Geographical distribution of Polish speakers

The article provides details and data regarding the geographicaldistribution of all Polish speakers, regardless of the legislative status of the countries where it's spoken. The Polish language is the dominant language of Poland and it's spoken in authochtonous minority areas through Europe and in many immigrant communities in all over the world.

Statistics

Native speakers

This table depicts the native speakers of the language, which means that the table includes people who have been exposed to the Polish language from birth and, thus, excludes people who use the language as a L2.

Country	Absolute	%	Year	Reference	Definition
Australia	51,399	0.2%	2016	[1] [note 1]	Language spoken at home
Austria	30,598	0.3%	2001	[2]	Colloquial language
Belarus	4,216	0.1%	2009	[3]	Mother tongue
Belgium	16,298	0.2%	2012	[4] [note 2]	Mother tongue
Canada	181,710	0.5%	2016	[5]	Mother tongue
Czech Republic	49,669	0.5%	2021	[6] [note 1]	Mother tongue
Finland	5,982	0.1%	2021	[7]	Mother tongue
France	275,288	0.4%	2012	[4] [note 2]	Mother tongue
Germany	983,000	1.2%	2024	[8]	Language spoken at home
Iceland	9,012	2.7%	2016	[9]	Mother tongue
Ireland	135,895	2.9%	2016	[10]	Language spoken at home
Latvia	1,774	0.1%	2001	[3]	Mother tongue
Lithuania	160,506	5.3%	2011	[10]	Mother tongue
Luxembourg	3,251	0.6%	2021	[11]	Main language
Netherlands	69,000	0.4%	2019	[12]	Language spoken at home
Poland	37,868,618	99.6%	2021	[13]	Language spoken at home
Russia	4,927	0.0%	2010	[14]	Mother tongue
Slovakia	3,821	0.1%	2021	[15]	Mother tongue
Spain	61,926	0.1%	2021	[16]	Mother tongue
Sweden	76,000	0.8%	2012	[17]	Mother tongue
Ukraine	19,195	0.04%	2001	[18]	Mother tongue
United Kingdom	724,014	1.1%	2021/2022	[19] [20] [21] [note 1]	Main language
United States	576,816	0.2%	2016	[22] [23] [note 1]	Language spoken at home
Total	41,312,915	-

See also

• Geolinguistics

Notes

1. The reported population size was obtained by projecting the respondent percentage to the total population, since the source either included the part of the population who didn't answer or didn't take into account some parts of the population, for example children.
2. Population data by Eurostat, using the source year. "The number of persons having their usual residence in a country on 1 January of the respective year". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2018-11-08.

References

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4. "Eurobarometer 77.1 (Feb-Mar 2012) Robotics, Civil Protection, Humanitarian Aid, Smoking Habits, and Multilingualism". European Commission. February–March 2012. Archived from the original on 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2018-11-19– via GESIS.
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10. "Census 2016 Summary Results - Part 1" (PDF). Central Statistics Office - Republic of Ireland. 2016.
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13. GUS. "Tablice z ostatecznymi danymi w zakresie przynależności narodowo-etnicznej, języka używanego w domu oraz przynależności do wyznania religijnego". stat.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-06-18.
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23. "American Fact Finder, 2016 ACS". Census Bureau QuickFacts. Archived from the original on 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2018-11-18.