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Languages

Languages of the United Kingdom

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Languages, writing systems and language context

United Kingdom
COUNTRY LANGUAGE PROFILE
English
English
Text direction: LTR

English is the dominant UK-wide public language, but the United Kingdom has no single legally designated official language at state level. Welsh has official status in Wales, while Scottish Gaelic, Irish and other languages have distinct statutory positions in parts of the UK.

1
Core language shown
Country-level reference set
English
First listed core language
Not a speaker-share estimate
1
Writing system represented
Across the core language set
LTR
Primary text direction
Additional directions noted below

Language Overview

English

Read the Characters

English · 26 characters

English · 26 characters
A
a
B
b
C
c
D
d
E
e
F
f
G
g
H
h
I
i
J
j
K
k
L
l
M
m
N
n
O
o
P
p
Q
q
R
r
S
s
T
t
U
u
V
v
W
w
X
x
Y
y
Z
z

How to Read the Language Landscape

PolicyLegal and administrative language status may differ between national and subnational government.
Everyday useA language can be socially dominant without being the only language used at home, school, work or in media.
Community diversityIndigenous, minority, migrant and sign languages can remain important even when they are not part of a short national headline list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What languages are used in the United Kingdom?

English is the dominant UK-wide public language, but the United Kingdom has no single legally designated official language at state level. Welsh has official status in Wales, while Scottish Gaelic, Irish and other languages have distinct statutory positions in parts of the UK.

What writing systems are used in the United Kingdom?

The represented writing system is Latin and the primary direction shown is left to right.

More about United Kingdom

Explore United Kingdom across the other DigifyWorld country-data sections.

Public HolidaysPublic holidays 2026 and 2027→Digital AdoptionInternet, payments and digital government→Population & DemographicsPopulation, age structure and projections→Economy SnapshotGDP, trade and economic structure→Currency & ExchangeCurrency, exchange rates and money→Human DevelopmentHDI and quality-of-life indicators→Geography & EnvironmentLand, climate and environment→Practical Country InfoTime, driving, electricity and codes→EducationSchool system and education data→

Sources & methodology

View sources used for this page
UK legislation: British Sign Language Act 2022 explanatory notes

Official UK legislation notes stating that there is no official legal language of the United Kingdom and describing the separate statutory status of Welsh and other languages.

Unicode CLDR: Country/Region Names

Localized country display-name reference. CLDR names are customary UI/display names, not claims about a state’s full constitutional long-form name.

Unicode: Supported Scripts

Reference for the writing-system/script families represented in the character component.

Unicode: Writing Direction and Bidirectional Text

Reference for left-to-right and right-to-left script direction and bidirectional text behavior.

Unicode Character Database: NamesList

Reference for Unicode character names used as small readout labels under selected character samples; these labels are not presented as a complete transliteration standard.