The number of words humans speak is on the decline.
In an era where we continue to rely on smartphones for everything, research has shown that the number of words people actually speak is decreasing. The study indicated that people have lost 338 words each year over the past 15 years.
Sliding Into Silence? We Are Speaking 300 Daily Words Fewer Every Year - Valeria A. Pfeifer, Matthias R. Mehl, 2026
Are we talking less? A Q&A with psychologist Matthias Mehl | University of Arizona News
Matthias Mehr, a psychology professor at the University of Arizona, has long studied how people communicate in everyday life. One day, his research collaborator, Valeria Pfeiffer, recreated Mehr's past research and found that the results were significantly different.
Mail's research, published in 2007, analyzed the differences in the volume of spoken language between men and women. At the time, it was estimated that the average number of words spoken per person per day was approximately 15,900.
Pfeiffer referenced 22 studies conducted between 2005 and 2019 and estimated the results using the same methodology as Mail, finding that the average number of words spoken per day had decreased to 12,700 by 2019. Pfeiffer concludes, 'This means that over the past 15 years, the amount of words we speak has decreased by an average of 338 words per day.'
The studies Pfeiffer referenced were conducted for different purposes, examining utterances in relation to coping with breast cancer, adapting to divorce, and the social effects of meditation. Since participants were not informed that their utterances would be analyzed in the same way as Pfeiffer's, concerns that they might have altered their behavior to fit the hypothesis are ruled out.
The decline in the number of words spoken was most pronounced among younger age groups. When broken down into those under 25 and those 25 and older, younger age groups saw a decrease of approximately 452 words per year, compared to about 314 words per year for older age groups.
Mail points out, 'While the rise of smartphones and social media is likely a contributing factor, the decline is also seen among older age groups, suggesting that there are broader factors at play. We have lost many casual conversations, such as asking a shop assistant for help, asking a stranger for directions, or chatting with a neighbor.'
However, text messages may be supplementing verbal communication. Mail analyzes, 'In terms of the total amount of words exchanged, the total number of words through text messages and all other means may not have decreased, and may even have increased.' He adds, 'Whether that maintains our sense of social fulfillment is another matter. Verbal conversation has elements that text often lacks: presence, tone of voice, and spontaneity. Research has yet to conclude whether people who use a lot of text and less verbal conversation are in a better social state. I don't think we can assume that the two are interchangeable.'
Furthermore, this study focused primarily on people in the United States and parts of Europe, and all the data comes from Western individualistic societies. Therefore, Mail points out that 'these results cannot be applied to the entire world.'
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