The two official languages in the Philippines are Filipino (standardized Tagalog) and English, with at least 75% of the population showing competency in Filipino and 47% showing competency in English according to a 2023 poll by Social Weather Stations (the foremost polling agency in the Philippines).
However, 175 indigenous languages are also spoken in the Philippines—several with over a million speakers—creating a linguistically rich culture. Before you learn Tagalog or visit the Philippines, take a moment to explore what language is spoken in the Philippines region you’re interested in.
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What is the official language of the Philippines?
Filipino and English are the two official languages in the Philippines, as enshrined in the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. Filipino is also known as the national language, and it’s a standardized version of Tagalog, the largest indigenous language spoken in the Philippines.
Filipino
Filipino is the dominant language in the country, primarily around Manila (the country’s capital) and the Luzcon and Mindoro regions. It’s spoken fluently by more than 75% of people living in the Philippines (Social Weather Stations, 2023). The vast majority of the population understands it on some level:
- Understand spoken Filipino: 93%
- Understand written Filipino: 96%
- Write Filipino: 93%
- Speak Filipino: 87%
- Think in Filipino (i.e., demonstrates competency): 75%
- None of the above: 1%
Filipino also has its own sign language: Filipino Sign Language (FSL). It was established in 2018 as the national sign language of the Filipino deaf community.
English
The Philippines is among the largest English-speaking countries in Asia. English was introduced as the official language for Philippines government, business, and education following the end of the Philippine-American War in 1902.
Philippine English has evolved into its own dialect, with unique grammar and vocabulary variations. English is widely understood in the Philippines, although not as much as Filipino:
- Understand spoken English: 80%
- Understand written English: 80%
- Write English: 69%
- Speak English: 55%
- Think in English (i.e., demonstrates competency): 47%
- None of the above: 9%
How many languages are spoken in the Philippines?
As of 2026, 184 languages are spoken in the Philippines (Ethnologue, 2026), including 175 indigenous languages and 9 non-indigenous languages. All Philippine languages are a part of the Austronesian language family. Within that, they all fit into the Western Malayo-Polynesian group of languages.
Out of those 184 languages, the Philippines government considers eight indigenous languages to be of particular importance, as they cover the majority of the population:
- Tagalog
- Cebuano
- Hiligaynon
- Ilocano
- Waray
- Bicol (Central)
- Pampangan
- Pangasinan
Most spoken languages in the Philippines
The most important languages in the Philippines are those that have the most number of speakers, which includes Tagalog and English at the top. The other seven languages each have over a million speakers in various regions of the country.
| Language | Alternate Names | Region | Approximate Number of Speakers |
| Tagalog | Filipino | Manila, Luzcon, and Mindoro; Nationwide as Filipino | 88.3 million |
| English | N/A | Nationwide | 52.8 million |
| Cebuano | Sebuano, Bisayan, Visayan, Binisaya, Sugbuanon, Sugbuhanon | Cebu, Negros, Bohol, Visayas, Mindanao | 21 million |
| Hiligaynon | Hiligainon, Ilonggo | Iloilo, Capiz, Panay, Negros Occidental, Visayas | 9.3 million |
| Ilocano | Ilokano, Iloko | La Union, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Babuyan, Mindoro, Mindanao | 9.1 million |
| Waray | Binisaya, Samar-Leyte, Samaran, Samareño | Northern and eastern Samar-Leyte | 2.6 million |
| Bicol (Central) | Bikol, Bicolano | Camarines Norte and Sur, south Catanduanes, north of Albay Sorsogon, Naga City and Legaspi City | 2.5 million |
| Pampangan | Kapampangan | Pampanga, Tarlac, and Bataan | 2 million |
| Pangasinan | N/A | Pangasinan | 1.5 million |
*Social Weather Stations; Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, “Languages and Data”
Tagalog
Tagalog is the most widely spoken language in the Philippines with roughly 88.3 million speakers (Social Weather Stations, 2023). The language is particularly strong in the provinces surrounding Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Although Tagalog was chosen to act as the foundation for Filipino in 1937, it wasn’t until 1987 that it officially became the national language of the Philippines.
Tagalog and Filipino are often talked about interchangeably (especially abroad), but the distinction between them is important to many. While Tagalog is an indigenous language spoken by one ethnolinguistic group, Filipino is treated as representative of the entire country and all of its many ethnic groups.
English
English is unique among the major languages in the Philippines, as it is the only major non-indigenous language in the country, and one of the two official languages. Approximately 52.8 million people in the Philippines speak English fluently (Social Weather Stations, 2023). However, its influence goes far beyond how many people can speak it.
Even when the Philippines was in its transition period between being a territory of the United States and an independent state, English was still embraced as a major language behind the new national language (Tagalog). Its value as “the great language of diplomacy,” so called by the first president Manuel L. Quezon, could not be denied.
