What are the top 20 spoken languages in world and how many people speak each language?

It's tricky to definitively say what the "top 20" spoken languages are, as different sources use different methodologies and criteria. However, based on a combination of native speakers, total speakers, and official language status, here's a list of the 20 most spoken languages in the world (approximately):

Language | Native Speakers (estimated) | Total Speakers (estimated)

------- | -------- | --------

Mandarin Chinese | 939 million | 1.1 billion

Hindi | 602 million | 615 million

English | 379 million | 1.4 billion

Spanish | 534 million | 572 million

Arabic | 274 million | 422 million

Bengali | 265 million | 265 million

Portuguese | 258 million | 274 million

Russian | 154 million | 258 million

Japanese | 126 million | 128 million

German | 78 million | 132 million

French | 77 million | 295 million

Marathi | 83 million | 83 million

Telugu | 81 million | 81 million

Turkish | 80 million | 80 million

Vietnamese | 80 million | 89 million

Korean | 77 million | 77 million

Italian | 68 million | 68 million

Urdu | 67 million | 170 million

Persian | 65 million | 110 million

Indonesian | 198 million | 198 million

Important Notes:

* Total speakers vs. native speakers: Total speakers include native speakers and those who have learned the language as a second language.

* Language families: Some languages belong to larger language families, like Indo-European or Sino-Tibetan, making it difficult to compare them directly.

* Regional variations: Within a language, there can be significant regional variations in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

* Methodology: Different organizations use different methodologies for collecting and analyzing data. This can lead to variations in the estimated number of speakers.

This list is a good starting point, but it's essential to keep in mind the complexities of language use and the limitations of available data.