The 2013 census of Senegal records over 30 languages and dialects spoken in the country. Although French is the official language, it is spoken by only about 37% of the population, mostly as a second language. In contrast, 72% use Wolof to communicate with speakers of other Senegalese languages. The census indicates that Wolof is also the most widely spoken first language (50% of the population), followed by Pular (25%) and Serer (11%). In 2001, six languages were given national language status: Wolof, Serer, Pular, Mandinka, Soninke and Jola-Fony.
Wolof is most prevalent in urban areas and in radio broadcasting. French is almost the only in television and print media.
The literacy rate in Senegal in 2013 was 42.4%. Literacy rates are markedly lower for women (35.7%) than men (49.3%).
Explore the data by department here.
These maps and datasets are published with funding from the World Food Programme.
Curated datasets
Available on Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX)
For more information, please contact [email protected]
Maps and resources:
Languages of Senegal: Static (EN)
Static map highlighting the most common languages spoken in Senegal. Data is from the 2015 census.
Languages of Senegal: Static (FR)
Static map highlighting the most common languages spoken in Senegal. Data is from the 2015 census.
Languages of Senegal: Interactive (EN)
Interactive map showing the number of speakers and geographic spread of different languages in Senegal. Data is from the 2015 census.
