Nearly 20 million people are studying Spanish as a foreign language

Nearly 20 million people study Spanish as a foreign language. The ABC newspaper published an interesting group of articles in its 3 August 2014 edition based on the Spanish language, its future prospects, and the opportunities that Spanish offers as an economic resource and the benefits for all Spanish speakers.
Here is a summary of the opportunities that the Spanish language offers according to the newspaper articles:
1 - There are more than 500 million people all over the world who speak Spanish, making it the second most spoken language in the world.
2 - Almost 20 million people study Spanish as a second language.
3 - It is estimated that 8% of the global population will speak Spanish in the near future. Currently, Spanish speakers account for 6.7% of the global population.
4 – In the United States, Spanish is the most studied foreign language in schools and it is predicted that, by 2050, the number of Hispanics will increase from the current 50 million to 130 million.
5 - From an economic standpoint, Spanish speakers account for almost 10% of the world GDP.