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Spanish for virtual assistants · Guide

Why virtual assistants should learn Spanish: 8 numbers for 2026

Reviewed

Because a lot of the people your clients serve speak it. Spanish has about 520 million native speakers, the third-largest native-speaker community in the world (Instituto Cervantes, 2025). The US alone has 65.2 million Hispanic residents (Census, 2023). Spanish is also by far the most common non-English language spoken at home there. Mexico was America’s largest trading partner in 2024. For a VA, that means inboxes, calls and schedules that often involve Spanish.

Part of Spanish for virtual assistants from Soltura.

8 numbers at a glance
NumberWhat it measuresSource
520 millionNative Spanish speakers worldwide (2025)Instituto Cervantes [1]
65.2 millionHispanic residents of the US (2023)US Census Bureau [2]
61.1%Share of US non-English home-language speakers who speak Spanish (2018–2022)US Census Bureau, ACS [3]
About 4 in 10US Spanish speakers who did not report speaking English “very well” (2018–2022)Our arithmetic from ACS [3]
$839.9 billionUS–Mexico goods trade, the largest of any US partner (2024)US Census Bureau [4]
2.6×Growth in US bilingual job postings, 2010–2015New American Economy [6]
30 weeksFSI classroom estimate for Spanish (Category I)US State Department / FSI [7]
+36%Growth in Spanish learners since 2012Instituto Cervantes [1]

1. 520 million native speakers

  • The community of native Spanish speakers passed 500 million for the first time in 2025, reaching about 520 million. There are more than 630 million potential speakers.
  • It is the third-largest native-speaker community in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Hindi.
  • 1 in 10 native Spanish speakers lives in a country where Spanish isn’t a main language.

Source: Instituto Cervantes, 2025 [1].

2. 65.2 million Hispanic US residents

  • The US had 65,219,145 Hispanic residents in 2023, 19.5% of the population. Hispanic residents accounted for just under 71% of US population growth from 2022 to 2023.
  • The largest state populations were California (15.76 million), Texas (12.14 million) and Florida (6.20 million).

Caveat: Hispanic origin isn’t the same as speaking Spanish. Source: US Census Bureau [2].

3. 61.1%

  • In the 2018–2022 American Community Survey, 78.3% of people age 5 and older spoke only English at home.
  • Among those who spoke another language at home, 61.1% spoke Spanish, 5.1% Chinese and 2.5% Tagalog (including Filipino).

Source: US Census Bureau [3].

4. About 4 in 10

  • In the 2018–2022 ACS, 61.0% of US Spanish speakers spoke English “very well” (58.3% for ages 18–64).
  • So about 4 in 10 did not report speaking English “very well”. That figure is our arithmetic from the Census numbers.

These are customers who call, message and book. Source: US Census Bureau [3].

5. $839.9 billion

  • Mexico was the largest US trading partner in 2024, with $839.9 billion in total goods trade, 15.8% of the US total [4].
  • US–Mexico goods trade in 2025 was about $871.6 billion: $337.3 billion in US exports plus $534.3 billion in imports. The total is our sum of the Census figures [5].

6. 2.6×

  • US job postings aimed at bilingual workers went from roughly 240,000 in 2010 to about 630,000 in 2015.
  • Ads listing Spanish as a desired skill rose about 150%.

These are 2015 data, from New American Economy, published by the American Immigration Council [6].

Does it pay more? See what the data shows.

7. 30 weeks

  • The US Foreign Service Institute lists Spanish at 30 weeks, in Category I (24–30 weeks, 600–750 class hours), its group of languages closest to English.

Caveat: these are full-time, intensive classroom estimates, not a personal timeline. Source: US State Department [7].

8. +36%

  • The number of Spanish learners is up 36% since 2012, and up 1.5% from 2024 to 2025. The US, Brazil and several EU countries contribute the most learners.
  • Spanish has the second-highest share of web pages, far behind English.

Source: Instituto Cervantes, 2025 [1].

What this means for VA work

Spanish can show up in many parts of a VA’s day:

  • Inbound customer messages
  • Scheduling and reminders
  • Follow-ups and invoices
  • Vendor and supplier emails
  • Social media replies

For context, the Philippine IT-BPM industry reported about US$40 billion in revenue and 1.9 million jobs in 2025 (IBPAP, as reported by The Manila Times) [8].

Where Soltura fits

Soltura is a speaking-first iPhone app for practical work Spanish, with a course for virtual assistants called Ruta VA. It’s coming soon to iPhone. See Spanish for virtual assistants, read what the data shows on bilingual pay, or go to the Soltura home page.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is Spanish worth learning for virtual assistants?

For many VAs, yes. Spanish has about 520 million native speakers, and the US has 65.2 million Hispanic residents. Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken at home in the US, so VA work often involves it.

How many people speak Spanish in the world?

Instituto Cervantes (2025) counts about 520 million native speakers and more than 630 million potential speakers.

How many Spanish speakers are in the US?

Census counts 65.2 million Hispanic residents (2023), and 61.1% of people who speak a non-English language at home speak Spanish (ACS 2018–2022). Hispanic origin and speaking Spanish aren’t the same thing.

Do bilingual virtual assistants get paid more?

There’s no official published data on VA rates. Some employers pay set bilingual differentials. See our bilingual pay article for the published figures.

How long does it take to learn Spanish?

The US Foreign Service Institute lists Spanish at 30 weeks of full-time classroom study (Category I: 24–30 weeks). Part-time learners take longer, and results vary.

Is Spanish hard for English speakers?

FSI puts Spanish in Category I, its group of languages closest to English.

Which Spanish should a VA learn?

Match the Spanish your clients’ customers use. Soltura lets you choose an accent.

Sources

  1. Instituto Cervantes, Anuario 2025: El español: lengua para el mundo, accessed Sep 29, 2026.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, New Estimates Highlight Differences in Growth Between the U.S. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Populations (June 27, 2024), accessed Sep 29, 2026.
  3. U.S. Census Bureau, Most Americans Speak Only English at Home or Speak English “Very Well” (Dec. 7, 2023), accessed Sep 29, 2026.
  4. U.S. Census Bureau, Top Trading Partners, December 2024 year to date, accessed Sep 29, 2026.
  5. U.S. Census Bureau, Trade in Goods with Mexico, accessed Sep 29, 2026.
  6. American Immigration Council, Demand for Bilingual Workers More than Doubled in 5 Years, New Report Shows (New American Economy, 2017), accessed Sep 29, 2026.
  7. U.S. Department of State, Foreign Language Training (Foreign Service Institute; 2021–2025 archive), accessed Sep 29, 2026.
  8. The Manila Times, IT-BMP sector earns $40 billion in 2025 (Dec. 31, 2025), reporting IBPAP figures, accessed Sep 29, 2026.