico) and the European Union. They account for 78 percent while Latin America only accounts for 22 percent. Per the report, Spanish speakers contribute 9.2 percent of the world’s GDP altogether.
The Index of Human Development ranks Spanish as the second most important language on earth, behind English but ahead of Mandarin.
In April, the Census Bureau revealed legal and undocumented immigrants will combine to reach a record high of 51 million in eight years and eventually account for 82 percent of all population growth in the United States
The Center for Immigration Studies analyzed the data and surmised by 2023, one in seven U.S. residents will be an immigrant. The figure will rise to one in five by 2060 when the immigrant population totals 78 million.