Skip to main content
25th Edition
World
Languages
Countries
Insights
About
Help
Burundi
Print
Primary tabs
Country
Languages
Status
(active tab)
Maps
Expand All
Collapse All
1 (National)
Rundi
[run]
1 (National). Statutory national language (2005, Constitution, Article 5). 10,420,000 in Burundi (2017), increasing. 4,000,000 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 10,000,000. Total users in all countries: 11,253,950.
3 (Wider communication)
French
[fra]
3 (Wider communication). De facto national working language. 941,870 in Burundi, all users. L1 users: 1,870 in Burundi (2019). L2 users: 940,000 (Beck et al 2018).
Swahili
[swh]
3 (Wider communication). 11,800 in Burundi (2017), increasing.
5 (Developing)
Burundian Sign Language
[lsb]
5* (Developing). 58,000 (2021 DBS/DOOR/SIL). Estimated 35,000–70,000 deaf signers, assuming 0.3%–0.6% of the total population. Another estimate: 5,000 (2020 ANSB).
Unestablished
Gujarati
[guj]
Unestablished. 2,700 in Burundi (2017).
Kinyarwanda
[kin]
Unestablished. 30,000 in Burundi (2017).