More than 50% of current ChatGPT users primarily utilize a language that is not English, according to data on consumer usage from OpenAI, with Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic being the most popular non-English languages.
The numbers provided only account for specific ChatGPT plans like Free, Go, Plus, and Pro, excluding Codex, Enterprise, or education products. Consequently, they do not represent overall usage in professional settings, technical sectors, or educational environments. OpenAI reports that usage in languages other than English has risen among this particular set of users, aligning with the platform’s overall expansion since its introduction in 2022.
The Data’s Findings
OpenAI’s Signals initiative monitors the usage patterns of consumers over a period. In comparison to a July 2023 reference point, ChatGPT’s weekly active users have increased on all continents, with Africa and Asia experiencing the most rapid growth.
Lower-HDI countries experienced the most rapid growth during that time, according to OpenAI, which highlights its ongoing provision of affordable access through Free and Go plans.
Smaller languages such as Uzbek, Kazakh, and Burmese experienced the highest growth in active users in June 2026 among languages with more than 1 million users in non-English activities.
An independent study reveals that individuals using ChatGPT for six months increase their daily message count by around 50% and engage in twice as many different tasks. This information is based on a limited sample of accounts generated between mid-October 2025 and early May 2026, providing insight into user behavior during that time frame, though it does not represent the platform’s complete past.
OpenAI’s analysis shows that individuals with traditionally feminine names are now the most commonly used among identifiable names, following a shift in demographics based on name-to-gender matching rather than user data.
Why This Is Important
The ChatGPT user community has changed from being primarily English speakers to a more globally diverse group that is less focused on English than the initial users.
The way the retrieval layer functions is inconsistent with this behavior. I previously discussed a study this year that revealed how ChatGPT Search frequently conducts additional queries in English, even if the initial prompt is in Spanish or Arabic. This results in responses being drawn from English sources before providing an answer.
OpenAI has now shared consumer usage data for the second time in less than a year through policy-focused research, building on their previous findings about reduced gender disparity and increased growth in lower-income nations.
Looking to the future
Signals is continuously being released, making it intriguing to observe the progression of the non-English majority from this point forward.
Businesses targeting an English-speaking audience face increased challenges when the majority of ChatGPT users communicate in a different language, as the English-only audience is no longer the primary target.
