Which Language Earns the Most Money? Stats & Research

Which Language Earns the Most Money? Stats & Research

Language Services Direct Team

Any foreign language you learn can help you in both your professional and personal life, but some are more crucial than others. The following factors affect which foreign languages are the best to learn and how crucial language skills are on a global scale:

  • Quantity of potential speakers
  • Upsurge of native speakers
  • Economic growth of nations

According to language-specific recruiting service Euro London, learning a language has been proven to increase your salary by 10% to 15%.

This demonstrates that learning a new language is a smart investment for everyone, regardless of age, whether you’re getting ready to start a job or want to increase your prospects. Below we have listed which languages earn the most money.

Why learn a foreign language?

If you can speak more than one language, you’ll have access to a wide selection of employment prospects. Your ability to speak a native language and a second language gives you a significant advantage in the job market because there is an increasing need for bilingual and multilingual individuals in a variety of industries, including marketing, banking, law, and other professions.

Additionally, you’ll have access to careers like translation, interpreting, and teaching languages, all of which by definition call for fluency in the most widely spoken languages.

Some jobs may require language proficiency if you’re interested in working abroad. Even while you aren’t required to be able to speak the language in order to get employment, being able to communicate in another spoken language with people and navigate your new nation will undoubtedly make the adjustment easier.

The range of employment you can apply for will grow if you speak two or more languages and want to work domestically.

You can anticipate better income after you acquire that position. Employees that are bilingual frequently earn more money than their competitors who only speak one language.

It all boils down to elementary economics. People who can speak many languages are less common in the workforce, so if you do, you can negotiate a higher salary—especially if your employer relies on you for translation or interpretation on the job.

And your abilities can be even more intriguing if your resume lists a less widely used language.

Highest paid translation languages

German

Many readers might be surprised by this because they would anticipate that foreign languages with a higher GDP (by language), such as Mandarin, Japanese, or Spanish, would be associated with greater incomes.

Although this is generally true, Germany is an exception because it is one of the three European superpowers. In contrast to the language of a comparatively more closed economy, the language will therefore have greater economic value for an outsider.

French

The fact that French is spoken by more than 200 million people across five distinct continents explains why it is considered to be one of the most valuable languages to learn.

Although French may initially seem to be only spoken by people who reside in France, it is really the second most commonly taught language after English. Speaking French gives you access to businesses in France as well as other French-speaking nations including Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, and North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

France is an important economic partner since it has the third-largest foreign investment market and the fifth-largest economy in the world.

Spanish

The statistics alone make it clear that learning Spanish is a good idea, especially for business, regardless of the sector you work in. Aside from the sheer amount of people you can communicate with by speaking Spanish, nations like Mexico, Chile, and Colombia are transforming into economic powerhouses.

The icing on the cake: If you already understand English, learning Spanish is the most straightforward of the most valuable languages to learn.

Mandarin Chinese

China is without a doubt the world’s new economic superpower, with a growing reach spanning from Africa to the Americas. With over a billion individuals you can market to, China is a wealth of business potential.

The demand for senior roles by American and multinational corporations in China has increased 35% from the previous years, according to research, correlating with data from other recruiting agencies.

Mandarin, however, is a challenging language to master in contrast to other languages such as Spanish.

The ability to speak Mandarin Chinese makes you very marketable and makes you stand out in the competitive employment market. Given its reputation as a challenging language to master, employers will be immensely impressed if you can speak Mandarin Chinese.

Arabic

There are more than 400 million speakers of Arabic worldwide and it is the official language of 23 nations.

Western Arabic speakers are in extremely high demand but very short supply due to the wealth of market potential in the Middle East. Those who speak Arabic have the chance to build a global career in a range of fields like education, banking, journalism, foreign services, and of course Arabic translators are always in high demand.

Japanese

In terms of nominal GDP, Japan is the third-largest economy in Asia. The Japanese have some of the highest purchasing power in the world. In Japan, relationships are crucial to economic success. Gaining the trust of your consumers and clients will be much easier if you speak Japanese.

Foreign experts who speak both English and Japanese are in high demand if you’re seeking work in Japan.

Looking for expert business language training?

Contact us right away to discover more about how studying our language programmes can help you expand your business globally.

We can collaborate with you to create a unique language-learning strategy for your company and offer cross-cultural training to make it easier for you to communicate with your international co-workers, whether electronically or in person. You can take any of our courses live online. And your abilities can be even more intriguing if your resume lists a less widely used language.

For more information about our Professional Business Language Courses, please contact us today!

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