The following are sign languages reported to be used by at least 10,000 people. Additional languages, such as Chinese Sign Language, are likely to have more signers, but no data is available. Estimates for sign language use are very crude, and definitions of what counts as proficiency are varied. For most sign languages, there are no concrete estimates. For instance, it has been reported there are a million signers in Ethiopia, but there are only a fifth that number of deaf people, less than half of whom are fluent in sign, and in addition it is unknown how many different sign languages they use.
According to many highly educated members of the ASL dDeaf community, the number of fluent ASL native signers is closer to the tens of millions. Therefore, the statistics listed below, while taken from varying published sources, should be carefully vetted before being disseminated or cited elsewhere.
| Language | Family or origin | Legal recognition and where spoken natively by significant population | data-sort-type="number" width=12% | Ethnologue estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Related to Nepalese Sign Language and possibly others in south Asia | 6,300,000 (2019) | |||
| Independent language family; not related to other sign language families | Legally recognized by China | 4,000,000 (2021) | ||
| 810,000 (2021)[1] | ||||
| 715,000 (2014)[2] | ||||
| Legally recognized by law (10.436) in Brazil, on April 24, 2002[3] | 600,000 (2019) | |||
| Officially recognized by Spanish Government. Native to Spain except Catalonia and Valencia | 523,000 (2017) | |||
| 474,000 (2014)[4] | ||||
| Native to the United States and Anglophone Canada | 459,850[5] | |||
| 325,000 (2019)[6] | ||||
| 300,000 (2019)[7] | ||||
| Native to Japan. | 126,000 (2019) | |||
| Native to Urban Mexico. | 130,000 (2010 projection) | |||
| 100,000 (2019) | ||||
| German Sign Language family | 80,000 (2014) | |||
| Native to United Kingdom. | 80,000 (2014) | |||
| Malaysian Sign Language | French: ASL | Native to Malaysia | 60,000 (2013) | |
| German Sign Language family | Native to Poland. | 38,000 to 50,000 (2014) | ||
| Officially Recognized language in Sicily. Native to Italy | 40,000 (2014) | |||
| An official language of New Zealand since 2006 | 23,000 (2018 census)[8] | |||
| French: Austro-Hungarian | 22,000 (2010-2014) | |||
| Uruguayan Sign Language | French Sign Language family | Legally recognized in Uruguay since 2001 under Law 17.378.[9] [10] | 20,000 (2019)[11] | |
| Chinese | Native to Hong Kong | 20,000 (2007) | ||
| French | Native to Netherlands | 15,000 (2019) | ||
| 10,000 (2016 census) |