Languages of Singapore

21 languages of the index are spoken in Singapore; 4 have official status (English, Tamil, Standard Chinese and Malay). The country has about 5.9 m inhabitants (2021).

21 languages3 endangered or dormantAsiaISO SG / SGP

Official languages

engEnglishIndo-European · 1.13 bn0 · International tamTamilDravidian · 83 m2 · Provincial cmnStandard ChineseSino-Tibetan · 897.1 m msaMalayAustronesian · 77 m

All languages spoken in Singapore

Language	ISO	Family	Countries	Speakers	Vitality
zhoChinese汉语	`zho`	Sino-Tibetan		1.30 bn
engEnglish	`eng`	Indo-European	+93	1.13 bn	0 · International
cmnMandarin Chinese普通话	`cmn`	Sino-Tibetan	+4	1.07 bn	1 · National
cmnStandard Chinese現代標準漢語	`cmn`	Sino-Tibetan	+4	897.1 m
panPunjabiپنجابی	`pan`	—	+15	125 m	Safe
javJavaneseBasa Jawa	`jav`	Austronesian		84.3 m	4 · Educational
tamTamilதமிழ்	`tam`	Dravidian	+5	83 m	2 · Provincial
msaMalayBahasa Melayu	`msa`	Austronesian	+15	77 m
nanSouthern Min閩南語	`nan`	Sino-Tibetan	+5	48.3 m	6a · Vigorous
sunSundaneseBasa Sunda	`sun`	Austronesian		32.4 m	5 · Developing
madMadureseBhâsa Madhurâ	`mad`	Austronesian	+1	15 m	5 · Developing
sylSylhetiꠘꠣꠉꠞꠤ ꠜꠣꠡꠣ	`syl`	Indo-European	+13	14 m	3 · Wider Communication
minMinangkabaubahaso Minangkabau	`min`	—		5.5 m	5 · Developing
ayhHadhrami Arabicاللهجة الحضرمية	`ayh`	Afroasiatic	+5	4.5 m	6a · Vigorous
hnmHainanese	`hnm`	Sino-Tibetan	+1	1.1 m
mbfBaba Malay	`mbf`	—		12,000	8a · Moribund
mcmKristang	`mcm`	—		800	6b · Threatened
orsOrang Seletar	`ors`	Austronesian			6b · Threatened
slsSingapore Sign Language	`sls`	—			5 · Developing
zlmcolloquial Malay	`zlm`	Austronesian	+1		3 · Wider Communication
zsmStandard Malaybahasa Melayu Standard	`zsm`	Austronesian

21 languages · click a column to sort · source: Wikidata