In the modern Philippines language landscape, English is a required part of the education system. In 2003, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed the Department of Education to require English, to some extent, at all levels of education, including as the primary language for secondary education (with the exception of Filipino and social studies classes).
As a result of the Philippines maintaining its hold on English, the 2025 ER English Proficiency Index (EPI) revealed that the Philippines has a high proficiency in English nationwide (only one of two Asian countries to have such a high score), especially in writing.
Cebuano
Cebuano is spoken by about 21 million people in the Philippines, making it the second-most widely spoken indigenous language behind Tagalog (Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, “Languages and Data”). Cebu Island (in the Central Visayas region) is the heart of their culture and language, and 87.5% of households there speak Cebuano.
There’s also a sizable population in the southern tip of the large island Mindanao. If you visit the area, you may also hear it referred to as Bisayan by native speakers, as Cebuano can also be considered a dialect of the Bisayan language. However, other major dialects of Bisayan do not refer to their own languages as Bisayan.
Hiligaynon
With 9.3 million speakers, Hiligaynon is the third-most widely spoken language in the Philippines (Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, “Languages and Data”). The concentration of households that speak it is particularly high in the Negros Occidental (84.3%) and Iloilo provinces (78.8%) (Translators without Borders, 2010).
It’s also a dialect of the Bisayan language (more specifically, Central Basayan), but speakers still refer to it as Hiligaynon or Ilonggo. Depending on who you ask, Hiligaynon is the language and the Ilonggo are the ethnic group that speaks it; otherwise, Hiligaynon is both the language and the people.
Ilocano
The Ilocano language and its people thrive in the northern half of the island of Luzon, with a rough total of 9.1 million speakers (Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, “Languages and Data”).
The highest concentration of speakers are in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La Union provinces, which each have more than 90% of their households speaking Ilocano as their primary languages (Translators without Borders, 2010).
Waray
Waray is primarily spoken by the Waray (or Waray-Waray) people in the Eastern Vasayas region (Samar-Leyte) with roughly 2.6 million speakers (Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, “Languages and Data”).
The Samar provinces each have over 90% of households speaking Waray at home, while Leyte is divided between Waray and Bisaya (Translators without Borders, 2010). Like Cebuano and Hiligaynon, Waray is a dialect of Bisaya, but the three are distinct languages, each spoken by distinct ethnic groups.
Bicol (Central)
Bicol is unique in that the languages of the Bicolano ethnic group are split into six separate languages, with the largest being Central Bicol (or Bicolano), which is spoken by 2.5 million people (Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, “Languages and Data”).
Naga City in the Camarines Sur province is known as the “Heart of Bicol,” and is where Central Bicol is primarily spoken. It has some similar vocabulary to Pampangan, but remains a distinct language.
Pampangan
Pampangan (or Kapampangan) has about 2 million speakers, primarily localized in the Tarlac and Pampanga provinces (Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, “Languages and Data”). As might be expected, about 78.6% of households in the Pampanga province speak Pampangan (Translators without Borders, 2010).
However, its proximity to the provinces where Tagalog is the predominant spoken language raises concern for the future of the Pampangan language for some speakers, given that Tagalog (and the national language, Filipino) dominates the region linguistically.
Pangasinan
The smallest of the eight major indigenous languages of the Philippines, roughly 1.5 million people speak Pangasinan (Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, “Languages and Data”). Although it’s far from endangered, Pangasinan is the only language of those eight that does not have a province where the majority of households speak it.
Instead, households in the Pangasinan province are split roughly half and half between Pangasinan and Ilocano (which results in several cultural and linguistic overlaps) and a small Tagalog presence (Translators without Borders, 2010).
FAQs about the languages of the Philippines
At first, determining what language is spoken in the Philippines can be confusing. Use the answers to these frequently asked questions about languages of the Philippines to clarify.
What language is mostly spoken in the Philippines?
Filipino is mostly spoken in the Philippines, with at least 75% of the population demonstrating fluency and up to 96% understanding the language to some extent (Social Weather Services, 2023). Filipino is a standardized version of Tagalog, the country’s largest indigenous language.
Is English spoken in the Philippines?
English is one of the official languages of the Philippines and is spoken fluently by about 47% of the population (Social Weather Services, 2023).
If you only speak English and visit the Philippines, you should have some success finding people who understand you, but learning some Tagalog phrases can enrich your experience.
Are Tagalog and Filipino the same?
Filipino is a dialect of Tagalog and is the national language of the Philippines. They are incredibly similar, to the point where they’re often referred to interchangeably. However, they do have some small differences in pronunciation, semantics, how the language is used, and cultural identity.
Why is Filipino so similar to Spanish?
Although Filipino is based on an indigenous language (Tagalog), as much as 20% of its vocabulary is influenced by Spanish due to Spain’s 300-year colonization of the islands. For example, “How are you?” in Filipino/Tagalog is kumustá, which comes from the Spanish cómo estás.
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