Languages of Hungary


The languages spoken in Hungary include Hungarian, recognized minority languages and other languages.

Minority languages of Hungary

are spoken in a number of autochthonous settlements in Hungary. The country is a signatory of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages which was ratified at 26 April 1995 under which 14 minority languages are recognized and protected. Official linguistic rights of 13 recognized minorities are regulated by the Act on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities which provide measures for development of cultural and educational autonomy. Levels of linguistic assimilation among Hungarian ethnic minorities are high. At the time of 2001 Census, out of the 314 059 citizens belonging to ethnic minorities 135 787 stated minority language as their primary language.
Under the terms of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Hungary is providing special protection for the Armenian, Boyash, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Rusyn, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and Ukrainian languages.

Language families

Population by knowledge of languages

LanguageNumber of speakers Note
Hungarian9,896,333 The only official language of Hungary, of which 9,827,875 people speak it as a first language, while 68,458 people speak it as a second language.
English1,589,180 Foreign language
German1,111,997 Foreign language and co-official minority language
Russian158,497 Foreign language
Romanian128,852 Foreign language and co-official minority language
French117,121 Foreign language
Italian80,837 Foreign language