Lionel Sujay Vailshery
Research expert covering cloud computing and emerging tech industries
Language learning apps - statistics & facts
Learning a new language has come a long way since books and CD-ROMs collections. Mobile apps are one of the default formats that learners expect to have available when deciding to study a language online.
The language app market has been observed to reach a peak in downloads in August 2024, generating over 26.5 million installs from global learners. The popularity of language learning apps is heavily affected by seasonal changes, with users feeling more motivated to learn a new language in the first months of the year, or in the back-to-school months.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of language learning apps increased due to users’ desire to engage in meaningful activities while sheltering at home. The global pandemic presented a unique scenario that surpassed language learning apps’ seasonality. In 2023 and 2024, not only have language learning apps maintained user awareness, but have also seen growing adoption trends in the leading digital markets worldwide. In the United States, the share of internet users who reported engaging with language learning apps has kept constant between the end of 2021 and 2023, while the number of users who reported planning to engage with this type of product experienced a small increase.
In July 2021, Duolingo went public on Nasdaq with a valuation of nearly five billion U.S. dollars, becoming one of the few publicly traded digital language learning companies. Duolingo reported revenues of more than 531 million U.S. dollars in 2023, doubling its annual revenues since its debut on the public market. The company, which was founded in 2012 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, reported positive net earnings for the first time in 2023, with an annual income of 16 million U.S. dollars for the last examined year
Language learning apps have experienced a first increase in popularity during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic but managed to maintain their newly founded awareness among global users. Overall, the most popular language learning apps have been observed to experience an increase in downloads during the first months of the year and in the months before the return to school for children. The most popular apps on the global market have already started offering AI solutions to keep users engaged and entertained. In 2023, Duolingo added OpenAI’s GPT-4 protocols to create its new courses and lesson plans, while Babbel introduced AI-enhanced speech recognition to check users’ pronunciation.
The language app market has been observed to reach a peak in downloads in August 2024, generating over 26.5 million installs from global learners. The popularity of language learning apps is heavily affected by seasonal changes, with users feeling more motivated to learn a new language in the first months of the year, or in the back-to-school months.
Language learning is not a fad
In May 2023, Rosetta Stone was the language learning program with the highest consumer awareness among U.S. users, while the German Babbel and market-leader Duolingo followed with awareness of 55 percent and 40 percent among consumers.During the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of language learning apps increased due to users’ desire to engage in meaningful activities while sheltering at home. The global pandemic presented a unique scenario that surpassed language learning apps’ seasonality. In 2023 and 2024, not only have language learning apps maintained user awareness, but have also seen growing adoption trends in the leading digital markets worldwide. In the United States, the share of internet users who reported engaging with language learning apps has kept constant between the end of 2021 and 2023, while the number of users who reported planning to engage with this type of product experienced a small increase.
Duolingo: the freemium app with a gamified learning approach
In July 2024, the leading mobile language learning apps generated 46.4 million U.S. dollars in in-app purchase revenues from users worldwide, with market leader Duolingo accounting for over 70 percent of the total, with 33 million U.S. dollars in revenues generated during the examined month.In July 2021, Duolingo went public on Nasdaq with a valuation of nearly five billion U.S. dollars, becoming one of the few publicly traded digital language learning companies. Duolingo reported revenues of more than 531 million U.S. dollars in 2023, doubling its annual revenues since its debut on the public market. The company, which was founded in 2012 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, reported positive net earnings for the first time in 2023, with an annual income of 16 million U.S. dollars for the last examined year
Language learning apps have experienced a first increase in popularity during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic but managed to maintain their newly founded awareness among global users. Overall, the most popular language learning apps have been observed to experience an increase in downloads during the first months of the year and in the months before the return to school for children. The most popular apps on the global market have already started offering AI solutions to keep users engaged and entertained. In 2023, Duolingo added OpenAI’s GPT-4 protocols to create its new courses and lesson plans, while Babbel introduced AI-enhanced speech recognition to check users’ pronunciation.
