Languages of Niger

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Languages of Niger
French in use on an official sign in Niger in 2018
Official	Hausa
Minority	Arabic, Buduma, Fulfulde, Gourmanchéma, Kanuri, Zarma & Songhai, Tamasheq, Tassawaq, Tebu, Tetserret
Foreign	English, French
Signed	Francophone African Sign Language
Keyboard layout	AZERTY

The national and official language of Niger is Hausa. French served as the country's official language until 2025 when it was replaced with Hausa as per the transitional charter introduced under Abdourahamane Tiani.

Different sources estimate that Niger has between 8 and 20 indigenous languages, belonging to the Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Niger–Congo families – the discrepancy stems from the fact that several are closely related, and can be grouped together or considered apart.

Official language

The sole official language of Niger is Hausa, which in 2025 replaced French, the previous official language.

French, inherited from the colonial period is spoken mainly as a second language by people who have received an education (20% of Nigeriens are literate in French, and even 47% in cities, growing quickly as literacy improves). Although educated Nigeriens still constitute a relatively small percentage of the population, the French language is the language used by the official administration (courts, government, etc.), the media and the business community. Niger is a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie. See also: African French^{[citation needed]}

Previously, it was listed that Niger had ten official national languages, namely Arabic, Buduma, Fulfulde, Gourmanchéma, Hausa, Kanuri, Zarma & Songhai, Tamasheq, Tassawaq, Tebu. However, the status of these languages was revoked later and not mentioned in the 2025 transitional charter introduced under Abdourahamane Tiani.

List

Languages by number of speakers (according to Ethnologue)

By Region

See also

• Demographics of Niger

References

External links

• Ethnologue report on "Languages of Niger"
• PanAfriL10n page on Niger
• Linguistic situation in Niger (in French)