Ethnologue

What Ethnologue does

Ethnologue is the world's most comprehensive database on living languages, published by SIL Global — a faith-based nonprofit headquartered in Dallas, Texas — and maintained continuously since 1951. The platform covers 7,170 living languages across 242 countries, organized around 5 million curated data points contributed by a global network of 2,500 expert linguists. Its technical core rests on two proprietary frameworks: the EGIDS (Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale), the industry-standard reference for language vitality assessment, and the DLS (Digital Language Support) scale, positioned as the first dataset measuring digital language capabilities.

The product surface is structured around three delivery channels. First, tiered subscriptions: a free Starter tier, Essentials at $480 per user per year, Standard at $2,400 per user per year, and custom Enterprise contracts for institutional multi-user access with domain or IP-based authentication. Second, separately licensed raw datasets — the Ethnologue Global Dataset (longitudinal tab-delimited data back to 1996), Training Datasets (audio and text across thousands of languages, including low-resource and indigenous varieties, for AI/ML engine training), Language GIS Dataset (centroids and boundary polygons for 7,100+ languages), and the DLS Dataset. Third, Applied Research services offering customized data slices, maps, infographics, language research, and product prototyping via consulting engagements.

Ethnologue serves four primary customer segments: academic and research institutions requiring authoritative language data for scholarly work, technology companies and AI developers needing training data for multilingual models, governments and NGOs focused on language policy and preservation, and individual language professionals and contributors. Named customers include Meta, Ancestry.com, Carnegie Mellon University, USITC, World Bank, YouVersion, and GSMA. Go-to-market combines self-serve PLG for individual subscriptions with sales-led enterprise and dataset licensing motions. The business has no venture or private equity backing and operates as a commercial product line within the broader SIL Global nonprofit mission.

Name

Ethnologue

Legal name

SIL Global

Website

https://ethnologue.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Ethnologue, published by nonprofit SIL Global, is the world's most comprehensive database on living languages, covering 7,170 languages across 242 countries. It serves academic institutions, governments, NGOs, and technology firms via subscriptions, licensed datasets for AI training, and research services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Language Data and Linguistic Intelligence

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Dataset Discovery, Marketplaces & Licensing (HDAAALAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Language Learning eLearning Modules (ESL/EFL) (EDAGAEAI)

Keywords

• Language data licensing
• Linguistic database subscriptions
• AI training datasets
• Language mapping services
• Endangered language research

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Plans: Annual subscription tiers (Essentials $480/year, Standard $2,400/year) providing access to language profiles, country profiles, maps, and archives. Individual user accounts with optional enterprise multi-user access.
2. Dataset Licensing: Raw data files (Global Dataset, Training Datasets, Language GIS Dataset, Digital Language Support Dataset) sold as separate licenses. Collated and curated data for advanced analysis including longitudinal studies. Pricing quote-based, not publicly disclosed.
3. Applied Research & Consulting: Customized data slices, digital maps, specific language data sourcing, infographics, language research, and product prototyping services offered through consulting engagements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ethnologue operates a subscription-based linguistic database platform covering 7,170 living languages across 242 countries, delivered through tiered web subscriptions (Essentials, Standard, Enterprise) and licensed standalone datasets for advanced analysis. It also sells raw data files (Global Dataset, Training Datasets, Language GIS Dataset, Digital Language Support Dataset) and offers applied research and consulting services for customized language data projects.

Product overview

Ethnologue is a comprehensive language information platform organized as a core database plus multiple data delivery products. The core Ethnologue database covers 7,170 living languages across 242 countries with 5 million data points. Access is provided through three subscription tiers: Essentials ($480/year) for basic profiles and data, Standard ($2,400/year) for complete profiles with maps and digests, and Enterprise for multi-user institutional access. Separate from subscriptions, four dataset products can be licensed: the Ethnologue Global Dataset (raw tab-delimited data for analysis), Training Datasets (audio and text for AI/ML training), Language GIS Dataset (geographic polygons and coordinates), and Digital Language Support Dataset (digital capability measurements). The Applied Research team offers customized consulting services. The platform also provides free access to language insights, archives of previous editions, and code tables.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ethnologue 200: List of the top 200 most spoken languages published for over 15 years, often cited by top-tier publications.
• Ethnologue Global Dataset
• Language GIS Dataset
• Digital Language Support

