Indonesia has vaulted into Duolingo’s top five fastest-growing markets globally by year-over-year daily active user growth, driven by a highly self-motivated population prioritizing personal development and East Asian languages.
During a sit-down with Indonesian content creator Raditya Dika at Duolingo’s New York City headquarters, CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn addressed the rapid expansion and highlighted the platform’s commitment to supporting Indonesian users.
“We’re very interested in the Indonesian market,” von Ahn said. He spoke about teaching English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other languages to people in Indonesia, and welcomed Duolingo’s growth in the country.
Data from the platform reveals that Indonesian users are uniquely focused on long-term self-improvement compared to the rest of the world. Indonesia ranks first globally in the proportion of users who select “Support my education” as their primary reason for studying.
Key metrics from the learner data include:
- Education-focused learning: Indonesian users are 37% more likely than the global average to learn for education, and 41% more likely to use the app to spend time productively.
- Surging interest in Chinese: While English remains the most popular language, Chinese has seen dramatic growth, with its share of daily active users nearly tripling since 2023.
- Concurrent language learning: Indonesian users are 4.15 times more likely than the global average to study English and Chinese at the same time. Multitasking trends also extend to Japanese and Chinese (3.3 times the global average) and English and Japanese (2.8 times the global average).
Von Ahn connected the rapid adoption in Indonesia to his founding vision for the company. Growing up in Guatemala, he witnessed firsthand how access to quality schooling often depended on financial status, driving his passion to build an equitable platform.
“I wanted to do something that would give equal access to education to everyone,” von Ahn told Raditya. Duolingo’s mission is to provide the best education in the world and make it universally available, Von Ahn emphasized that people who cannot afford to pay should still be able to learn on the platform.
To support users moving beyond basic phrases, Duolingo has expanded nine of its most popular courses to align with the intermediate-advanced B2 proficiency level. Additionally, the platform is leveraging AI-powered conversation practice to help users build practical speaking skills without fear of judgment.
The NYC meeting ended on a personal note, with von Ahn sampling traditional Indonesian snacks, wearing a gifted batik shirt, and practicing introductory phrases in Indonesian. Having previously visited Bali, the chief executive noted that he hopes to explore more of the archipelago’s islands in the future.
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