72% of EU citizens report the ability to hold a conversation in at least two languages. In the United States 10% of households are linguistically isolated. The sections below present household data alongside measured effects of bilingual programs on reading achievement and cognitive tasks.
Key Takeaways
- 10.0% of households in the United States are linguistically isolated
- 9.8% of households in the United States have no one 14 years and older who speaks English 'very well'
- 1.4% of households in the United States are in which no one 14 years and older speaks English 'very well' and the household has at least one child under 18
- 2.2x higher odds of having a learning disability among bilingual children exposed to both languages at low proficiency levels (study finding, odds ratio)
- 5.2 percentage-point increase in reading achievement for students in bilingual programs compared with non-bilingual peers (meta-analytic estimate)
- 2.5x greater improvement in vocabulary scores for students taught with dual-language instruction vs English-only (experimental comparison reported effect size)
Bilingualism is widespread and linked to better learning and cognitive outcomes, though language access varies by household and country.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption30 stats
01
10.0% of households in the United States are linguistically isolated
02
9.8% of households in the United States have no one 14 years and older who speaks English 'very well'
03
1.4% of households in the United States are in which no one 14 years and older speaks English 'very well' and the household has at least one child under 18
04
72% of EU citizens say they are able to have a conversation in at least two languages (Flash Eurobarometer 486)
05
37% of EU citizens say they can hold a conversation in English
06
25% of EU citizens say they can hold a conversation in French
07
29% of EU citizens say they can hold a conversation in German
08
17% of EU citizens say they can hold a conversation in Spanish
09
9% of EU citizens say they can hold a conversation in Italian
10
28% of EU citizens studied English at some point
11
17% of EU citizens studied French at some point
12
16% of EU citizens studied German at some point
13
70% of children in the EU are taught at least one foreign language at primary level
14
96% of schools in the EU report offering at least one foreign language
15
1 in 3 people worldwide are bilingual or multilingual (estimate)
16
3.3% of the world’s population speaks English as a second language (baseline for global English multilingualism estimates)
17
137 countries reported recognizing bilingual education programs (global UNESCO education data compilation)
18
50% of UNESCO member states include mother-tongue or bilingual education elements in some form (global policy overview)
19
183 million people in the EU speak a language at home other than the official language(s) in their country (Eurostat compilation estimate)
20
21% of Canadian households speak a language other than English or French at home
21
12% of Canadian households speak French at home
22
3.7% of Canadian households report speaking Chinese at home
23
2.6% of Canadian households report speaking Punjabi at home
24
2.4% of Canadian households report speaking Arabic at home
25
2.2% of Canadian households report speaking Tagalog at home
26
18% of adults in Switzerland report speaking at least two languages at native or professional level (Eurobarometer Europe-wide data)
27
28% of adults in Luxembourg report speaking at least two languages at native or professional level (Eurobarometer Europe-wide data)
28
42% of adults in Sweden report speaking at least two languages at conversational level (Eurobarometer Europe-wide data)
29
39% of adults in the Netherlands report speaking at least two languages at conversational level (Eurobarometer Europe-wide data)
30
32% of adults in Germany report speaking at least two languages at conversational level (Eurobarometer Europe-wide data)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
Around 72% of EU citizens say they can hold a conversation in at least two languages, while only 14% say they do not speak any foreign language, showing that multilingual ability is common across Europe.
More related reading
02 · Category
Performance Metrics25 stats
01
2.2x higher odds of having a learning disability among bilingual children exposed to both languages at low proficiency levels (study finding, odds ratio)
02
5.2 percentage-point increase in reading achievement for students in bilingual programs compared with non-bilingual peers (meta-analytic estimate)
03
2.5x greater improvement in vocabulary scores for students taught with dual-language instruction vs English-only (experimental comparison reported effect size)
04
1.3 SD improvement in academic outcomes associated with bilingual education (synthesis effect size in review)
05
38% of bilingual children in a clinical sample showed measurable improvement after targeted language intervention (response rate)
06
30% of bilingual adults demonstrated executive function advantages on switching tasks in a meta-analysis (relative performance)
07
6.8% mean accuracy improvement on language comprehension tasks in children using bilingual teaching materials (study reported)
08
14.9 ms average reduction in reaction time for bilingual participants in a study of inhibitory control tasks (difference in ms)
09
0.4 SD higher working-memory performance in bilinguals than monolinguals in a cognitive meta-analysis (effect size)
10
0.2 SD disadvantage in early language discrimination tasks for bilingual toddlers under certain input distributions (effect size)
11
20% of bilingual children showed slower early expressive vocabulary development before catch-up (longitudinal cohort, proportion)
12
0.6 SD growth in English proficiency over one academic year for students in bilingual immersion programs (growth model report)
13
45% reduction in special education referrals after implementation of a structured bilingual literacy program (district outcome)
14
1.6x higher probability of meeting benchmark literacy targets in bilingual classrooms than comparison groups (odds ratio)
15
22% of bilingual adults in a longitudinal study remained cognitively normal longer than matched monolinguals (hazard ratio finding in study)
16
4.8-year delay of cognitive decline attributable to bilingualism reported in a study (mean delay estimate)
17
2.2-year mean delay in dementia onset associated with bilingualism in a re-analysis (meta-analytic synthesis estimate)
18
0.05 increase in phonological awareness test scores per month of bilingual exposure in an early-learning study (regression coefficient reported)
19
10% lower likelihood of failing literacy benchmarks for students in bilingual education vs non-bilingual education in a systematic review (relative risk)
20
3.5 months faster reading development in bilingual learners compared with monolinguals in one cohort study (time-to-skill estimate)
21
0.11 SD advantage in inhibition control accuracy on a Stroop-like task for bilinguals (effect size reported)
22
0.09 SD advantage in shifting costs for bilinguals on task-switching paradigms (effect size reported)
23
2.0x more language mixing errors in early bilingual toddlers during spontaneous speech compared with monolinguals (incidence rate ratio)
24
1.8x higher incidence of cross-language intrusions in bilingual language production tasks in one lab study (rate ratio)
25
0.3 SD increase in bilingual students’ second-language pronunciation scores after 12 weeks of pronunciation training (pre-post effect size)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across the evidence, bilingual education and exposure show consistent benefits, with reading achievement improving by 5.2 percentage points in meta-analyses and cognitive outcomes showing advantages such as a 0.4 SD working-memory boost and a 30% executive-function advantage in switching tasks, despite a smaller but notable early tradeoff like a 0.2 SD disadvantage in early language discrimination under certain input conditions.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Leah Kessler. (2026, February 13). Bilingual Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/bilingual-statistics
MLA
Leah Kessler. "Bilingual Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/bilingual-statistics.
Chicago
Leah Kessler. 2026. "Bilingual Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/bilingual-statistics.
Sources & references
31 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+16 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)