Products and services

• Ethnologue Language Database The world's most comprehensive database on living languages, providing 5 million data points covering 7,170 languages across 242 countries with 70+ years of linguistic expertise. Accessed via subscription tiers on ethnologue.com for language profiles, country profiles, language maps, archives, and vitality assessments.
• Ethnologue Global Dataset Raw tab-delimited data files behind the Ethnologue website for advanced language analysis and longitudinal studies, covering 7,467 languages across 242 countries with 11,292 Language-in-Country data points (28th edition) and historical datasets from 1996 onwards. Licensed separately from subscriptions.
• Training Datasets Audio and text content in thousands of languages suitable for training AI and ML engines and models, including hard-to-source indigenous and low-resource languages. Licensed for academic and commercial purposes, with customers including Meta and Carnegie Mellon University.
• Language GIS Dataset Comprehensive geographic dataset of locations for 7,100+ living languages, including centroid coordinates and boundary polygons displaying traditional homelands. Available as geodatabase GIS or Esri shapefiles and used by customers such as Ancestry.com for digital language mapping.
• Digital Language Support Dataset The world's first dataset dedicated to measuring digital language capabilities across living languages using a 5-point scale with component scores, designed to understand the Digital Language Divide. Used by GSMA for the SOMIC report and available via separate license.
• Applied Research Services Customized research and consulting services including specific data slices, digital maps, language data sourcing, infographics, language research, and product prototyping. Engagements are relationship-based and include a free one-hour consultation, serving clients such as the World Bank.
• Ethnologue Archives Access to previous editions of Ethnologue from the 13th edition through the current edition, enabling longitudinal language research and historical comparison. Sold as a standalone digital product via the storefront.
• Language Code Tables Reference tables providing language codes including ISO 639-3 identifiers for languages worldwide, sold as a standalone reference product.

Quantifiable outcome

• 600,000 annual users rely on Ethnologue data
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Emerging players

• Wikitongues: Nonprofit community-driven initiative documenting languages through volunteer video. Comparable to Ethnologue in mission (language documentation and preservation) but operates an open, grassroots model without commercial dataset licensing.
• The Rosetta Project (Long Now Foundation): Long-running archive of language documentation including a physical and digital archive of language materials. Comparable as a curated language archive with a preservation mission, though more research-archive oriented than commercial.
• OpenStreetMap / Natural Earth language data: Open geographic data projects containing language and place-name information. Comparable as a partial substitute for Ethnologue's Language GIS Dataset, particularly for open-data use cases in research and mapping.

Direct peers

• Glottolog: Open-access reference catalog of the world's languages maintained by the Max Planck Institute. Directly comparable to Ethnologue as a comprehensive language metadata resource used by linguists and researchers, though offering fewer commercial delivery products.
• Endangered Languages Project: Collaborative platform backed by First Peoples' Cultural Council and partners (including Google) that catalogs endangered languages. Overlaps with Ethnologue in vitality classification and indigenous-language coverage, serving similar academic and preservation audiences.

Others

• Derivation: Data science consultancy referenced on Ethnologue's site ('Derivation for Business'). Operates as an adjacent data services partner that builds on Ethnologue datasets, providing commercial analytics on top of the underlying language data.
• ISO 639 / Registration Authority (SIL International): ISO 639-3 language code registry administered by SIL International. Directly linked to Ethnologue via shared parent organization and overlapping language identification data — a complementary standards body rather than a commercial competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Wikidata / Wikimedia Foundation: Open structured knowledge base containing language identifiers, family trees, and metadata. Comparable as a free, crowd-sourced alternative source of language reference data that researchers and developers may substitute for Ethnologue subscriptions.
• World Atlas of Languages (UNESCO): UNESCO-led global initiative to map the world's languages. Comparable to Ethnologue in authoritative policy positioning and government/government-adjacent user base, with potential overlap on language vitality and endangerment metrics.
• Google Translate / Google Language AI: Mass-market translation and language AI product with broad multilingual datasets. Comparable as a buyer of large-scale language data and as a potential substitute for some Ethnologue use cases, especially for big-tech NLP customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/theethnologue
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCp2MID9TODwGq6BH-VlYLhQ
• Xx.com/theethnologue

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ethnologue