language knowledge /eu publishes the latest language knowledge statistics for russian in the European Union using European Commission data published in 2024. Explore which countries russian is most spoken in, compare native with foreign speakers, and compare age groups to see where russian is gaining or losing popularity.
According to European Commission Eurobarometer survey data (2024), the European countries with the highest proportion of Russian speakers are Latvia (76.2%), Estonia (58.6%), and Lithuania (51.3%).
2.0% of the European Union population speaks Russian (0.5% as a native language and 1.5% as a foreign language).
In the European Union, 1.3% of 15–34 year olds speak Russian, compared to 2.3% of people aged 55 and over.