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Local languages widely used in central bank communications

African central banks use more English in communications than counterparts in other regions

Around 60% of central bank communications are produced in local languages excluding English, while around 44% are produced in English, data from the Communications Benchmarks 2025 shows.

The benchmarks also show English is used for around 20% of communications produced by central banks in countries where the language is not official. On average, central banks from countries with English as an official language produced 16% of their communications in local non-English languages.

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