U.S. is second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, study says

Second only to Mexico, the United States now has more Spanish speakers than Spain, according to a new study published by the Instituto Cervantes.

The report said there are 41 million native Spanish speakers in the U.S. in addition to 11.6 million who are bilingual, putting it ahead of Colombia, with 48 million, and Spain, with 46 million, The Guardian reported. The U.S. is second only to Mexico, which has 121 million Spanish speakers, the study said.

The US Census Office estimates that the U.S. will have 138 million Spanish speakers by 2050, making it the biggest Spanish-speaking country in the world, The Guardian reported.

The report, “El español, una lengua viva,” or “Spanish, a living language,” stated that the highest concentration of Spanish speakers in the U.S. reside in New Mexico, California, Texas and Arizona.