How many people globally study English as a Second or Foreign language?  And 
how mature is this market (ie is it growing, shrinking, stable)?  

What percentage of the adult market studies: general English, Business English, 
and English for Special Purposes?  And what are the trends for each of these 
three areas - to increase or reduce demand?

Hi, 

The brief answer to your question is: over one billion people were learning 
English in 2000; the market is growing; and demand for Business English and 
English for Special Purposes instruction is increasing even faster than demand 
for general English instruction.

You can find many relevant statistics on the British Council's website ( 
http://www.britishcouncil.org ), e.g., in
the English Language FAQ:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/english/engfaqs.htm#hmlearn1 
"At any one time there are 120,000 students learning English and other skills 
through the medium of English in British Council teaching centres worldwide. 

By the year 2000 it is estimated that over one billion people will be learning 
English."

or in an article entitled "The Future of English":

http://www.britishcouncil.org/english/pdf/future.pdf 

The article estimates the number of English as a Foreign Language speakers as 
750 million, and the number of English as L2 speakers (i.e. people who speak 
English on the daily basis alongside some other language) as 375 million. There 
are many other numbers in the article; in particular, it provides economic 
influence scores for a group of languages (English receives a score of 100; its 
runner-up is German, with a score of 42). "The Future of English" emphasizes 
the importance of the Internet and computer technology in general in making 
English the most important language of global communication. It also surveys 
the trends in business English and English for specific purposes.

Some US statistics can be found on the National Center for ESL Literacy 
Education (NCLE) website, e.g., in the
NCLE FAQ on adult ESL literacy:

http://www.cal.org/ncle/FAQS.HTM#Two 
"2. How many adults are studying English in the US?

In 2000, 1,102,261 adults enrolled in ESL programs that received funding 
through the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult 
Education (OVAE). (State-administered Adult Education Program 2000 Enrollment, 
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education). This 
number represents 38% of the overall national adult education enrollment of 
2,891,895 learners for that year. Adult basic education (ABE) and adult 
secondary education (ASE, the other components of federally-funded adult 
education, represented 37% and 25% respectively. University and college 
students, as well as the many adults served in programs not receiving federal 
funding, are not included in this number."  

NCLE also provides this useful page: 

Resources  for statistics related to adult ESL learners:
http://www.cal.org/ncle/stats.htm

More US numbers and ESL market estimates are available from the StudyUSA site, 
e.g.:

"English for Specific Purposes" by Jan D. Hortas
http://www.studyusa.com/articles/esp.htm 

"As we enter a new millennium, the ability and the need to understand and 
communicate with each other has become increasingly important, at times even 
urgent. An international exchange of ideas - from environmental issues such as 
the thinning ozone layer and the warming of the planet, to medical topics such 
as genetic engineering, to political crises - is essential. 

To meet these communication needs, more and more individuals have highly 
specific academic and professional reasons for seeking to improve their 
language skills: for these students, usually adults, courses that fall under 
the heading English for Special Purposes (ESP) hold particular appeal."

More detailed reports can be obtained from the Global Education and Training 
Information Service:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/promotion/getis/gethome.htm 

Sample report titles can be viewed at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/promotion/getis/smpl/samples/smplindex.htm#elt

		Other useful links:

The Publishers Association's Global Publishing Information site (ELT market 
reports)
http://www.publishers.org.uk/paweb/GPI.nsf/0/8AD36FE7CCBD9C2980256B36003A3C83?
open 

About.com's ESL section: Global English links
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa030299.htm

Global English Newsletter
http://www.english.co.uk/newsletter/gen.html 

Helpful Google searches:

site:www.britishcouncil.org "how many" "learn English" OR "learning English" 
OR "study English" 

://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.britishcouncil.org+%22how+many%22+%
22learn+English%22+OR+%22learning+English%22+OR+%22study+English%22

global OR globally OR world "study english" statistics OR stats OR numbers 

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=global+OR+globally+OR+world+%
22study+english%22+statistics+OR+stats+OR+numbers  

efl OR esl OR tefl OR tesl OR tesol OR elt market report OR reports

://www.google.com/search?
hl=en&q=efl+OR+esl+OR+tefl+OR+tesl+OR+tesol+OR+elt+market+report+OR+reports 

"business English" trend OR trends OR statistics OR stats OR numbers

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22business+English%
22+trend+OR+trends+OR+statistics+OR+stats+OR+numbers 

"English for special purposes" " trend OR trends OR statistics OR stats OR 
numbers

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22English+for+special+purposes%22+%
22+trend+OR+trends+OR+statistics+OR+stats+OR+numbers

The rating would have been higher had I mentioned first that I had
already got a lot of information from the British Council.  But the
results took me to some interesting sites and I also learnt some more
refined searching techniques.  So this was a good investment.  Next
time, I will put sites NOT to be mentioned in searches.

your question is for wich cuntry?

According to this site, the global EFL market is currently worth some $50 
billion:
http://www.advancework.com/english/press/012901AWI3M.htm

According to LingoMedia (http://www.lingomedia.com/products/markets.html), an 
estimated 1.5 billion people are currently studying English worldwide.

Here are some comments on trends from Scotexchange.net, a site which promotes 
Scottish business and tourism - alas, the site is very short on statistics, and 
is naturally written from a European perspective: 
http://www.scotexchange.net/KnowYourMarket/Niche/tefl3.htm 

"The number of Western Europe English learners is in decline, but there is 
growth from Asia, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe."

"Demand has shifted from general English courses towards English for Special 
Purposes, where students are seeking to improve business and professional 
language skills."

"The UK has a 60% share of the market (4% Scotland, 56% rest of the UK) and 
this is forecast to grow by about 4% per year. The reasons for the higher 
growth for some of the new entrants to this market (such as USA, Australia and 
New Zealand) are that they are geographically well placed to benefit from the 
new growth market in Asia."

"The growth in EFL visits comes mainly from Asia (Japan in particular, although 
there are signs it has now reached a plateau), Latin America (Brazil 
especially) and Central and Eastern Europe. However, the key markets remain as 
France, Germany and Italy. Business from France is in decline, particularly in 
the public sector, and there are signs of a slight drop from the rest of 
Western Europe."


I know this is a mere fraction of what you asked for, but I hope it helps.

Globally - all countries.

One URL which more info on this that you ever wanted to see
comes as response to search on "global language"

 It is an article in The Atlantic Monthly:

  http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/11/wallraff.htm

and the extensive debate (still smoldering) in the 

 Post & Riposte / Foreign Affairs (see the left sidebar)

e.g.
       Material on English as an International Language (21 messages, 15 new)
       Nov. Atlantic: What Global Language? (103 messages, 2 new)
       LifeLiberty, and the Pursuit of Islam (1 new message)
..
       Mapping the spread of English globally... (1 new message)
       The future of English??? (1 new message)
       globalisation of English- consequensies of the process (9 messages, 8 new)
       globalisation of english- consequesies of the process (new)
       A linguistic shield against terrorism (11 messages, 10 new)

 some posts have stats and pie-charts - and go on and on :-)