Once again I'm reminded of my saying Esperanto Wasn't Born Yesterday™. Esperanto has a 130 year history and is not going to succeed or fall based on what happened in 2016. Ultimately we run into the same problems when we try to define how many speakers there are. What is a learner and how do we count them?

Your request for "official" data is a little odd, since there is no official source for data. It's not clear what "unofficial data" would be.

I recall that the Duolingo Esperanto course continues to grow with linear growth.

My personal experience is that I'm getting a lot more requests for help with Esperanto than I did 3 or 5 years ago -- but for sure that's because I'm out there more than I used to be. (I teach on italki, do translations by request, that sort of thing.)

Once again I'm reminded of my saying Esperanto Wasn't Born Yesterday™. Esperanto has a 130 year history and is not going to succeed or fail based on what happened in 2016. Ultimately we run into the same problems when we try to define how many speakers there are. What is a learner and how do we count them?

Your request for "official" data is a little odd, since there is no official source for data. It's not clear what "unofficial data" would be.

I recall that the Duolingo Esperanto course continues to grow with linear growth.

My personal experience is that I'm getting a lot more requests for help with Esperanto than I did 3 or 5 years ago -- but for sure that's because I'm out there more than I used to be. (I teach on italki, do translations by request, that sort of thing.)