Duolingo sees rapid Indonesia growth

Indonesia is among Duolingo’s five fastest-growing markets worldwide based on year-over-year growth in daily active users, according to the language-learning platform.

Duolingo CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn highlighted the country’s growth during a conversation with Indonesian creator Raditya Dika at the company’s New York City office.

“We’re very interested in the Indonesian market,” von Ahn said, citing opportunities to teach English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other languages.

Duolingo data showed Indonesian users were 37 percent more likely than the global average to cite education as a reason for learning a language and 41 percent more likely to study as a productive use of their time.

English remains the most studied language among Duolingo users in Indonesia, followed by Japanese and Chinese.

Interest in Chinese has grown particularly quickly, with the share of Indonesian daily active users studying the language nearly tripling since 2023.

Indonesian users are also 4.15 times more likely than the global average to study English and Chinese simultaneously, according to the company. Japanese and Chinese, as well as English and Japanese, are also popular combinations.

Von Ahn said Duolingo’s growth in markets such as Indonesia aligns with the company’s goal of widening access to education.

“I wanted to do something that would give equal access to education to everyone,” he said.

Duolingo has also expanded nine of its most popular language courses to the B2 proficiency level and is using artificial intelligence-powered conversation features to help learners practice speaking.